Jeff Langmaid explains when and how to send case notes to doctors: at evaluation, reevaluation, and discharge. Include patient name, date of service, diagnosis, and treatment plan. Get permission first and keep it brief to build relationships with primary care providers.
Hey doc, how's it going? I want to talk a little bit about case notes today, when to send them, what to include and how to be the most effective when you are reaching out to other healthcare providers in your community. So the great news is the simpler the better. When working with case notes, there are three times where it is appropriate to send a case note. That's your evaluation, your reevaluation and your discharge from active care when a patient goes to as needed monthly, whatever it may be, be in your practice. But your three touch points for sending the case notes anytime you bill an EM code a 99201 to 205211 to 215 anything in between that you want to make sure that you are sending a case note out to the primary care provider as long as your patient has given you permission to do so. And on that case note please do not send 10 pages. That is perpetual punishment for the doc you are sending it to. If it's single spaced and it is 10 pages long, it will not be read. So keep your case notes short. Brevity is the key. Include patient name, date of service, diagnosis and treatment plan. I'll say it one more time. Patient name, date of service, diagnosis and treatment plan. Also known as who did you see, when did you see them, what did you find and what are you going to do if you start sending those out? On your evals, your reviles and your discharge, you will go along towards doing a couple very important things with relationship building. You will have the social proof that you exist. You'll be emphasizing the co management of those patients and as they get those reaval notes and those discharge notes, they will see firsthand the results that you are getting in your clinic. So if you are not sending case notes, if you are not collecting primary care information up front, be sure to do so. It's imperative you are missing out multiple opportunities if you don't get that information up front. And then make sure you are sending those notes out on the back end. It is a pillar of relationship building. Case notes on their own will not flood your office with new patients, but they set the foundation for your other efforts, your research and your meetings to do wonders for your practice and for the people in your community. So that is a quick way to get case notes out your front door in the best and most effective manner possible.
