Do you want to reduce the time taken to find important details and phone/ fax numbers during a consultation? There is an easy way to organise all this information and keep it handy.
I created a folder that I keep in my room with print outs of the guideline summaries, local services information for patients and details about private doctors with referral instructions.
This has been invaluable as a quick reference guide when I see patients and it saves time searching on the internet or in my emails. I have divided my folder into three sections as follows: guideline quick references/ action plan copies, details of community services/ private doctor referral details and RACGP assessment forms.
Guidelines and action plans
It is essential to have these bookmarked on your computer for easy review and to be able to print it out when needed (see article: Must have shortcuts for GPs- patient information and action plans). Sometimes it is nice to have a folder with the most frequently used tools and action plans incase the printer stops working one day!
I regularly use printouts from guidelines to counsel patients on the different aspects of the preventative health lifecycle chart created by the RACGP in their preventative activities in general practice guidelines. I use it to go through with the patient the different activities and medical concerns that can be addressed to optimise their health.
I have found that it serves as a reminder of the discussion during the consultation and it also prompted them to consider the preventative health actions they can take. I found that most of the patients booked in a skin check after this consultation (many of them have not had one in decades!) once looking at the different activities on the chart.
Asthma and COPD action plans (with the checklist) is a common tool that can be printed and kept aside for use during consultations and it is especially important in school aged children as it is a requirement. It helps to provide a review template and provides prompts to undertake any further steps to manage their COPD or asthma that can be missed during a short consultation (e.g. immunisations).
Local services/ private doctors referral details
The services available to patients varies based on where they live and often in a rural setting not all the major services and specialists are available close by. It is helpful to keep a list of the community referral pathways and locations of services to be able to refer patients.
Many private specialists often send email or posted reminders to local GPs that their services are being offered in the local area and how to refer to them. By keeping a copy you can offer patients who prefer to see a specialist privately a referral on request. If you are new to an area it can take some time to learn where each specialist work and having a paper reminder in your saves time scrolling on the internet or in emails!
If your practice doesn't have a list of local specialist (private/ public) for doctors to use an idea for a quality improvement project can be to create a list for use by all the staff.
RACGP forms
Depending on which pathway you take to followship there are often forms that can be downloaded and assessments completed. As your superviors are often very busy if an opportunity arises to complete an assessment it is handy to have a printed copy ready to go! For this reason I keep a few copies of each assessment in my folder.
If you are a junior doctor or a student and are keen to gain feedback using a pre-made template you can still use these assessment forms:
MINI-CEX (based on professionalism and communication) https://www.racgp.org.au/FSDEDEV/media/documents/Education/IMGs/PEP-Mini-CEX-rating.pdf
Clinical case analysis: https://www.racgp.org.au/FSDEDEV/media/documents/Education/IMGs/PEP-Clinical-case-analysis-Clinical-case-submission-template.pdf
Summary
Essentially, your folder serves to help you streamline your consultations and assessments. It is based on your individual style and you can add anything that you feel that will benefit you. Even though we use the computer for most of the work it definitely helps to keep hard copies of documents.
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