ABSTRACT
Look in many doctor’s pockets and you will find a large-barreled, expensive fountain pen. They carry these pens because they spend much of their day writing — writing notes and writing orders. Physicians’ orders result in diagnostic tests, treatments, and other things needed for the care of their patients. Traditionally, they write these orders on order sheets in the patient’s chart and then, through a complex sequence of steps involving several individuals and a considerable amount of time, these orders are communicated to the various departments and service areas that implement these orders. A second set of processes then assures that no orders are missed and that all of them are accomplished as the ordering doctor intended.
