While electronic health record (EHR) systems can be beneficial, the chief complaint with the technology for many physicians is that they’ve become typists and must spend time away from patient care for documentation. But some practices have found a solution to this problem by implementing team documentation—and they’re seeing returns on their investments. Learn how you can take this approach in your practice. Team documentation is a process in which staff assist with documenting visit notes, entering orders and referrals, and queuing up prescriptions in real-time while they are in the exam room with the physician and the patient. This frees the physician to focus on the patient. For physicians implementing team documentation, it’s working. While many physicians are stuck spending hours in the evenings and on weekends with their EHRs, those who are using scribing aren’t. “The only time I’ll ever even look at the computer is if I’m pulling up an X-ray or something,” said James Jerzak, MD, a family medicine physician from Wisconsin. “I never document at home. Everything is done and closed by the time I leave the office.” Another Wisconsin physician, Richard Fossen, MD, said his internal medicine clinic has seen a return on investment since moving to team documentation. “The revenue increases quite quickly once you get your model in place and your efficiencies run and you can open up slots in your schedule,” Dr. Fossen said. “You can see a return on your investment in a fairly short period of time.” A free online module in the AMA’s STEPS Forward collection shows you how to implement team documentation in your practice. Visit the module to calculate what your practice could save and get an in-depth look at what team documentation looks like in practice. But first, read these eight steps to team documentation. Read more at AMA Wire.