Electronic PCR's

[luvamedic]

We recently got the panasonic toughbooks which use INTERMEDIX programs. Check it out. It has made our paperwork so much easier and it will not let us turn it in uncompleted. Plus, insurance payments have increased.

[EMS49393]

My service uses electronic PCR documentation. I couldn't tell you what type of "tablet" we use, although it says "walkabout" when it's started. I'd have to check what program we use. We have an IT staff, so I rarely pay attention to anything but doing my PCR and downloading my tablet.

I will say this... I hate them. Hate may not be a strong enough word. I detest them. We have them mounted in front of a vent, and several of them freeze up when sitting in front of the air conditioner. They're unreliable, hard for patients and facilities to sign their name to, and they shut themselves down for no apparent reason. They tend to erase entire reports, which has been a constant problem. They have not held up to the rigors of the 80,000+ runs a year in our busy urban system. They are so difficult for patients/family/staff to sign on, that we went to paper signature sheets to complete our billing. I guess medicare got a little tired of trying to decipher a signature that looks like a bad drawing made with an etch-a-sketch on crack.

The benefits of electronic documentation... you have to sign in to actually write a PCR. I like the idea that my patient information is protected from other providers that really do not need access to my charts. I'm a big advocate of patient privacy.

Your new toy might be fine for your rural system. We don't have toughbooks, but I have used them with the last fire department I worked for, and they were impressive. Hopefully your staff will take care of these computers.

I don't really understand why it's so hard to take care of your equipment. The more stuff you break, the more you slim a potential raise.

Let us know how they are working out for your service after a few months of use. I'd be interested to know how they hold up.

[FormerEMSLT297]

we use www.emscharts.com it is great.

[Mateo_1387]

we use www.emscharts.com it is great.

I agree. We use EMS charts an I find it easy to use. Apparently if you have administrative rights you can change the program around to fit your agency too. I have not had many problems with it, and it is by far my favorite.

[spenac]

We recently got the panasonic toughbooks which use INTERMEDIX programs. Check it out. It has made our paperwork so much easier and it will not let us turn it in uncompleted. Plus, insurance payments have increased.

We have intermedix but on the tablets rather than toughbooks. Wish we had toughbooks. I do like the program.

[JakeEMTP]

We have the Panasonic Toughbooks here. The programme we currently have is the Zoll Rescuenet. Not a bad programme all in all. I though, have nothing to compare it too as it's the only programme I have used.

The feature I like the best is the ability to add comments during the assessment section (and everywhere else for that matter). The " no maximum " number of characters for my narrative is another plus. It has frozen up a few times, but I can safely attribute that to human error :oops:.

[a_shane2_go]

now i have zero expereince using EPCR's but with this situation i do. 5 pt's to be signed off as all refuse care. with EPCR's without backup would u just do one at a time? (Just thinking from a rural logistics standpoint.) One Toughbook, 2 attendants.

[noo]

We use toughbooks here, but with our own service-specific program. E-PCRs are great, but pose a few logistical problems-the program is a little complex, fairly comprehensive and has taken some learning! Our old PCRs relied on sound documentation skills from paramedics, as they were not "tick the box" formats...other than admin info and primary survey/vital signs the sheets were a blank format where paramedics wrote a "story" (with broad categories of PHx, Hx, MEDs, Allergies, On Arrival, On examination & Rx/Effect) The intro of E-PCRs has made the PCRs of lazy documentors better, but I believe those who wrote good comprehensive PCRs will be producing poorer ones. I dont know about your program, but ours seems to be more about collecting statistics than providing an accurate and comprehensive record of patient assessment and care!

Also, our service has deemed that it is unsafe to use the tablets in a moving vehicle (at least they are concerned about our safety I suppose), therfore we cannot begin to complete documentation until the job is complete...this is significantly impacting on response/availability times. I am still learning the system, but I used to be able to produce a good, written PCR in 10-20 mins (depending on complexity of job, drugs administered etc) now a complex case sheet takes me between 20-40 mins!

Overall though, they do provide consistency, and force lazy ambos to record information!

[JakeEMTP]

now i have zero expereince using EPCR's but with this situation i do. 5 pt's to be signed off as all refuse care. with EPCR's without backup would u just do one at a time? (Just thinking from a rural logistics standpoint.) One Toughbook, 2 attendants.

In my opinion, yes you would need to complete 5 different PCR's. What we do is this. My partner and I will do the assessments, record vital signs, gather the patient's pertinent information, hx, meds, etc. on a notepad and advise the patients that they should be evaluated by a MD if warranted. If they still refuse care we will have them sign the ePCR's as refusing treatment and/or transport and complete the remainder of the PCR after clearing the scene.

[spenac]

In my opinion, yes you would need to complete 5 different PCR's. What we do is this. My partner and I will do the assessments, record vital signs, gather the patient's pertinent information, hx, meds, etc. on a notepad and advise the patients that they should be evaluated by a MD if warranted. If they still refuse care we will have them sign the ePCR's as refusing treatment and/or transport and complete the remainder of the PCR after clearing the scene.

We actually use paper refusal form if more than one patient. Then we enter them into epcr later with an identifying number assigned to the signature form. Otherwise it is a pain to start and stop multiple forms.