The rationale for therapist-driven protocols.

Misallocation of respiratory care, defined as ordering therapy unlikely to provide benefit (overordering) and failing to provide beneficial therapy (underordering), is common and provides the rationale for implementing therapist-driven protocols. This article reviews the frequency of misallocation of respiratory care and explores possible reasons for misallocation. Therapist-driven protocols represent a new model for delivering respiratory care that is designed to minimize misallocation.