How to Write Less, Listen More--and Please Patients

I have been able to spend more time with my patients--and they are more satisfied with my care--since I started writing up my visits on preprinted forms. The forms are designed to minimize writing and maximize coding. They thus permit listening and writing at the same time; when I leave the examining room, my work is complete. An added bonus: we save thousands of dollars a year on dictation transcription costs.

—Rebecca Peck, MD
    Ormond Beach, Fla