Medical scribes can accurately document physician or independent practitioner dictation and activities, allowing providers to spend more time with patients, according to an article published Oct. 10 in Medical Economics. Maxine Lewis, president of Medical Coding & Reimbursement in Cincinnati, discusses the role of scribes in medical practices.
Industry News
Physician Burnout: Is Patient Overload to Blame?
It’s common knowledge that doctors work long hours. From late nights studying in medical school to the 28-hour shifts many young doctors experience during residency, physicians are conditioned to push their bodies and minds to the extreme in pursuit of a noble goal – making patients better. What if, however, those very patients are adversely affecting their doctor’s well-being?
Medical Scribes and AI: Helping Physician Burnout and EHR Burden
Medical scribes could help solve the issue of physician burnout and ease the electronic health record (EHR) documentation burden, based on a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine.
According to the study, researchers conducted a yearlong investigation with 18 primary care physicians at two medical centers with integrated healthcare systems. The investigation focused on if the use of a medical scribe would ease the EHR documentation burden, improve patient visits and work efficiency.
High Cost of Medical Scribes for Primary Care Physicians
Primary care in the United States is in a state of crisis, with fewer trainees entering the field and more current primary care doctors leaving due to professional burnout. Changes in the practice of primary care, including the many burdens related to EHR documentation, has been identified as a major source of physician burnout. There are ongoing efforts to reduce physician burnout by improving the work environment. One innovation has been the use of medical scribes in the exam room who are trained to enter narrative notes based on the patient-provider interview.
MedPage Today: My Sworn Enemy, the Keyboard
During one long ago very hot Washington D.C. summer, at the suggestion of my parents, I enrolled in a typing course that was given at our elementary school.
This was the summer between sixth and seventh grades, and there were lots of things I would've preferred to have been doing, but my dad, who started out in advertising, felt that touch-typing was a skill everyone needed.
Improve Clinical Data with Virtual Scribes
Insurers, drug companies and large HMOs are mounting an extensive effort to use medical data to decide which treatments are best, which doctors are best and which plans keep people the healthiest.
Brown Political Review: How Medical Scribes Can Heal Physician Burnout
Physician burnout—not Zika or Ebola—is the next big epidemic threatening our health care system. Doctors in the United States are more burnt out than ever before, leading to emotional exhaustion and even depression, which harms the well-being of patients and physicians alike. A 2014 survey of nearly 7,000 physicians found that 54.5 percent reported symptoms consistent with burnout—up from 45.5 percent in 2011.
JAMA Forum: The Benefits of Medical Scribes
A more productive work environment and a more satisfied workforce often go hand in hand. As the burden of documentation required by electronic health records (EHRs) increases, clinicians’ frustrations and lists of obligations grow. Medical scribes may offer reprieve.