Interview with Lawrence Weed, MD- The Father of the Problem-Oriented Medical Record Looks Ahead.

I first met Lawrence Weed, MD, in 1972 when I was a third-year medical student at the University of Vermont. To this day I remember his passion for a disciplined approach to medical record documentation to optimize the care provided to each individual patient.Now, 35 years later, I was privileged to meet with Dr Weed at his home in Vermont. We discussed when he first was alerted to the nonscientific approach clinicians use to make decisions on patients. The rest of the interview time was spent with Dr Weed teaching me about the solution that he has spent the last 30 years designing and implementing.This interview is published to complement the editorial in the most recent issue of The Permanente Journal (Spring 2009;13[2]:85-7). We believe that in the era of health care reform and quality improvement initiatives, it is important that the medical community take a close look at Dr Weed's total approach decision-making information support defined in this interview.- Lee Jacobs, MD.