More on Transfer of Medical Information

Dr. Auld's gripe (Pediatrics, 42:1014, 1968) about how hard it is to get useful patient information from colleagues is probably shared by many of us. But, since pediatricians are among the busiest (and least well remunerated) specialists, more than griping and pleading for better rapport will be needed to get results. Two avenues suggest themselves.

The first is to automate both the recording and reproduction of medical records. If all our notes were dictated, using standardized nomenclature and units of mensuration, and then transcribed for standardized forms, our records would become both more accessible for ourselves and more easily reproducible for our colleagues.