The digitization of medical records in the US has completely changed the way physicians practice medicine, but not in a good way. Physicians started to feel distant from their patients as they had to spend too much time staring at their computers, inputting notes. Physicians’ work-life balance also took a hit as they began spending their weekends finishing their notes from the previous week. Virtual scribes are a great option, who work remotely from an off-site location and help in documenting the details of the encounter so that the physician can focus on providing patient care and working more efficiently.
The need for virtual scribes
Time and again, studies have shown that physicians spend two hours on EHR-related tasks for every one hour of patient care. In fact, many physicians wake up early to chart prior to the clinic and also spend a lot of time after clinic hours charting, which can be quite overwhelming. Studies also show that EHR charting is linked with decreased productivity and revenue, impaired physician-patient relationships, and increased physician dissatisfaction and burnout. It is at this point that the need for medical scribes arises. However, following the Covid-19 pandemic as people avoid clinics, many in-person scribes are being laid-off or furloughed. This led to the virtual medical scribe concept gaining immense popularity as they could work from even the other side of the world.
Why virtual scribes over in-person scribes?
The novel virtual scribe concept eliminates the need for traditional in-person scribes and all the hassles that come with them like hiring, training, providing office space, vacations, no-shows, benefits, management, and so on. Most patients do not prefer another person inside the exam room and with virtual scribes being less intrusive they feel more comfortable, helping build a better physician-patient relationship. Moreover, with virtual scribes physicians save time, enjoy an efficient workflow, and have access to scribes 24/7. What’s more, they provide real-time administrative support, the convenience to review documents in real-time, cost-savings, and assist physicians from even remote places.
Scribes improve efficiency, revenue, and reimbursements
Various studies suggest that scribes are associated with an increase in physician productivity. Scribes can save time, allowing physicians to see an additional three to four patients in a day without extending their working hours. By allowing time for additional appointments virtual scribes can help generate additional revenue. This additional revenue is more than enough to offset the cost of hiring the scribe. For e.g., if the physician sees an additional two patients in a day, the income generated covers the scribe’s cost. Moreover, virtual scribes are highly trained to provide quality, structured documents, often translating to higher reimbursements.
The Upshot
According to a study published by the Annals of Internal Medicine, physicians spend 27% of the time providing patient care and 49.2% inputting data into the EHR. We at Scribe4Me help offload your documentation burden by providing both live and offline scribing services. You can choose the one that suits your needs and practice. Wondering what sets us apart? You get to spend more time interacting with your patients, see more patients per day, regain personal time, improve document quality, refocus on practicing medicine and enjoy higher billable documentation.
For more information visit www.scribe4me.com fill in the contact form, share your message and your contact details. Our professional scribe representative will get in touch with you with more details. Get started with Scribe4Me and truly experience what sets us apart from others.