Good system for tracking patients?

[chagall]

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I am pretty far along to still be struggling with this, but I have tried different approaches, and none of them has worked too well. Do you all have a good system for keeping track of each patient, their conditions, their daily vitals, labs, etc so when asked you can talk about them? My best bet so far has been notecards clipped together, but I still end up scribbling all over them and getting disorganized...and then my to-do list gets all mixed up in there somewhere too...ackk...any ideas?

 

[ericdamiansean]

If you have a PDA, there are some patient tracking programs for free out there, just experiment with a few, some are concise, some are a bit complex.

I just stick to my notes, in order of the bed numbers

 

[AmoryBlaine]

http://medfools.com/downloads/medicine.pdf

 

[deleted87716]

You can download several from SDN, as well. Check out the "Free Forms" page: http://www.studentdoctor.net/freeforms/index.asp

 

[Dr JPH]

Ive used a few different PDA programs and I seem to always go back to index cards. 😕

 

[Dunce]

I just bought this today from my school's bookstore.
http://webmedbooks.com/content/productdetail.aspx/upc=e65e6330-0eb4-43bd-b9a5-f210b7119724/

It comes with a small binder (fits easily in white coat) and a variety of patient tracking cards. I like the "Jam Pack" and the "Scutbuster" ones. If you scroll down on that link you can see the different pt tracking cards -- you can order more when you need them.
The starter set with all 6 types of cards was 12 bucks and refills of specific card types are around $6 or so. For that price, I think it's worth trying out.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Ive used a few different PDA programs and I seem to always go back to index cards. 😕

Me too...I thought I was horribly old-fashioned.

My system:

-fold patient list in half lengthwise
-on front, below each patient's name and other info, I write (very small) their vitals
-on the right side of the front of the list, goes check boxes with things to do/order/etc
-on the folded overleaf goes labs and radiology results.

I could pretty much fit everything I needed to on one page - just need a fine tip pen and a system of abbreviation.

 

[abc56]

here is a good technique i just learned from a surg. resident

take a piece of blank paper and fold it in half twice (to make a little rectangle). on the outside, put a sticker or write the patients name, PMH/PSH, allergies etc. on the inside on the left, list daily labs. on the right you can list imaging studies. on the back, keep a running list of their meds (you can cross out, rewrite etc)

then keep big sticky notes. stick that on the front, that can be like your daily "soap note" where you can write overnight events, vitals, quick physical findings, and your plan for the day (also functions as a to do list). at the end of the day you can toss the sticky note and use a new one for the next day.

i think this system has worked really well for me. and theres an endless supply of blank paper, i keep stealing it from teh nursing stations, hehehehe

hope that helps

 

[Shinken]

On sheet 2 of the medfools' "medicine" pdf download there are the letters "P L M E B" in the Labs section. What do those mean? I even asked some residents and they too were baffled by those. Anybody know? 😕

 

[deleted87716]

On sheet 2 of the medfools' "medicine" pdf download there are the letters "P L M E B" in the Labs section. What do those mean? I even asked some residents and they too were baffled by those. Anybody know? 😕

It's for the WBC differential: P=polys, L=lymphocytes, M=monocytes, E=eosinophils, B=basophils.

 

[Shinken]

It's for the WBC differential: P=polys, L=lymphocytes, M=monocytes, E=eosinophils, B=basophils.

Aaah! Of course! Thank you. I've been trying to figure that out for a while and didn't want to post because I knew it would be a relatively obvious answer.