Wendell, your points are good.
Maybe my expectations were too high or incorrect. I have always dictated notes (for 35 years) as my handwriting is illegible. My notes have always reflected not just what I did, but what I was thinking at the time and an outline of what my broad future plan was for the patient most of whom have chronic illness. So, I never went through the stage of the brief handwritten note that went "UTI x 4d. Rx Bactrim X 1 week" that I have seen in records from elsewhere. Thus, I can't really say that my notes are significantly better or more useful, and when printed out leave the valuable portion slightly buried under the detritus of PH, ROS, etc. that are not germane, so are somewhat less useful to a consultant.
I will acknowledge that there are new tasks, but disagree that they all need to be done by a physician. I don't think 11 years of higher education is necessary to see that an appointment is made or a fax filed. I want to see how much of this I can shed.
