“Sometimes I just want to be told what to do.”
A few months ago, a respected colleague confided in me. When pressed for time, this clinician seeks clinical decision support that just tells them what to do even when that clinician is uncertain about the quality of the evidence behind the recommendation.
Note to clinicians who just want to be told what to do: there’s a long line waiting to scratch that itch, including judges, the government, and insurance companies as well.
To tell you the truth, I was shocked by my colleague’s statement. Because ultimately, it’s not about my colleague; it’s about my colleague’s patients.
I asked myself: what would make a clinician – a really good clinician – just want to be told what to do?
In general, the answer is time. When human beings are pressed for time they often “just want to be told what to do” and under these circumstances people often make the wrong decision. Time pressure affects various aspects of the cognitive process. Time pressure causes people to overlook readily available information and fail to consider other information that should influence their decision.
While I admit I think less about colleagues who “just want to be told what to do” when making decisions for themselves, I realize that’s their prerogative. However, clinicians forfeit that right when they make recommendations that impact the lives of their patients.
The horror movie Would You Rather involves a violent and often deadly twist on the game of the same name. It depicts a group of people gathered at a dinner party forced to make time-pressured decisions that often result in significant harm for others at the table. If you’re squeamish, this is not the movie for you. I occasionally had to look away because some of the decisions inflicted such pain on others that it was hard to watch. When my colleague told me they “just want to be told what to do” I also felt I needed to look away, recognizing the potential for harm to my colleague’s patients. The problem is, it’s not just that studies show that people often make wrong decisions for themselves when pressed for time. Studies show that when clinicians are pressed for time, diagnostic accuracy suffers.
So what’s the solution? When pressed for time, clinicians need a decision support tool that provides clear, concise treatment recommendations based on evidence that is carefully evaluated and graded, rapidly available at the point of care. That’s Dyna AI. Dyna AI recognizes that patients place their trust in clinicians to make treatment recommendations that are right for them. Each time. Every time. Dyna AI is real world. Dyna AI recognizes that clinicians are pressed for time, and so Dyna AI provides clear recommendations based on reliable, trustworthy, expert-vetted evidence.
Would you rather see a clinician who bases recommendations on something lifted straight out of an article or would you rather see a clinician who bases recommendations on expert-vetted and -graded evidence?
Would you rather see a clinician who bases recommendations on someone’s opinion or would you rather see a clinician who bases recommendations on expert-vetted and -graded evidence?
It’s true: sometimes clinicians just want to be told what to do. And sometimes patients want recommendations from someone who doesn’t.
Roy Ziegelstein, MD, MACP
Editor in Chief and CMO, DynaMed
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