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 “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.
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.
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.
