Standing orders · Screening protocol

Standing orders: making screening reproducible

A standing order for screening is a written rule, applied at intake, that decides which patients are tested. The order selects the patient; a clinician selects the panel.

Selection by clinical impression cannot be audited and is not reproducible. A written rule applied at intake turns “who should we test” into something two staff members answer the same way.

What information does a screening standing order collect?

All of this is gathered before any testing decision is made, because the decision rule depends on it.

Age and sex; height, weight and body mass index; abdominal girth, with thresholds above 102 cm in men and 88 cm in women; blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation.
Symptom review: nerve pain, joint pain, numbness or burning, dizziness or unsteadiness, claudication or reduced walking distance, and any recent infective symptoms.
Personal history of cancer, type 2 diabetes, angina or transient ischemic attack; hypertension and thyroid disease, treated or not; antidepressant, anxiety or post-traumatic stress treatment; addiction risk or current opioid use.
Social history: alcohol, tobacco, substance use.
Family history: diabetes, cardiovascular disease, hypertension, stroke, cancer.

Which patients does the standing order select for testing?

Testing is indicated where any one of these is true: over 50 with at least one cardiovascular risk factor; over 70 regardless; hypertension, treated or untreated; body mass index above 30, or abdominal girth above the thresholds at any body mass index; current or former tobacco use; diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance; or any symptom from the neuropathic, autonomic, claudication or unsteadiness clusters at any age.

Three or more metabolic syndrome traits present at intake is a separate trigger and is worth recording explicitly, because it is a defensible and auditable reason for the assessment.

Why is a written rule better than clinical judgment for screening?

It is reproducible. Two staff members applying the same rule select the same patients. Two clinicians applying impression do not.
It is auditable. Under any quality program, evidence that a defined activity was applied across a population is worth more than evidence that individual decisions were made well.
It removes the selection bias that hides disease. The patients who most need measuring are frequently the least likely to raise it, because their symptoms are painless and they have already adapted to them.
It protects clinic time. Staff apply the rule without interrupting a clinician for every decision.

Should a standing order test every patient for everything?

It must not order everything for everyone. The suite is modular, and the studies indicated by burning feet are not the studies indicated by unsteadiness. The standing order selects the patient; a clinician selects the panel. How a testing plan is chosen.

How do you audit a standing order?

Count patients who met the criteria against patients who were actually assessed, in both directions, over a defined period. The gap in the first direction tells you whether the rule is being applied. The gap in the second tells you whether testing is happening outside the rule. Both are worth knowing and neither is visible without counting.

Settle scope of practice first

Who may apply a standing order, and what level of supervision applies to each study, depends on the study, the setting, state scope-of-practice rules and payer policy. Settle it in writing before implementation rather than discovering it afterwards. Supervision and staffing.

Frequently asked questions

What is a standing order in healthcare?

A standing order is a written rule that staff apply at intake to decide which patients get tested. It replaces clinical impression with criteria that two staff members will apply the same way. The order picks the patient; a clinician still picks which tests to run. Staff can apply it without stopping a clinician for every decision, and the practice can audit it later.

What is an example of a standing order?

The screening rule in this protocol is one. A patient qualifies if any one of these is true: over 50 with at least one cardiovascular risk factor; over 70; high blood pressure, treated or not; a body mass index above 30, or a waist above 102 cm in men or 88 cm in women; current or former tobacco use; diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance; or nerve, balance, walking-distance or autonomic symptoms at any age.

Who can carry out a standing order?

Trained staff apply the rule at intake, which is what keeps screening from depending on a clinician remembering to ask. Exactly who may apply it, and how much supervision each test needs, depends on the test, the setting, state scope-of-practice rules and payer policy. Settle those questions in writing before the order goes live, not after a problem turns up.