Non-physician development of problem lists from office records

It has been argued that conversion of office records to the problem-oriented medical record entails a prohibitive cost in money and physician time. This study reports an evaluation of the cost of preparing problem lists from existing ambulatory patient records by non-physician personnel. The problem lists constructed by non-physician personnel were judged by physicians to be accurate, and the cost was much less than that required when physicians reviewed charts and prepared problem lists themselves. The method described here is an accurate and cost-effective way to begin conversion of outpatient records to P.O.M.R.