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It would be impossible
to capture everything I dictate into Templates. You're not really
suggesting that are you?
Of course, you may doubt that anyone could ever
build a 'set of choices ' containing all of the things you could
ever say about a patient. We ask that you 'keep an open mind' until
you have given Templates in the Team
Chart Concept a fair chance. We respect your breadth
of knowledge, the uniqueness of each of your patients, and even
further, the uniqueness of what you document on behalf of each patient.
We even realize that every one of your patient's encounters may
be documented differently from every other encounter. However, that
uniqueness often stems from the way in which particular choices
can be combined from your 'set of choices'. The 'set of choices'
can be surprisingly small. The number of different ways in which
choices can be selected and combined may approach infinity. For
example, the English language contains a mere 26 letters. This 'set
of 26 choices' have been combined to create physician dictation,
the Works of Shakespeare , the Encyclopedia Britannica, the contents
of the New York Times, love letters, song lyrics, airline schedules,
bad poetry, and so on.
Once you get started, you may be pleasantly surprised
with how much you actually can document using your 'limited' 'set
of choices'.
In fact, some providers
find that they dictate 2 to 3 times MORE information using Templates.
Do I have to write
my own templates?
It is strongly recommended that you write your own templates,
for several reasons. The most important reason is that by writing
your own templates you will dictate exactly what you want to dictate,
in your own words. Furthermore, it is expected that you will be
able to run your templates in the presence of your patients. This
will, of course, demand an intimate familiarity with your templates,
knowing what information is available, and more importantly, where
that information is in your templates. Attempting to run another
provider's templates (especially if that other provider is constantly
changing his/her templates) can be an exercise in frustration.
This is not as daunting as a task as it may seem.
After you have spent a few hours learning how to write templates,
you will need to spend, perhaps, a couple of solid weekends building
your templates to document 50 to 80 percent of what you do. Investing
time to write your templates early on will save you hundreds, if
not, thousands of hours of time later. Templates are time-savers.
You can run well-written templates as fast as you think. You cannot
type as fast as you can run templates. You cannot speak as fast
as you can run templates.
What about voice
dictation ?
Voice dictation can be used to supplement templates.
You may start out relying fairly heavily on voice dictation as you
build your base set of Templates. You can even use voice dictation
to help build your Templates. But as your Templates come together,
you will rely less on voice dictation.
Can I type in free-form
text as I run my templates?
Yes, you mix free-form text in with running your
templates at any time by simply typing on the keyboard. It is very
easy to do. You may even design templates that expect some typing
to be done.
Won't the use of
Templates slow me down as I try to see patients?
Absolutely not. Just the opposite. Using well-written
templates allows you to see more patients, and/or spend more time
with each patient. There are physicians using templates in the Team
Chart Concept who can see 60 to 80 patients a day in a
family practice setting, and still leave on-time.
With templates, the ideal is one that mouse-click
captures one thought. So if the provider observes that the
patient's eyes are normal, then he or she can document the 'normal
eyes' with one mouse click. If the patient is to be seen in
2 weeks for a follow-up visit, the provider can document the need
for a return visit AND automatically send a 'To Do Request' to the
scheduling department (or front desk) to schedule the patient for
a 2 week follow-up, with ONE mouse click. Well written templates
allow the provider to document one thought with one mouse click,
and with the automation features of the Team
Chart Concept's templates, all ramifications of
each one thought can result in automatic requests made of his/her
staff to handle such things as prescriptions, lab tests, follow-up
appointments, referrals, etc.
In other words, while running Templates, one
mouse click can document the patient's condition, and request the
staff to do certain things on behalf of that patient. This
ability to document and automatically give staff direction, results
in an extremely efficient, well run, medical office. The only
thing slowing down the provider now is how fast he or she can think.
Of course, the patient will be impressed, and maybe even a little
in awe of how the staff seems to be able to 'read' the doctor's
mind. For example, if the doctor decides that the patient
needs a shot, the nurse will have the shot ready when the doctor
leaves the exam room. There is no lag time for the patient
to wait on the doctor to find a nurse and then inform him or her
about the patient's need for a shot.
With the Team Chart Concept,
at the end of the each patient's visit:
- The Documentation is complete and audited.
- Diagnoses have been selected.
- Procedures have been selected and linked to the proper Diagnoses.
- Any needed Lab Tests have been order.
- Referral Letters have been printed.
- Excuses, Appointments, and Prescriptions have been printed.
- And, any needed referrals have been made.
With the Team Chart Concept
you will have more time to either see more patients, spend more
time with each patient, or take more time to do other things.
And your dictation is complete, on-time, at the end of the day.
Won't
my patients object to seeing me use a computer in their presence?
There's really nothing new in the patient perception
about this issue. Most people are enormously tolerant of the processes
involved in medical practice. They are inspected inside and out,
poked with needles and other devices, endure the injection and withdrawal
of fluids from their bodies, and are often deprived clothing. Knowing
all this, some practitioners still object to a computer in the examination
room, because it might offend the patient! Computers and electronic
data systems are ubiquitous in everyday life. Patients who are ignored,
or alienated from the clinical process, will most likely be upset
at the practitioner who is not paying attention to their needs.
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Templates - Common
Questions
