Will My Charting Be Epic?

“Ambulatory 100” went well. The trainer, Joel, was knowledgable and went through a reasonably accurate episode of care with a patient. I think I can write an adequate note today IF the problem was not very complicated and IF I had thirty minutes to do it.

“Ambulatory 100” went well. The trainer, Joel, was knowledgable and went through a reasonably accurate episode of care with a patient. I think I can write an adequate note today IF the problem was not very complicated and IF I had thirty minutes to do it.

Over the weekend we will be able to access a “playground” and get a better idea of what the program looks like and how it functions. A physician acquaintance, who uses both Epic and our present EHR in her daily work, assures me that life will get better and patient care improve on Epic. This is encouraging.

Abundantly clear, even in early interaction with the program, is how personalization can make workflow better in the creation of a note. Will this improve diagnostic thinking over my present system? Hope springs eternal. Dropping charges looks like a breeze (there’s a surprise) especially with ICD10. Concern about how well the patient’s story will be documented lingers. When I’ve seen notes from ERs in other Epic systems, the narrative is often poorly done. We are told this is due to  the way the system is set up rather than the fault of the EHR.

One of my present EHR’s big downfalls is how long it takes to process patient-related information outside of the note itself. Referral letters, lab results, radiology exams and other testing take forever to “verify” that I have looked at them. It’s a monumental task for a primary care physician , frequently feeling as if there are too many cats in the cage full of hoops to jump through. Hopefully we will cover this Wednesday in Ambulatory 200.

The circus is in town. Is there a lion tamer?

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