Dr Brad Volk was uploading pictures just an hour after learning it was possible

We knew it was possible. We heard it was being done by wound care. When was it going to be “our” turn in family practice to try incorporating photos into our progress notes? About 2 weeks ago we borrowed the digital camera from our wound care department. Four providers and a couple MAs took the time to figure out to upload and embed the pictures, and now a week later we are ready to make this a regular practice.  We plan to have all of our cluster D providers and MAs trained.  About a dozen charts of patients seen in the past week now have bright detailed photos of wounds, abscess, and suspicious skin lesions. We have also found cc’ing the charts to a specialty pool (often derm or infectious disease) has been helpful.

While the “techies” in our group are excited to keep moving forward, this process did raise a few questions. Are there guidelines or advice on what types of conditions are best documented by photos in charts?  How to take a quality photo (too might light distorts the picture, is a measuring tape or patient label a must, should we avoid “private” areas?) 

Images can be great for patient care and followup, but we want to start good habits early so this remains a valuable use of our time.  I am curious who else is using photos in their notes and to learn some best practices.