What is Medical Charting?
Medical charting is the process used to keep track of all interactions with patients in a clinical environment. Every patient has a medical chart in which a wide variety of information is recorded by the care providers who interact with the patient. Since many people see multiple doctors, it is not uncommon for patients to have multiple medical charts. In some countries, the maintenance of electronic health records has been proposed to prevent this, ensuring that a patient’s entire medical history can be readily accessed. The information in a medical chart starts with the basics: the patient’s name, date of birth, and other simple demographic information which is relevant to medical care, such as marital status, obstetrical history, and so forth. The front page of a medical chart usually provides this information, allowing a care provider a quick overview of the patient’s basic characteristics. Conventionally, medical charts are kept in folders or binders, with pages organized in chron
