Implore your doc to finish the note while in the room...either typing and templating or Dragon dictating. One thing I changed a bit in my style of "the Plan" is to have a section called "Info for patient". I then type (using the program Shortkeys mostly) like I am talking to the patient, e.g. "1.I want you to check your bp daily and record the results. Bring this record with you to your next visit. 2. Please consider stopping smoking. If you are interested I can make some suggestions which might help you quit. 3.CT chest with and without contrast. 4. Consult Dr. Schreiber to schedule a screening colon exam. 5. Return in 6 weeks....etc..."

Then, when you choose to print out the stuff, choose "Print Preview". There you can highlight and delete things you do not want the patient to have such as comments like "The patient was strongly urged to better control his bp but to this point, he has been fairly non-compliant."

Then print and the doc is finished, the patient has their scripts, orders, referrals, tests and summary of their visit. Granted, it means more of the responsibility for the secretarial junk is put on the doc but I know of no other way to get around this. Thank you, MU.

Leslie
Hospital Employed Physician Who Misses The Old AC

"It's a good thing for a doctor to have prematurely grey hair and itching piles. It makes him appear to know more than he does and gives him an expression of concern which the patient interprets as being on his behalf. "