Grand-Aide
You got to love when a cardiologist working at a medical school has an epiphany on how to fix the primary care shortage. His concept is simple. Create a position called Grand-Aides. Who they are? Well, students getting a grand-aide certificate would do coursework that “covers protocols for 26 primary care conditions, such as the common cold, rashes, and vomiting, that can be used in telephone triage, home visits, or office and ED visits. Each protocol begins with 20 to 30 questions about the condition that are answered with “yes” or “no.” On the basis of the answers to these questions, the nurse supervisor decides whether the patient needs to see a physician or nurse. The protocol also includes home-care instructions that the grand-aide shares with the patient. Everything is laid out electronically and in cookbook simplicity on a mobile computer or smartphone.” You see, what we do as family doctors is so simple that anyone can do it. At least this is what this cardiologist thinks. Unbelievable. As the reader who sent this in wrote, “Will this have its own board certification? Will there eventually be a Grand-Aide assistant?” Very funny. The answer would be yes and yes.
The military had been doing this for years, treatment algorithms, so medics can screen for the provider.
As a medical student, we were taught not to ask yes-no questions, but rather open-ended questions will provide more information to correctly diagnose and treat the patient’s problem. We are still admonished to do so, in order to receive better scores from our patients.
The cookbook method will bring many complaints.
Oh, for pity’s sake.
i always suspected that i was an expensive indulgence.
Someone has been drinking the Grand-Aide Kool-Aid…
Doesn’t this sound like the “telephone nurse” some health care facilities used to employ for to answer after-hours questions?
You could almost hear them paging through the scripts to find the correct response, which usually boiled down to take two aspirin and call the doctor on Monday.
Wow. Just…wow.