To deliver best practice care and advice based on expert consensus and evidence-based research.To provide decision-support to telephone triage nurses.To facilitate a safe telephone triage process and sort patients to the most appropriate level of medical care (disposition) based upon the acuity and severity of their symptoms (triaging the right patient to the right place at the right time).Regardless of whether one describes the Schmitt-Thompson clinical content as telephone triage guideline or as an algorithm, its purpose is: Each triage question is linked to targeted, explicit care advice.Nurse triagers find this question arrangement both logical and intuitive as it supports their natural clinical assessment and thought processes. Within each guideline, triage questions from the relevant table in the database are presented in descending order of acuity from symptoms of the highest acuity to those of lowest acuity.If not, additional prompts re-direct the nurse to related (more appropriate) guideline(s). A definition is provided at the start of each guideline to help the nurse determine if this guideline is the best match for the patient’s symptom.A table of specifically selected search words or chief complaints directs the triage nurse to the most appropriate guideline(s).Other linking tables provide search words, triage questions, care advice, and references. The central elements of each guideline are stored within a table named “Algorithm”. The Schmitt-Thompson clinical content is stored in a highly structured relational database and organized algorithmically. The Schmitt-Thompson clinical content meets this definition of an algorithm. One can define an algorithm as a logical sequence of steps for solving a problem that can be translated and loaded into a computer software program. The Schmitt-Thompson clinical content is updated annually based upon changes in the medical literature, feedback from triage nurses, physicians and call center medical directors, input from the Schmitt-Thompson expert reviewer panels, and results from ongoing analysis of outcome and quality assurance information. The Schmitt-Thompson clinical content is a decision-support tool that was developed systematically through a survey of the relevant medical literature, incorporation of evidenced-based information when available, and reviewed by an expert panel of nurses and physicians. The Schmitt-Thompson clinical content conforms to these definitions of a clinical guideline. Another definition that still stands the test of time, developed by the Institute of Medicine (1990), defines a clinical practice guideline as “ systematically developed statements to assist practitioner and patient decisions about appropriate health care for specific clinical circumstances”. For example, one online definition defines a clinical guideline as a “ best practices protocol for managing a particular condition, which includes a treatment plan founded on evidence-based strategies and consensus statements by peers in the field”. The terms guideline and protocol are often used interchangeably. Schmitt and Thompson, authors of the clinical content used in ClearTriage: If you still have questions about your specific situation, this blog article has additional details or please contact us and we’ll help you figure it out.įrom Drs. You specifically cannot use ClearTriage to regularly take telephone triage calls in an after hours call center unless you license an After Hours version of ClearTriage. “On Call Staff Member” is defined as a member of your staff who regularly works at your practice during Office Hours and sometimes takes triage calls outside of Office Hours. However, even if you do not license an After Hours version of ClearTriage, you are permitted to use ClearTriage outside of Office Hours for educational and training purposes or for use by one On Call Staff Member at a time. “Office Hours” means the hours during which the physical office with which you are affiliated is scheduled to be open and seeing patients, not to exceed 14 hours in any 24-hour period. Unless you license an After Hours version of ClearTriage, your right to use ClearTriage to take telephone triage calls is limited to Office Hours. Here is the pertinent legal language from our Terms of Use: But because of the price difference, some organizations wonder if they can legally use the Office Hours version of ClearTriage instead. Thompson, dispositions suitable for 24/7 usage and targeted care advice to support faster calls. ClearTriage After Hours (AH) comes with hundreds of additional protocols from Dr.
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