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The purpose of this column is to answer questions about issues that we either hear about frequently, or that have a wide applicability across the profession. If you have any questions or topic suggestions for this column, please email them to feedback @ cpso. on. ca, or contact the Physician Advisory Service.
Preparing for Your Peer Assessment – the Electronic Medical Record Perspective
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Good record-keeping practices are essential for physicians. And certainly an electronic medical record is a tool that can help facilitate these practices. In recent years, however, the College’ s Quality Assurance Committee – the Committee that oversees peer assessments – has noted that some physicians struggle with navigating their system to provide a comprehensive picture of the care they provide to patients. Why does this matter? The primary purpose of the medical record is to enable physicians to provide quality health care to their patients. For the Committee, this means, in part:“ does the record tell the patient’ s story?” When the record effectively tells the patient’ s story, it promotes quality of care and continuity of care by helping physicians keep track of important information relating to the patient’ s care, and provides new healthcare providers with a complete picture of the patient’ s history and clinical condition. Physicians are reminded that when choosing to use an electronic medical record, they must ensure that they have a level of comfort and fluency with their system to meet the requirements for record-keeping as set out in the College’ s Medical Records policy and relevant legislation, and to cooperate with the Quality Assurance Committee and peer assessors by enabling effective access to a patient’ s electronic medical record. When preparing for a peer assessment or an interview, the Committee suggests that physicians reflect on their ability to effectively navigate their electronic medical record. The Committee recommends that physicians
Issue 1, 2017 Dialogue 35