Dear Stephanie:
Welcome to the ACUB and to AC.
What do you mean by "prep" a chart note?? I can't imagine why you would want to open an encounter the day before. You can update demographics anytime without opening an encounter.
In our office when the patient comes in for their appointment, my secretary opens demographics and updates any info. My medical assistant opens a new encounter and enters the cc and vital signs. She then saves it to the message board. I do the rest.
It takes a while for everyone to work out a streamlined and staightforward process for using AC within your particular environment. The transition from paper to computer will take everyone time. After you get the wrinkles worked out you will be able to document better and more efficiently with AC.
John
