By Thomas Davis, DNAP, MAE, CRNA

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Standards are essential

High quality patient care must be delivered in a consistent and safe manner; professional organizations set standards to define it, institutions develop policies to provide it, payors demand it and patients deserve it.  Frontline workers must deliver it.

The history of standards for patient care can be traced to the 1800s when obstetrician Ignaz Semmelweis demanded handwashing by those providing medical treatment.  Several decades later, surgeon, Ernest Codman, became a relentless champion for hospital standards and the assessment of outcomes.  Legendary nurse, Florence Nightingale, identified the link between living conditions and death rates among soldiers and became a powerful advocate for basic nutrition of soldiers and setting sanitation standards for the barracks.  In each case, a healthcare  champion pushed the medical profession to set standards – a minimal expectation below which care cannot be allowed to drift.

Throughout the 20^th and into the 21^st century, there is an ongoing focus on improving patient safety and outcomes through the development and enforcement of standards for care.  The topic of reliable evidence-based medical treatment has gained front page prominence and is now included in the AMA Journal of Ethics for physicians.  This, from the ethics journal:

• Standards of quality are statements of the minimum acceptable level of performance or results and what constitutes excellent performance.
• Medical practice guidelines are evidence-based statements to assist practitioners in their decision making.
• Medical review criteria are statements used to assess the appropriateness of specific decision, service, and outcomes in the delivery of care.
• Performance measures are observable and measurable criteria that indicate compliance with medical quality standards

In 1965, Congress passed legislation that created the Medicare and Medicaid programs intending to create a medical safety net for the elderly and those who were otherwise uninsured.

Authors Youssra Nariousa and Kevin Bozic. note that along with entitlements, the bill established “conditions for participation,” conditions which, in subsequent years, evolved into a mandate for the establishment of standards of care; criteria that must be met if reimbursement for service is to be obtained.  By default, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid services became a powerful force demanding the creation and enforcement of standards of care in healthcare.

Professional organizations and patient safety advocacy groups also play an important role in the establishment of standards of care for practice.  The American Medical Association and the American Nurses Association collectively set practice standards that are applied broadly to the healthcare industry.  Sub-specialties in medicine and nursing also have professional organizations that establish performance criteria for providers in their sub-specialty.   For example, anesthesia related organizations establish practice standards that affect the entire perioperative area.

Specific to the practice of anesthesia, the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, the American Society of Anesthesiologists, and the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation have all established minimum criteria that must be met to ensure safe practice.  Although each organization’s differing views on supervision may affect the wording, most of the standards are essentially the same between the three anesthesia specific groups.  Current standards for the delivery of anesthesia include:

1. The constant presence of a qualified anesthesia provider.
2. Adequate oxygenation including continuous analysis of the fresh gas flow, pulse oximetry and clinical observation
3. Adequate ventilation as evidenced by continuously observing the level of expired carbon dioxide during moderate sedation, deep sedation or general anesthesia.  Verification of correct placement of any artificial airway device.  The use of ventilatory monitors as indicated
4. Physiologic monitoring of blood pressure, heart rate and respiration with documentation at least every 5 minutes.  Monitors must have audible alarms that are turned to a pitch that is easily heard by the anesthesia provider.
5. Cardiovascular monitoring to assess the patient’s heart rate and cardiovascular status.
6. Thermoregulation when clinically significant changes in body temperature are intended, anticipated, or suspected. 

Although specific hands-on techniques have changed due to the threat of COVID-19, standards of care remain in effect and must be met.

Look beyond the horizon

As cutting-edge technology becomes routine evidence-based practice, standards of care are updated and the baseline for minimal acceptable care is elevated.  For example, the pulse oximeter was introduced to clinical practice in the mid-1980s and by 1987 rapidly became a standard of care for the administration of general anesthesia in the US.  The sudden elevation of monitoring requirements created a scramble to obtain the necessary equipment for meeting the new criteria.

Therefore, before morphing into a standard of care for the profession, new technology and techniques that are safe and effective are often introduced as local policy and evolve over time into a new minimum requirement.  Rather than waiting for requirements to change, be a workplace champion and elevate your practice by developing local policies that exceed current minimum standards.  Once done, push to make your elevated level of care a standard for the profession.

Future standards of care

Implementing new standards of care must be done judiciously and within the capability of providers to comply with the mandate.  Once a standard is set, those who do not meet the requirement are legally liable and might not be reimbursed for their services.  Stay ahead of the curve by considering these items for inclusion in the policies that govern your workgroup.

Video laryngoscope   Fiberoptic endotracheal intubation was introduced to clinical practice in the 1960s and by the 1980s became the first line of defense for a difficult airway.  Now, the video laryngoscope has proven itself to be faster, lighter, and equally reliable to the technology of the 80s making fiberoptic intubations a rare event.

With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, anesthesia providers are seeking ways to separate themselves from the patient’s airway and many who intubate opt to use the video laryngoscope to create distance from the patient’s face.  Because the video scope has proven itself to be an exceptionally reliable first backup for a difficult airway and offers the added protection of distancing the provider from the airway, many anesthetists believe that the video laryngoscope should be a standard of care for the future.

Ultrasound for nerve blocks   Anesthesia providers toward the end of their careers can remember the days of seeking paresthesia while placing a peripheral nerve block.  Not only were results of landmark guided blocks less reliable, actual damage to the nerve was not uncommon.  Currently, ultrasound is being used to visualize the placement of local anesthesia in the space surrounding the nerve and has reduced the incidence of nerve damage associated with administering the block.  The improved patient safety and reliability of ultrasound guided nerve blocks will mandate this technique as a standard of care.

Multimodal pain therapy   The spectrum of sedation through general anesthesia does get the patient safely through the surgical procedure but it does not provide adequate analgesia for the immediate postoperative period.  Multimodal pain management uses a combination of different classes of analgesics which opens the door to comfortable, opioid-free recovery from surgery.  The effort to eliminate addiction to opioid drugs will mandate that multimodal pain become a standard of care.

Change the status quo by raising your standards

Quality healthcare is a platitude that arises from the C-suite; however, it is a way of life for the frontline workers delivering hands on service to clients.  To ensure positive outcomes, standards of care draw a line that quality patient care must not fall below; however, they do not necessarily represent the optimal treatment options available.  Healthcare providers in every specialty can raise the bar and exceed minimal requirements by constantly developing policies and procedures that exceed existing standards.  Anesthesia providers implement policies that require the use of new technology to protect the provider and improve the safety of the patient.  Surgeons implement policies that provide effective, opioid-free pain control postoperatively.  Perioperative nurses alter workflow policies to ensure the delivery of high-level care while maintaining social distancing. 

Today’s policies will become tomorrow’s standards.  Be a champion for your profession by constantly updating policies and procedures to reflect an elevated level of care and then be an advocate for establishing them as a new standard of care.    You may be on the frontline, but your initiatives will have a greater impact on healthcare than all the slogans coming from the front office.

Tom is an experienced leader, author, and requested speaker.  Click here for a video introduction to Tom’s talk topics.