Contextual standardization: a qualitative analysis of the incorporation of Clinical Guideline Norms into General and Family Medicine

Abstract

Under a new regulatory, the development of a variety of formal instruments to strengthen the objectivity of medical decisions is favored (namely, Clinical Guidelines). In order to explore the scope of standardization in clinical practice, I develop a comprehensive analysis grounded on the mobilization of the empirical results derived from the Focus Group sessions that took place in two organizational contexts related to the professional reality of GPS. It is concluded that Clinical Guidelines tend to be conceived and mobilized only as one of the components of the medical judgment and decision processes, which is consistent not only with the idea of the practical and reflexive nature of medical knowledge, but also with the concept of the clinician as an autonomous professional who seeks to preserve her/his professional jurisdiction as a safe haven for individual decisions.