Becoming a Medical Scribe

Medical scribes play an important new role in modern healthcare. They are increasingly present in doctors' offices, clinics, urgent care centers, and emergency departments quietly documenting medical information. Medical scribes ensure accurate, complete records while respecting patient privacy.

Their work frees physicians and other providers from the distractions of data entry so they can focus their full attention on their medical decision making. There is another reason for the high demand for trained medical scribes. People are living longer, and an aging population will increase the number of hospital admissions and physician visits.

The resulting increase in chronic diseases being managed (such as cancer, dementia, injuries resulting from falls, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, arthritis, stroke, and heart disease) will severely challenge an already overburdened healthcare system. The addition of medical scribes will allow physicians to manage this additional workflow. The increasing demands for making timely entries into the electronic health record and keeping up with additional documentation and coding is adding hours to an already overloaded provider's workday and, quite often, nights and weekends.

Documentation requirements are causing widespread frustration in the medical community that is leading to burnout. However, recent studies confirm that the use of medical scribes can improve a provider's productivity and satisfaction. In addition, large and small medical practices have seen the benefits of using trained scribes to be able to see an additional five to eight more patients a day, boosting the practice's annual revenue.