Unlocking Efficiency in Healthcare: The Impact of Virtual Medical Scribes on Productivity and Patient Care

Efficiency is the linchpin of progress in all industries, propelling productivity and innovation. Streamlining operations, reducing resource wastage, and boosting overall output, efficient processes optimize costs and expedite progress.

In healthcare, efficiency is even more paramount, driving operational excellence and delivering tangible patient benefits. Timely decisions and precision are crucial, and having efficient processes in place contributes to faster diagnosis, prompt treatment, and improved patient experiences.

But achieving efficiency doesn't have to be daunting. Consider this: on average, doctors spend two hours on documentation for every hour of patient care. What if those hours could be reclaimed? This blog, supported by data from three comprehensive studies, delves into the concrete benefits of integrating virtual medical scribes into your practice.

Impact of Scribe Intervention on Documentation in an Outpatient Pediatric Primary Care Practice (ScienceDirect)

In a study focused on an outpatient pediatric primary care practice, the implementation of medical scribes led to significant improvements in various aspects of documentation:

• Documentation time per patient decreased by 3 minutes and 28 seconds
• Note timeliness reduced from 0.96 days to 0.26 days
• Clinicians' perceived time spent in the Electronic Health Record (EHR) decreased by 1.2 hours per clinic session

These findings highlight the substantial time savings achieved through the integration of medical scribes, demonstrating their positive impact on outpatient pediatric settings.

Virtual Scribe Services Decrease Documentation Burden Without Affecting Patient Satisfaction (Sage Journals)

A randomized controlled trial conducted in an orthopedic foot and ankle practice compared traditional documentation with virtual medical scribe services. The results showed:

• Time spent documenting away from the patient significantly decreased with virtual medical scribes.
• Completion of documentation during patient visits was possible with virtual medical scribes.
• No measurable difference in patient satisfaction was observed between virtual medical scribes and traditional documentation.

The study concludes that orthopedic surgeons can consider virtual medical scribes a HIPAA-compliant documentation option with substantial time savings and no compromise in patient satisfaction or quality metrics.

The Effect of Remote Scribes On Primary Care Physicians’ Wellness, EHR Satisfaction, and EHR Use (ScienceDirect)

This study focused on the impact of remote scribes on primary care physicians' wellness, EHR satisfaction, and EHR use. Key results from this study include:

• Remote scribe users experienced improvements in wellness metrics, including a joyful workplace experience.
• Significant reductions were observed in total EHR time per 8 scheduled hours among scribe users compared to controls.
• Remote scribe users saw an increase in the percentage of pending order entries and appointments closed on the same day.

These findings showcase the positive association between remote scribe programs and physician well-being, along with notable time reductions in EHR-related workloads.

The evidence from these studies is clear – virtual medical scribes offer a valuable solution for physicians seeking to save time, enhance efficiency, and improve overall work satisfaction. As the healthcare landscape continues to evolve, the integration of virtual medical scribes becomes essential for providing quality patient care while managing the demands of modern medical practices.

Physicians Angels stands at the forefront of this transformation, empowering healthcare professionals to reclaim their time and focus on what matters most – patient well-being.

Physicians Angels was the industry's first Virtual Scribe company, providing real-time documentation directly into the physician's EMR, along with our Staffing Angels back-office support services. Our services improve patient throughput, practice financial performance and contribute to a better work/life balance for the physician and office staff. To learn more, visit www.physiciansangels.com or contact us.