Educational Resources

Two Steps Back Checklist

Checklists can be a powerful tool to aid in clinical reasoning. From a cognitive psychology perspective, a checklist is a specific type of cognitive forcing function which helps relieve a clinician’s cognitive load while promoting analytical thought. Multiple such checklists exist, focusing on improving both the process of diagnostic reasoning to the content of diagnostic considerations.

The Two Steps Back Checklist was originally designed by Dr. Bill Follansbee to help busy clinicians make accurate and cost-effective diagnostic decisions. The Two Steps Back Checklist is decided into sections on making an initial diagnosis, refining a current working diagnosis, ordering and interpreting diagnostic tests, and performing a thorough medication history.

To access the checklist, please go here: https://ddmchecklist.upmc.com/

The checklist can also be downloaded as an app for your smartphone. Instructions for downloading the app can be found here: VIDEO