Dear Katie,

Why notes.....

well for starters our mundial organisation, the WCPT has strong ideas about this.
Draft Position Statement - Appendix to Physical Therapy Record Keeping, Storage and Retrieval | WCPT.org

In more and more countries it is mandatory and can be used by Health Insurance Companies to "check" the quality of the therapy given. I know this to be the case in Holland and the U.K.

A good article more or less answering your questions on this topic can be found on NDTA Network sept/october 2003 called: Productivity: the value of evaluations. Documentation as the basis of problem solving. By Marcia Stamer.
http://www.ndta.org/downloads/NetworkSepOct03.pdf

On a practical and personal level:
1. for me, notes are necessary because I cannot remember every detail of every test of every patient every day
2. writing your notes makes you stop and think, sometimes this can lead to decisions to change your therapy modalities and rethink you whole therapy goals and plans
3. if you cannot work for some reason and your job has to be taken over by someone else, good notes will help ensure proper continuation of treatment.

Hope this helps....

Esther