Does Common Equal Best?
If you’ve worked with Greystone.Net, you know we focus on what we term “best practices.” The theory is that what’s getting the best results is worth replicating (okay, copying, but that sounds so sordid).
But earlier this week I had a client suggest that maybe what we were claiming was “best practice” isn’t really the best, because we also said that most aren’t doing it.
I had never thought about it that way. In fact, I always thought quite the opposite: If everybody is doing something the same way, then nobody is “best.” Somebody out there has to have found a superior way, and that’s what we would call “best practice.”
Does anybody argue that doctors are right when they say some level of physical exercise is healthy for most people? Yet more than six out of 10 Americans don’t get any regular exercise. It’s clearly a best practice for personal health and well being, but most don’t do it.
A little closer to the subject at hand, those entities that have enabled secure messaging between patients and doctors see increased patient loyalty, a reduced volume of phone calls, and a smoother communication workflow. Some doctors even say they couldn’t handle their current caseload without it. Yet most hospitals and health systems don’t offer it.
The reason the “best” isn’t always the most common is usually unrelated to whether it’s really the best thing to do. Change is hard for anybody, other priorities get in the way, some best practices aren’t easy to implement, etc.
But the fact that it’s not common doesn’t mean it’s not a “best practice.” Does it?