Do you look up patients ahead of time?

Does anyone else pre-chart or look up their patients ahead of time? I’m a surgeon, so thankfully I’m only in clinic twice a week. But I do look up all of my patients ahead of time. I sometimes catch things that aren’t notes in the referral notes (prior op notes, scope findings, etc).

It is more work (I end up doing this when I’m at home after working all day), but I feel like it makes my patient encounters more meaningful since I have a good background on their medical history and what the referral is for. Sometimes I catch things and can stop a referral before it happens and save the patient an unnecessary appointment after talking to the PCP.

I’m asking because I’m the only one of my partners that does this. But it does take more time away from my family and home life.

I don’t necessarily know if I’ll change my practice, because I hate walking into a patient room and not know the details. Just wondering if anyone else does this?