Physicians Angels is the oldest and most trusted virtual solutions service in the industry. We started in 2007 and now serve the needs of hundreds of medical, dental and veterinary practices throughout the U.S.
Frequently Asked Questions
You may want to know more about what it’s like to work with Physicians Angels or have specific questions about how our Virtual Assistants or Virtual Scribe services are different from other Virtual Assistant options. While we would be happy to discuss any questions with you, here are some of the more common questions we get:
General Questions
How long have you been in business?
Of course, we are! We would not be in business for so long without a superior track record for security. We follow all requirements to ensure we adhere to HIPAA and your unique security protocols.
Where are your Virtual Assistants and Scribes located?
Our virtual team is located at five separate office locations that Physicians Angels owns and operates throughout India.
No, there are not. Our prices are $12-16 per hour, and that’s it!
We do not offer a free trial, but we do offer a 30-day trial during which you pay a low hourly rate for the hours used, with no obligation to continue beyond the trial period.
I am a solo practitioner; can I afford to work with you?
Yes. Our rates are very affordable, and you can choose the virtual service plan that works for your budget and business.
Can you work with large health systems?
Yes. We can work with individual physicians or offices within a system, or as a service provider hired by system administrators to work with some or all of their practices.
Do I have to reach someone in India to ask questions or solve an issue?
No. Physicians Angels is a U.S. based company, where our leadership and customer service teams are located. Our English-speaking virtual assistants and scribes and quality control teams are located in India, which enables us to provide exceptional service at very affordable rates.
Are you a publicly traded company?
No. Physicians Angels Inc. was founded and is privately owned by doctors, so we understand the unique challenges and opportunities of a busy medical office.
Yes. We are happy to provide references upon request.
Virtual Staffing Questions
How long does it take to get started?
Our Virtual Staffing services can be launched immediately, with only a few hours of setup necessary.
The only cost for our Virtual Medical Assistant service is an hourly charge of $12-16 per hour. You can use as many hours as you need and will only be charged for the hours you use. There are no additional startup costs.
What specific back-office services can you provide?
Our Virtual Assistants are equipped and trained to handle the critical back-office administrative tasks that keep your practice running. These include:
- Insurance Verification
- Prior Authorizations
- Insurance Credentialing
- Phone Answering and Scheduling
- Pre-Certifications
- Medical Coding
- Charge Entry and Review
- Payment Posting
- Denials Management
- Payer Follow-up
- Pre-chart Prep and Document Uploading into your EHR
- Updating Patients' Medical History Questionnaire
- Edit patient charts created with AI and VR software
- Handle Refill Requests
- Appointment Reminder Calls
- Patient Advocacy
We can also support your practice management needs with services like KPI Monitoring, Comprehensive Data Collection and Customized Reporting.
Virtual Scribe Questions
How long does it take to get started?
Our Virtual Scribe services require setup and consultation with the physician regarding personal preferences and processes. It usually takes about 4-6 weeks to get started.
What is the process for hiring a Virtual Medical Scribe?
Because we match each provider to the right Virtual Scribe, we first meet with you to discuss your practice, style and working preferences. We then work with you to establish the secure IT connection and microphone, an easy process that requires no expertise on your end. To ensure a seamless transition, we conduct a short pilot period during which your scribe works in parallel with your existing documentation process. You and your scribe will meet to review the documentation so that you can guide the scribe as necessary. This proven-effective process ensures everything is working smoothly for you before you transition and usually takes about 4-6 weeks.
Do you use video for your Virtual Scribe service?
We do not use video for our Virtual Scribe service; we only use audio. Video takes up unnecessary bandwidth and does not provide any additional benefits. Video is intrusive to patients, and if you think about it, you do not want your scribe making decisions on what they think they see; instead, the decision about what should go in the note must be verbalized by the provider.
Does this service work only for doctors?
Our Virtual Scribe Service works for any provider you want in the office.
Have you ever had a data breach?
To date, we have not had a data breach. A key reason is that we do not store any data – so there is nothing to steal. We log directly into your EMR via the cloud or server and utilize our HIPAA secure VOIP to listen into the encounter and complete it in real-time.
Are the charts completed the same day?
Yes. Your Virtual Scribe completes the chart immediately after the encounter, so that they are ready for the provider to review and approve every day. This alleviates the need for providers to spend hours each night on documentation requirements.
For our Virtual Scribe services, there is a charge of between $250 - $500 to set up IT, and there is the cost of the microphone which we use to listen to the encounter which typically costs around $100.
What other equipment will I need to buy?
We ask that you purchase a microphone we recommend that costs between $100-$150.
Yes, that is what the research indicates. A study in The Journal of the American Medical Association, entitled “Analysis of Errors in Dictated Clinical Documents Assisted by Speech Recognition Software and Professional Transcriptionists,” found an error rate of more than 7% in clinical documents charted using speech recognition software. The study concluded that a human touch to edit and review was vital to error-free clinical documentation. In sum, charts completed using speech recognition software tools still require hours of editing and correcting.
Many of Physicians Angels’ Virtual Scribe clients are former users of VR software. Their feedback is consistent: VR tools result in too many errors that providers need to correct later. Plus, a provider still has to manually enter orders, prescriptions, and manage their templates.
A physician using a Virtual Scribe to do the charting in real-time results in less documentation errors, better quality charts, and saves much more time in the long run.
As you probably realize, solving IT burn-out with more IT – speech recognition; even more EMR training; improved templates or EMR user interfaces, etc. – will not work. These IT fixes only layer more technology and multitasking on top of a providers’ already busy day.
Moreover, independent research in the past few years, as published by groups like the AMA, shows that what is needed is a human touch to input, review, and edit clinical data efficiently and error-free into patient charts. Virtual Scribes provide this for you by serving as trained and certified EMR data managers.
Another way to think about the cost of a Virtual Scribe is this: Physicians Angels’ services cost $12-16 per hour. Assume an 8- or 9-hour clinic day. On average then, our Virtual Scribes will cost you $110-$150 per day. Now, asking a provider who earns your clinic $300-400 per hour seeing patients to also chart for 1-2 hours minimum each day will cost you much more – closer to $1,000 per day in lost productivity, plus the costs related to provider burn-out and stress.
So, if you are not paying for a Virtual Scribe, then you are paying with a provider’s time – and risking physician burn-out. So, which is the better deal for your clinic?