Insights from the Front Lines of Medical Documentation
We explore the root causes of information chaos, designing for clarity, and the thoughtful application of AI in medicine.
Why Clinicians Copy-Paste: Designing for Persistence, Not Duplication
Clinicians aren’t copy-pasting out of laziness. They’re trying to preserve clinical context that still matters. In this post, we explore how our research into duplication in the EHR led us to rethink documentation persistence and build Problem Link, a feature that keeps medical problems connected over time.
When the Chart Comes Up Empty
Sometimes the chart isn’t too full—it’s too empty. When key clinical information is missing, clinicians are forced to piece together the story themselves. In this post, we explore how information underload slows care, increases risk, and contributes to burnout—and how Stream helps preserve continuity over time.
Too Much Information, Too Little Time
Information overload is more than a nuisance—it’s a major contributor to clinical burnout. When alerts, messages, and chart clutter pile up without prioritization, cognitive load skyrockets. In part two of our Information Chaos series, we break down how overload disrupts clinical reasoning—and what we’re doing about it.
“I Know I’ve Seen This Before”: How Information Scatter Drives Clinician Burnout
Information scatter is when relevant clinical data is present—but spread across inboxes, scanned faxes, old notes, and your memory. It forces clinicians to reconstruct the story over and over, increasing cognitive load and driving burnout. Here’s why it happens—and how we can fix it.
Why “Faster Notes” Won’t Fix Cognitive Overload
Notes that write themselves are handy—but they don’t cure information overload. Clinicians still scroll through dozens of encounters to recover context. In this post we unpack why “faster notes” isn’t enough, show how persistent, problem-oriented threads cut cognitive load, and share what we’re building at River Records to keep every detail—labs, meds, follow-ups—exactly where you need it, every time.
Drowning in Documentation: The Cognitive Overload of Clinical Notes
Clinical documentation is no longer a tool for clarity—it’s a source of mental overload.
Today’s EHRs bury clinicians in duplicated notes, fragmented interfaces, and templated noise. The result? Slower decisions, missed signals, and mounting burnout. This week, we explore how cognitive overload is quietly eroding care quality—and what a better future could look like if documentation supported clinical thinking instead of sabotaging it.
The Hidden Danger of Perfect-Looking Notes: Why Surface-Level Completeness Isn't Enough
In medicine, uncertainty is normal. Our notes should reflect that. Learn how to reclaim clinical reasoning in documentation — and avoid the dangers of perfect-looking but hollow notes.
The Real Cost of Note Bloat: Clinical Clarity at Risk
Medical documentation is a clinical act, not just a clerical task. Learn why note bloat undermines patient care and how clinicians can rebuild clean, useful, clinically-driven notes through thoughtful, evidence-informed practices.
Our Approach to Clinical Documentation: A Philosophical Shift
At River Records, we believe documentation shouldn’t start from a blank page every time. Clinical care is continuous, and the record should reflect that. In this post, we share the philosophy behind Stream—our AI-powered, problem-oriented documentation platform—and explain why copy-paste behavior is not clinician error, but a system failure begging for a better solution.
Notes Are Deadweight. Clinical Context Is the Future.
For years, the clinical note has been treated as the centerpiece of medical documentation. But in practice, it’s become a relic of a paper-based past—bloated with repetition, slow to navigate, and ill-suited to the way clinicians actually think. At River Records, we’re reimagining documentation not as a series of static notes, but as a living, structured reflection of the patient. By organizing everything around medical problems rather than encounters, Stream gives clinicians the context they need without forcing them to dig through layers of outdated text. The result is faster reviews, clearer updates, and documentation that actually supports care.
Building Toward Patient-Level Representation
Nicely organized, problem oriented medical problems with Recap are a breeze to read, update, and leverage in clinic for more informed decision making.
5 Steps to Implement AI Scribing in Your Medical Practice
Streamline medical documentation with AI scribing to enhance efficiency and focus on patient care through effective implementation steps.
AI Medical Scribes: The Key to Managing Complex Care with Ease
Doctor using AI medical scribe technology for real-time clinical documentation, enhancing workflow efficiency and patient care coordination.