The Value of Recording Telephone Contacts
Pediatricians spend a significant amount of time on the telephone. In many instances, all or most of the management of a given clinical situation is done by telephone. As a result, large amounts of data that might be relevant to a child's health are generated and will be lost if not entered into the medical record. A complete picture of any illness that is at all complicated can be constructed only by combining the data obtained directly from the office encounters with the data garnered by telephone conversations. History reported over the phone as it happens is more accurate than when it is recalled in an office visit days or weeks later.
