Involvement in Your State Association | Revisit New Year’s Resolution | October Conference
The Indiana Podiatric Medical Association annual state conference is scheduled to begin October 14, 2010. I am proud to be on the roster of speakers and presenters. The online registration makes attending even easier for you.
The summer season is winding down. Kids are back in school, the gardens are almost ended, other harvest time projects are lining up so that we have a moment to catch up with intentions and plans that may have been pushed toward the end of the list. Some of us still need to exercise more, eat better, listen better. Or, as I wrote in a post at PodiatryToday.com earlier, get involved with your state association.
Questions about why you don’t attend were posed in the PodiatryToday.com article. Is the cost an issue? Or the location at the Hyatt Regency in Indianapolis? The program? Only you can answer these questions and seek a solution. You are an important part of the podiatry community , particularly in Indiana. If you need help to lower costs, ask someone to brainstorm with you. If you know of a better location, attend and bring that up for next year. Your involvement influences the program — the planners want to give you beneficial programming.
A complaint got me involved and I’ve gained from the experience in many aspects, not the least of which is the chance to make connection with you and others to strengthen my practice. And between us, strengthen the service offered by the podiatric community.
You have time to make a difference for yourself and the association. Follow through on that New Year’s Resolution to become involved and take advantage of the beautiful October season in Indianapolis. Register today. See you there!
Medical Records | Electronic Technology is Neither All Negative nor All Positive
I wrote a post at my blog account on the DPM Blogs at Podiatry Today about electronic technology for keeping medical records entitled Weighing The Positives And Negatives Of EMR
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I’ve used electronic record keeping in some form for several years. As mentioned in the article, some of the things that are especially appealing is the opportunity to make notes immediately and legibly. I’ve had some concerns on re-reading my notes and reading the notes of other doctors that we become too eager to make extensive notes. Keyboarding is simply easier to fill-in all the possibilities than when we dictate our notes or hand write them. However, too-much-information TMI can lead to confusion and lost time/energy when we have to filter through long and extended notes to get to the real issue.
Some are concerned with the use of templates to complete notes. These tools might be seen as assuming answers and issues by using form options. Surely some cases are very similar, but yet each condition is unique. We can answer these concerns by making templates that aren’t exceptionally complete, but do cover the basics that are typical and could be considered part of a checklist where we make sure we haven’t missed anything. Note areas through-out a template that applies to my practice permit me to make the necessarily unique observations for that case.
The concerns are worth overcoming because of the increased efficiency for my staff when they are working with complete and legible records.
As noted in the original blog post, I see benefit for patients when doctors and staff are using electronic record keeping for greater efficiency in our care process. As medical professionals we are responsible to look at our choice of format to find those which will provide the greatest patient benefit through clarity and efficiency.
Hoosier Foot & Ankle Opens 5th Office in Greenwood, IN
Hoosier Foot & Ankle and Dr. Patrick DeHeer will now be treating patients at an additional podiatry office in Greenwood, Indiana. If you are looking for a Greenwood, IN podiatrist please visit our website for more information.