Public Health Law Map - Beta 5 - Medical and Public Health Law Site

2. Consult the physician on all patients who cannot take penicillin or erythromycin.
3. Consult the physician on all patients under 6 months of age.
4. Refer to the emergency room by EMS all patients with respiratory distress or
stridor. Do not examine.
5. Refer to the “Otitis Media” protocol all cases that involve concurrent ear
infection.
f) Epidemiology
Any disease that is reportable or that involves the treatment of exposed individuals
should have these requirements included in the protocol. This is as much a part of
the treatment as doing laboratory tests or dispensing medicine:
Epidemiology
1. Strep infections are reportable weekly, by numerical totals only, to the health
department at 555-1234.
2. Household members should be screened for all patients with more than one strep
throat in two months.
g) Notes
This is the part of the strict protocol that should be used for all the educational
information. It might include a differential diagnosis of the condition or the reasons
for some of the choices made in establishing the protocol. This section also might
contain prescribing information for the convenience of the physician. It should be
clear to all parties involved that this section does not authorize any actions by the
NPP:
Notes
1. There are no clinical signs or symptoms that differentiate strep throat from viral
pharyngitis.
2. Sensitivities are not necessary since community-acquired strep is uniformly
sensitive to all the penicillins.
3. Strep is not generally susceptible to sulfas.
4. The rapid strep now used by our lab is 85% sensitive.
F. Supervising Medical Students and Residents
Although only a few physicians are full-time members of medical school faculties,
most physicians have to deal with students and residents, at least occasionally, when
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