Medicolegally Protective Documentation in Emergency Medicine.

More than 75% of emergency physicians will be named in a malpractice suit over the course of their careers. When a case is brought to trial, it is the chart that will be the primary source of information, not the faded memories of an encounter that happened years in the past. Being mindful of all 3 audiences that the chart is generated for and developing techniques to adequately address all 3 should be the focus of the clinician when documenting a patient encounter.