Home Forums Discussions Problems DEEP THOUGHHTS by Walter Handy

Personally, I really dislike templates for anything other than a starting point the physical exam and ROS, but I am in the minority. On the other hand, Dragon Naturally Speaking medical version 10 is so good that it needs almost no proofreading. I see 10-12 patients a day, no appointment less than 15 minutes (usually 30), never try to finish a chart in the room, and am always done and out the door by 5:00. My priority is to be eager to come to work, not dreading it. It is sometimes hard to control the monster we created, but reducing the load a bit may well help. That gives time to work on a chart in between patients. Consider scheduling 4 15-20 minute breaks in the day, and make them inviolate so nothing invades those slots.

There are different ways to skin this cat. I have trained myself away from perfectionism and over to regarding the note as a working document that needs to be useful to me. It needs to be my servant, not vice-versa.