How do YOU organize the records?

Editorial Team / Admin · Jul 23, 2008

Pretty much I take the entire MR, visualize how it should appear in the MR, and start making piles of sections.

I use tabs (customized) to organize each section contained in a 3 or 4 ring binder. When finished, it looks like a MR complete with tabs like one finds in the hospitals/LTC facilities.

There's really not any particular way to do it. Just develop your own way. You'll find you will get faster with this as you go along. It takes time to put a MR together especially if you receive reams of paper and all are totally disorganized.

Good luck.

kellygurl64 · Dec 14, 2011

Pretty much I take the entire MR, visualize how it should appear in the MR, and start making piles of sections.
I use tabs (customized) to organize each section contained in a 3 or 4 ring binder. When finished, it looks like a MR complete with tabs like one finds in the hospitals/LTC facilities.
There's really not any particular way to do it. Just develop your own way. You'll find you will get faster with this as you go along. It takes time to put a MR together especially if you receive reams of paper and all are totally disorganized.
Good luck.

Agreed! I like to keep it like a hospital chart, but my Chrono summaries are a Word document. I do tables with 3 columns: Provider, date, summary. Each page is numbered and I have headers on each page with the case info and date updated. Works out very well.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2012

if you want to do a pro job for chronologies, you can use a proprietary software product (like casemap; no financial ties to disclose) that will help you organize. all you have to do is enter the content of a particular record (cm will even allow you to attach a pdf of the original) with date and other criteria you specify, and then the software sorts it all by date, or by provider, or by keyword, or whatever. for me, the big drawback of the casemap family of products (and they are fabulous) is that they refuse to make a mac-compatible version and i don't want to buy a pc just for my record reviews and chrons, so i use a db i made in filemakerpro. not as flashy but it gets the job done for me quite well.

if you are getting records from an atty, they probably come sorted by provider. hospital records come as the hash they got from the hospital. insurance company records come as hash, leftover, duplicated, more leftovers tossed in, and re-hashed. if i am not sorting records for use by another person (like an atty-- that's what they have paralegals for, or for an atty to send out to an expert with my summary) i like to sort everything i get by date including all providers, labs, procedure notes, diagnostics, the works, all interleaved so i can read from beginning to end and see what happened, who knew what when...and what's missing.

you can get chart dividers like they have in paper hospital charts and use those, too, if that helps.

Editorial Team / Admin · Jan 4, 2012

if you want to do a pro job for chronologies, you can use a proprietary software product (like casemap; no financial ties to disclose) that will help you organize. all you have to do is enter the content of a particular record (cm will even allow you to attach a pdf of the original) with date and other criteria you specify, and then the software sorts it all by date, or by provider, or by keyword, or whatever. for me, the big drawback of the casemap family of products (and they are fabulous) is that they refuse to make a mac-compatible version and i don't want to buy a pc just for my record reviews and chrons, so i use a db i made in filemakerpro. not as flashy but it gets the job done for me quite well.

using a mac, one can install a virtualization application such as parallels or vmware fusion (that's what i use).

i use windows-only casemap in a vmware fusion of windows 7. i do my presentation work and word processing in os x applications. using the virtualization software, i can run casemap right next to my os x word processing application.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Jan 4, 2012

yeah, i know...i've looked into it. do you really like it? are you using lion? i've been really hesitant to partition and install a ms product on my baby :uhoh3:

Editorial Team / Admin · Jan 4, 2012

yeah, i know...i've looked into it. do you really like it? are you using lion? i've been really hesitant to partition and install a ms product on my baby

well, i had to do something. :) i was forced into the use of my mac because my pc just upped an died. :)

yes, i like it. works just fine and don't have to purchase anything else and/or change my ways (waaaaay too much change frustrates me - lol!! ).

no, not using lion. i use the os x snow leopard.