
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 30, 1993                   TAG: 9307300401
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-8   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

IT HELPS TO KNOW A PATIENT'S NAME

LET'S HOPE that electronic record keeping at the Lewis-Gale Clinic will be more reliable than the filing system pictured with your recent article (Dose Of Economic Medicine, Sunday July 25).

About three years ago my mother was referred to a cardiologist at the clinic for diagnostic tests. I took her to the clinic for a report of test results. Examining the file in his hands, the physician began to summarize Mother's condition. When he asked whether she was still taking a certain prescription drug--one that she had never taken, it became evident to me that the file to which he was referring contained not my mother's records but those of another patient. I called this to his attention, and he then had someone retrieve the right file. Had I not been with my mother, what might have happened?

Such an error could be prevented if the physician greeted each patient by name upon entering an examining room. Sometimes a simple humane procedure can increase efficiency as much as the costliest electronic equipment. GERALDINE PLUNKETT ROANOKE

by CNB