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Wiki Chief Complaint

pscott

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Hello,
I am studying for the CEMC exam, and am wondering about the chief complaint.
I know there has to be one, but do you count it in the HPI?
Thanks!
 
The Chief Complaint is the concise statement of why the patient is seeking care, the reason for the visit, and it is usually documented in the patient's words

The HPI is the patient's subjective description of the course of the illness/injury up until this point. In your example, I would count "UTI" as the CC, and I would count two elements for the HPI: "symptoms present for one day" (duration) and "burning sensation" (associated signs and symptoms). One could argue that "burning" could be counted as a "quality" element instead, but you still end up with a two-element HPI

Hope this helps
 
No. You can't use the Chief Complaint as an HPI. Every chart needs a chief complaint and you can't double dip into the HPI. I hope that answers your question.
 
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