Why? Patient symptoms, medicine side effects, and more all sit within these doctor diaries, which could mean countless pieces of helpful information. And rather than assuming the notes can never be read, doctors and medical workers alike need to extract that information for the common good. By imputing those pages of data into a computer, it can then be used by preventative and predictive analytics. Specialized software can interpret patterns, and then use it to help keep others well.

Translating the Unreadable

Taking handwritten notes and putting them into a computer may sound like a great job for an intern, but there’s no guarantee the data can be accurately read. (Or understood.) For doctors whose handwriting is so supremely bad that they’re the only ones that can read it, that may mean extra work. However, by using voice recognition programs or even dictating to a person, medical professionals can make short work out of moving important texts. And once in typed format, the notes can then easily be translated into the software or other program.

Whether on notepads or stored away in a personal computer file, it’s time for doctors notes to be shared. Without placing this data into growing analytics programs, there is a huge chunk of data missing from predicative accessibility. In contrast, there are hundreds of studies to be advanced, along with the patients they represent.

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