Feelings over Facts

Making the case for less data

There’s an old saying in medicine: If you don’t take a temperature, you can’t find a fever.

This line comes from the 1978 book, House of God. It was considered scandalous at the time, but many of the underlying concepts still ring true. Modern medicine would be better off checking fewer temperatures.

The meaning of this statement might be confusing to those who don’t work in medicine. Anyone who has worked in the medical field likely understands it. In layman’s terms: don’t go looking for trouble unless you’re willing to deal with the consequences.

When you check the temperature in a patient who has no reason to have a fever you’re obligating yourself to follow up if the temperature is elevated.

For example, if a teenager comes in with a broken wrist and just got a cast, do you really need a temperature? If that temperature is elevated you need to justify why. Maybe it’s because the room is hot, maybe the equipment is faulty, maybe they have sepsis. It’s that last one the hospital cares about.