Welcome to the AC club!
I try to create templates on the fly as I need them. If I find myself ever typing the same thing more than once for any visit(s) I template it right then and there. Slower to create these in the beginning but it rapidly creates a personal library that has sped up my visit charting. Within a few weeks you will have templated many of the most common visit details.
For example if I typically counsel patients with diabetes on lifestyle adherence at visits, I will create that template in the plan section ("Discussed dietary and exercise changes to help control blood sugar and reduce weight" and then name template 'DM2 lifestyle'). Now I have this for all future diabetes visits with a right click (or control-T mouse click combination).
AC unfortunately sorts templates by alphabetical order using the first letter of the template name, which is not always how I want to see them. So I often put a capital letter at the beginning of a template name:
A: DM2 lifestyle
B: DM2 medication adherence
C: DM2 3 month follow up
so that they stay in the order I prefer.
Also try searching on the AC web site (or in this user board) for whole note templates; this has reduced my documentation time for standardized/simple visits such as well child checks by nearly 50%.
Finally, I often create templates with a space/mark to remind me to fill in the details, but leaving more flexibility in the original template. My HPI template for a well child check template is: "Here with - for - year old well child check." Then I replace the first dash with mother/father/guardian and the second dash patient's age. So the one template serves for many possible visits.
In short, if you've typed the same phrase twice in a week it's time to make it a template!
Best wishes in practice.
Carl B
Family Medicine
Washington State
