As doctors go paperless, more turn to medical scribes for help

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.livewellnebraska.com/consumer/as-doctors-go-paperless-more-turn-to-medical-scribes-for/article_3b8a5feb-2776-597a-a005-e304a0a86849.html




REBECCA S. GRATZ/THE WORLD-HERALD
Miki McGill, an LPN and a scribe, types notes for Dr. Russ Bowen during an appointment with Greg Cade at a clinic near Lakeside Hospital. Bowen said McGill’s help during appointments saves him up to three hours of work a day.

Posted: Friday, February 6, 2015 1:00 am
By Rick Ruggles / World-Herald staff writer

Physician frustration with electronic health records has prompted a boom in a profession called “medical scribing.”

Medical scribes generally sit in the exam room and type into the patient’s electronic chart as the doctor and patient talk. The number of doctors using scribes in the Midwest and across the nation is fairly small but growing fast. Scribes can help doctors see more patients, and patients don’t have to wait so long for appointments. Scribes also can reduce the amount of time tacked onto the end of a doctor’s day while he punches information into the computer system.

Doctors from North Platte to the Nebraska Medical Center’s emergency department to a large primary care center opening in Omaha in July are trying out scribes.

“What is happening is they (doctors) have become really highly paid secretaries or data-entry specialists,” said Dr. Michael Murphy, CEO of the largest scribe company in the nation. “Doctors save lives, scribes save doctors.”

FULL story at link.

[Egnever]

1. Interesting

I wonder how the average patient feels about it.

[onyourleft]

5. Do you mean...

...how does the patient feel about the additional person in the exam room?

[Egnever]

6. Yes

[WhiteTara]

7. My doc uses a scribe

but she is accessed by phone. We have a consultation before and he always asks if I'm ready for the scribe. Using someone to access info and files,allows him to concentrate on me and not trying to find some paper in my file and the scribe is very discreet though I am always conscious of another person hearing my complaints.

[Liberal_in_LA]

2. creepy. At least put her on the otherside of a curtain.

[onyourleft]

10. She is...

...an LPN performing duties as a scribe. How is this any different than having her in the room as an LPN?

[Lars39]

3. Having the doctor's full attention would be a plus.

Downside...can't be worse than having a doctor in training in addition to your doctor in the room.

[KT2000]

4. sounds good

my dr. is more concerned with filling in the template during appointments. I barely talk and he just asks questions the computers needs to have filled in. He swings around to listen to my heart for 15 seconds. My brother spent one whole appt. helping the dr. figure out their new computer system and find his records.

I feel for the doctors. They have severe time constraints and they have to figure out a computer program that changes often.

[femmocrat]

8. Looks like a new job opportunity.

If it give the doctor more time with the patient, looks like a win-win. It wouldn't bother me one bit.

[ChazII]

9. My primary care doctor has been doing this for the past two

years. It gives him more time for me and not having to concentrate on the computer. I have no problem with the scribe being in the room.

[CK_John]

11. The Doctor should realize the scribe will replace him in about 2yrs. A remote

video set could be added and a remote doctors or software could be added do the diagnostic services.

[onyourleft]

12. I'm curious...

...if any current or former medical transcriptionists have tried breaking into this field.

Thanks for posting, Steve.

[daredtowork]

13. How strange

I was just telling a nurse how this would be a really good idea, considering how much of the doctor's time/attention was being absorbed by dealing with the EHR/EMR...

[Ramses]

14. Good article

But Im afraid with outsourcing and automation this will quickly replace people with voice recognition software that could probably do the same thing. Nothing against this, but with cutthroat healthcare, anything to maximize profits probably will be done

[MissB]

15. The dr I saw this week uses one.

I had to see him last week too. He introduces the scribe as they walk into the room and then the scribe sits at a counter, typing as the dr and I spoke. There was a curtain pulled such that I couldn't see her from where I was sitting, so other than her hearing the conversation, it really wasn't intrusive.

My primary care dr usually has a new dr tagging along. Depending on why I'm there, I either agree to have the extra doc in there or not.

[3catwoman3]

16. Our peds practice has had EMR...

...for almost 2 years, and I utterly detest it. I am not a proficient typist (never took it), and have to look at the keyboard when doing my 4-6 finger best. So, I can't/don't enter much info while talking to parents. I scribble stuff down on paper to refer to later. Even if I could type fast without looking at the screen, I don't think I would because I think it is rude not to look parents in the eye and give them my undivided attention while they are telling me why they are worried about their children. Especially if i have a weepy mom, which is not uncommon.

It often takes more time to document my work than it does to do my work. Appointment are 20 minutes long, and unless it is a really, really simple situation, getting the history taken, doing the exam, explaining the diagnosis and treatment, and answering parent questions takes every bit of that 20 minutes. If I am doing my efficient best, the charting takes about 10 minutes. If I see 15 patients a day, that's 150 minutes (2.5 hours) of documentation time above and beyond the patient care time.

I either take work home with me every night, or stay late at the office. I would love to have a scribe.