The standard of care is a diagnostic and treatment process that a medical personnel should follow for a certain type of patient, illness, or clinical circumstance. Basically, this is the level of care widely accepted in the medical community. While these standards are not stored or compiled in any one particular place, they are the common best-practices adopted by healthcare professionals through training and education, and ultimately informed adopted protocols.
The standard of care is also what medical malpractice cases are built upon and can, in this case, be similarly defined as the type and level of care that any ordinary, prudent, health care professional, with the same training and experience, would provide under similar circumstances, in the same community.