First, while I have championed this in the past, I feel like templates are probably the fastest way to chart but the worst for documentation. Drill down EMRs and those that make you fill in windows take a long time and created six-page notes (think Centricity), but they generally force one document well. While this covers all the bases, I still find dictation the most accurate as it truly captures what the provider heard, saw, thought and did, etc.
I find with templates, it is all too easy to pick one that does cover the finding (left ear redness, etc.), but the auto-population on some choices lists that the cardiac exam is RRR with nl S1 and S2 and no murmurs, rubs or gallops even though later you end up referring them to cardiology. Plus, it is all too evident that you are using templates as the wording never changes.
My CMA uses a template on wcc and it constantly says, pt presents for wcc with mom and has no complaints. Although, he really came with his mom and dad and has questions about sore throat.
So, I have decided to move toward dictation with DNS (this will be an entirely different thread for recommendations so to save a lot of time other than telling me that DNS is the way to go or that dictation is the worst way to go, we can save that part.
