Articles of Interest

When it comes to seeking out high-quality employees, many businesses will spare no expense to ensure they find the best. As the saying goes, “Your human talent is your most important talent.” This is never more relevant than in the hospital setting.

“We keep focusing on resilience training and wellness when we should be focusing on plans to increase support within the health care workforce.” These are the thoughts of a physician struggling with burnout—a worsening concern among clinicians today as the world continues to navigate its way out of a global pandemic.

So, you’ve decided to make the leap toward more time and hire the services of a Virtual Scribe. Smart move, but to make sure you get all that you can out of your new professional relationship, there are a few steps to consider before officially getting things underway.

While telemedicine was around long before March 2020, it has never been more prominent than it is right now. As the world continues to find its way through the global pandemic, social distancing and virtual connections have become our new way of life.

If greater efficiency is something you’re striving for in 2022, you’re not alone. A large majority of New Year’s resolutions revolve around making better use of one’s time—whether at home or in the office. According to data from YouGovAmerica quoted in an article by Forbes, about a quarter of Americans will make resolutions, with 20% realistically believing they will actually accomplish them.

Times, they are a-changin’. And within a large majority of today’s operating rooms and medical offices, so is the gender of many practicing physicians. The increasing number of women donning the white coat has seen a gradual, yet steady, shift over time—and it’s a shift that is only ramping up with each passing year.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to fill hospitals with sick patients and new variants emerge, healthcare workers continue to be pushed to the brink like never before. It’s the reason why entire global summits are being dedicated to burnout. It’s the reason why we’re seeing clinicians quitting at an alarming rate. And, it’s the reason why we’re so concerned about the threat of physician shortages to come.

“I’m just going through the motions; I’ve lost my ability to care. I’m numb. When will it end?” Ten years ago, those were the words of Cardiologist Dr. Jonathan Fisher. Today, those thoughts still reflect the feelings of many clinicians—and it’s a reality that has only gotten worse thanks to an unbalanced work-life balance, unrealistic documentation demands and a global pandemic.

Due to the challenges of finding quality hires, and having more people within the clinic space, the pendulum has swung from live scribes—those who physically enter the room with the physician—to virtual scribes—who attend the physician/patient encounter via secure audio connection. In a time when companies like Zoom continue to watch their revenue skyrocket and the phrase “let’s hop on a call” might as well be added to the dictionary, it only makes sense that this particular niche would expand.

As a clinician, you’ve likely spent far too long buried under the demands of documentation. You’ve taken more work home than you ever imagined, and you understand first-hand what it means to be burnt out. But you’ve also seen the studies about how much time you could be saving with the help of a medical scribe—and you’ve finally decided it’s time to take that step.