PARQ – When a dentist discusses treatment options with a patient, it must be documented. However, it would take a lot of writing to document each person's part of the conversation. PARQ has been created to be written in the patient treatment notes and imply that each of the following issues have been discussed. Therefore the entire conversation no longer needs to be documented, and it has been shown that too much documentation can cause problems in court, because what is not written in the chart is assumed to have not been discussed with the patient. So too much writing is bad and too little writing is bad. A very fine line as you can see. In the end, as a dental assistant we have the luxury of leaving the extent of charting up to the dentist who must read and sign what we write. If the dentist wants more written they can either do it themselves or ask the dental assistant to provide more detail.
So what does PARQ mean? It stands for the following words.
· Procedure: The patient was advised of the recommended treatment and what will/would take place.
· Alternatives: The patient was advised of alternatives or options for treatment.
· Risks: The patient was advised of any risks from the recommended procedure and/or treatment options.
· Questions: The patient was given the opportunity to ask questions, to ensure (s)he completely understood the doctors recommendations and what can be expected from all parties and all treatments.
