Outliers: Time to ditch the white coat, docs

The doctor's highly symbolic white coat may soon go the way of the dodo.

Following years of growing concern about the role clinician attire plays in the spread of infectious bugs, a professional society has issued stringent new guidance urging hospitals to adopt a BBE—or bare below the elbows—policy for healthcare personnel.

That means short sleeves, no long ties, no wristwatches and no jewelry, said the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, in an article in the February issue of the journal Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology.

SHEA acknowledged the lack of scientific evidence showing a direct link between infection prevention and such dress-code directives, but it said BBE policies are “supported by biological plausibility” and are “unlikely to cause harm.”

If hospitals—and their doctors—aren't quite ready to part with their white coats, SHEA urged them to launder them “no less frequently than once a week and when visibly soiled.” Outliers is hoping that last bit of advice is already being followed.

Follow Outliers on Twitter: @MHOutliers