Intra-surgical documentation system

1. A method of creating a surgical operative note during a specific surgical procedure on a patient, the method comprising:

creating a plurality of surgical checklists before initiation of the specific surgical procedure, each surgical checklist being associated with a different surgical procedure;

creating an index of image specific annotations that correspond to the specific surgical procedure before initiation of the specific surgical procedure and wherein the image specific annotations include at least one text annotation;

obtaining an electronic surgical operative note template;

inserting a surgical checklist of the plurality of surgical checklists that is associated with the specific surgical procedure on the patient into the electronic surgical operative note template;

capturing, during the specific surgical procedure, an image of the patient;

inserting, during the specific surgical procedure, the image of the patient into the electronic surgical operative note template;

displaying, during the specific surgical procedure, the image of the patient and at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations;

receiving a voice command during the specific surgical procedure indicating a selection of at least one of the image specific annotations from the index of image specific annotations to associate with the image of the patient in the electronic surgical operative note template; and

in response to receiving the voice command, inserting the selected at least one of the image specific annotations into the electronic surgical operative note template and displaying, during the specific surgical procedure, the selected at least one of the image specific annotations together with the image of the patient.

2. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 1 , further including:

receiving dictated information related to the specific surgical procedure during the specific surgical procedure; and

inserting text generated from the dictated information into the electronic surgical operative note template at a location in the electronic surgical operative note template spaced from the at least one of the image specific annotations;

wherein inserting the text into the electronic surgical operative note template occurs during the specific surgical procedure.

3. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 2 , further including:

adding at least one billing code to the electronic surgical operative note template corresponding to the specific surgical procedure, wherein the at least one billing code is automatically added to the electronic surgical operative note template during the step of inserting the text into the electronic surgical operative note template.

4. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 1 , further including:

adding a digital signature to the electronic surgical operative note template.

5. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 1 , further including:

adding at least one billing code to the electronic surgical operative note template corresponding to the specific surgical procedure.

6. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 5 , wherein:

the at least one billing code is automatically added to the electronic surgical operative note template during insertion of the at least one of the image specific annotations into the electronic surgical operative note template.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein index of image specific annotations is limited for a particular hospital for the specific surgical procedure, for a particular location for the specific surgical procedure, for a specialty of the specific surgical procedure, or for a particular surgeon performing the specific surgical procedure.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to displaying the at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations, receiving a voice command to display the at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations, and displaying the at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations in response.

9. A method of creating a surgical operative note during a specific surgical procedure on a patient, the method comprising:

creating surgical information before initiation of the specific surgical procedure;

creating an index of image specific annotations that correspond to the specific surgical procedure before initiation of the specific surgical procedure and wherein the image specific annotations include at least one text annotation;

obtaining an electronic surgical operative note template;

inserting the surgical information into the electronic surgical operative note template;

capturing, during the specific surgical procedure, an image of the patient;

inserting, during the specific surgical procedure, the image of the patient into the electronic surgical operative note template;

displaying, during the specific surgical procedure, the image of the patient and at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations;

receiving a voice command during the specific surgical procedure indicating a selection of at least one of the image specific annotations from the index of image specific annotations to associate with the image of the patient in the electronic surgical operative note template; and

in response to receiving the voice command, inserting the selected at least one of the image specific annotations into the electronic surgical operative note template and displaying, during the specific surgical procedure, the selected at least one of the image specific annotations together with the image of the patient;

receiving, during the specific surgical procedure, dictated information related to the specific surgical procedure; and

inserting text generated from the dictated information into the electronic surgical operative note template at a location in the electronic surgical operative note template spaced from the at least one of the image specific annotations;

wherein inserting the text into the electronic surgical operative note template occurs during the specific surgical procedure.

10. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 9 , further including:

adding a digital signature to the electronic surgical operative note template.

11. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 9 , wherein:

the surgical information includes at least one of a checklist of steps to take for the specific surgical procedure and a description of the specific surgical procedure.

12. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 9 , further including:

adding at least one billing code to the electronic surgical operative note template corresponding to the specific surgical procedure.

13. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 12 , wherein:

the at least one billing code is automatically added to the electronic surgical operative note template during insertion of the at least one of the image specific annotations into the electronic surgical operative note template.

14. The method of creating the surgical operative note of claim 12 , wherein:

the at least one billing code is automatically added to the electronic surgical operative note template during the step of inserting the text into the electronic template.

15. The method of claim 9 , wherein index of image specific annotations is limited for a particular hospital for the specific surgical procedure, for a particular location for the specific surgical procedure, for a specialty of the specific surgical procedure, or for a particular surgeon performing the specific surgical procedure.

16. The method of claim 9 , further comprising, prior to displaying the at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations, receiving a voice command to display the at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations, and displaying the at least a portion of the index of image specific annotations in response.