Institute:Office of National Coordinator (ONC) Workforce Training Curriculum
Component:The Culture of Health Care
Unit:Health Care Processes and Decision Making
Lecture:Gathering data and analyzing findings
Making a diagnosis
The impact of EHRs and technology on clinical decision-making
Slide content:Systematic Approach Brainstorming to Expand Differential VINDICATE (processes) V ascular I nfectious N eoplastic D rugs I nflammatory/idiopathic C ongenital A utoimmune T rauma E ndocrine/metabolic Organ (systems) Neuro CV Pulmonary Renal Heme GI Bones Joints Skin 6
Slide notes:Here are two examples of systematic approaches to facilitate brainstorming and help expand the differential diagnosis. On the left is the mnemonic vindicate , which helps clinicians remember vascular, infectious, neoplastic, drug-induced, and other causes of disease. In each category are many subcategories; for example, infectious diseases include viral, bacterial, parasitic, and fungal diseases. These groupings take advantage of fundamental properties of human memory, enabling us to remember more individual items when they are grouped than we could remember in a simple list. On the right is another systematic approach based not on the process but on the organ system involved, such as neurologic diseases, cardiovascular diseases, and pulmonary diseases. Clinicians may use either or both of these approaches to help them think through a case when a comprehensive approach is needed. 6