Thread by @thame

A quick thread on why I make and use algorithms for the evaluation and management of patients in the ED:
#FOAMed #EmergencyMedicine #Metacognition
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There are two systems for the processing of illness presentations:
1) Intuitive: rapid, high-capacity, low-effort
2) Analytical: slow, cognitively taxing
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In the emergency department, system 1 and system 2 processes are often initiated in parallel and may recur during the ED course.
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Intuitive processing emerges from the internalization of an algorithm imperceptibly honed by countless patient encounters.

This processing capacity is both necessary and a prized capability of the human brain - though prone to error and bias.
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ddxof.com algorithms make intuitive processes explicit and facilitate system 2 surveillance of system 1 processing when fatigue, inattention or distraction may introduce error.
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Explicit definitions also allow external auditing, unlike intuitive processing where calibration may incorporate unconscious biases.
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Finally, some critical illness presentations are so rare that there may be insufficient encounters to ever adequately calibrate an intuitive approach:
ddxof.com/hyperthermia/
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In summary, algorithms are good, ddxof.com makes them easy.
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