Every form has a ghostwriter

Handing the clipboard back is the fast part.

What comes after is someone at the front desk reading the handwriting, working out what was meant in the box that ran out of room, and typing the form into the practice system. Naturally at the busiest hour, because that is when people arrive.

The better part of twenty minutes, and almost none of it is typing. The phone goes. Someone needs a receipt. The form gets picked up and put down more times than anyone counts.

Maybe nobody schedules that time, so it comes out of whatever else the front desk was trying to get done.

The same form gets written down twice. Once by the patient, once by someone who'd rather do something else.

What does that second time take out of your front desk on a full morning?