Table 1.

Charting systems characteristics

Charting system	EMR Features	Method of entry of visit diagnoses*
Paper	----	Paper form sent to a processing center, entered by clerk
Basic	Results viewing (labs), demographics	Basic interface, usually by clerks at the point of care working off of a paper form completed by the provider. Infrequently used method
Intermediate	Documentation, results viewing, medication ordering, referrals	Electronic version of the paper form, or a search bar within the EMR, entry by providers
Advanced	Documentation, radiology, laboratory, and medication ordering, results viewing, clinical decision support	Provider chooses ICD9-based diagnoses to create progress note for visit. These diagnoses are communicated to the electronic database after the provider completes chart

* Visit information from all four sources was linked to the same automated visit encounter database, the source of information for the study

EMR: electronic medical record