EXAMPLE – BUSINESS MEMO – RN TO DIRECTOR

M E M O R A N D U M

TO: Dr. Jonathan Jones, Director – Seafood Medical Group

FROM: Cynthia Barnes, RN

DATE: March 26, 2020

RE: Submission of New Policy Change – Notations in EMR System

Thank you again for allowing the staff an opportunity to hear your thoughts on the company’s plans for expansion and its future. I am appreciative to be employed by a company that values their staff’s understanding and input to its vision for the future of Seaford Medical Group. Additionally, I am excited to hear of the new opportunities for employee development and promotion. As you mentioned near the end of our recent meeting, staff with ideas for new or improved procedures and policies are welcome to send their proposals to you for review. With this said, I am writing to do just that. 

Documentation of missed and/or cancelled appointments has never been a requirement within our facility. For years, we’ve simply waited for patients to call and reschedule. Although this practice hasn’t caused major problems, I’d like to propose a new policy I feel will benefit our patients, staff, and medical facility as a whole. The following points contain a summary of this proposed policy: 

• Throughout the day, all ‘no shows’ will be noted in patients’ medical records (Patients will not be penalized for not showing up for appointments).
• Depending on the nature of the appointment, such as post – operative care or important follow – up, patients will be contacted in attempt to re-schedule appointments.
• These re – scheduled appointments will also be documented in patients’ medical records. 

This proposed policy will benefit our patients because it ensures continuity of care. For staff, it will facilitate improved record keeping of important matters concerning our patients. Our medical facility will benefit from this policy as well in that over time, we will gain a reputation for really caring about our patients. Additionally, it this policy will commence a process of data collection that could serve useful in future decisions regarding company policy and procedure. It is best to have this information handy in the event it is needed compared to the alternative. Implementation of these new procedures would also be relatively easy as our EMR systems already have fields for this information.

I would like to discuss this proposal during our next staff meeting. As per our policy, I will submit details to be considered for the agenda 3 days prior to our meeting on Friday, April 10, 2020 at noon. 

Thank you for your consideration! Again, I appreciate your open-ness to new ideas and perspectives, and I greatly look forward to speaking with you about this matter.