The Beneficial Impact of Medical Scribes in Surgical Practices

Surgeons are extremely busy and have hectic work schedules. From performing surgeries and doing paperwork to counseling patients and performing post-operative exams, their typical workday demands long working hours. High administrative workload and long hours of work can lead surgeons to a perfect storm of burnout. According to study presented on October 29th, 2019 at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress in San Francisco, use of medical scribes in surgical practices can significantly reduce the amount of time spent in completing tasks in the EHRs and increase the number of patients seen per day. Let us in this blog explore what various studies have to say about the effect of medical scribes in surgical practices.

Impact of scribes in a surgical practice

Seng, MD, resident physician at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Upland, Pennsylvania, has said that though medical scribes were more commonly seen in outpatient clinics to assist physicians with the onerous burden of documentation, they were seldom seen in surgical outpatient clinics. However incorporating scribes into a surgical practice helps surgeons focus on patients, while maintaining accurate and detailed documentation of patient encounters. By taking over the time-consuming tasks of inputting patient data into EHRs, surgeons are better able to focus on evaluating and treating conditions that may require surgery.

Impact of medical scribes in an outpatient oncology practice

The increasing amount of time spent on documentation in oncology clinics makes utilization of scribes an ideal practice. A retrospective study that used a concurrent approach collected both qualitative and quantitative data to analyze patient durations for 129 physicians in an academic cancer center between January 2017 and January 2019. Thirty three physicians were paired with scribes and this was what they observed. Physicians who took the help of scribes found a 12.1% drop in the average length of visits and spent considerably less time catching up on unfinished charts, thus maximizing practice efficiency. 90% of the physicians who participated in the survey were of the opinion that they spent less time interacting with the computer, including documentation and spent more time investigating, diagnosing and discussing treatment options. 100% of the physicians surveyed were of the opinion that scribes improved quality of life and job satisfaction. The study concluded that the implementation of scribes in oncology practices was found to significantly reduce burnout, by improving physician job satisfaction and quality of life. Moreover a streamlined clinical workflow improves patient care and ultimately, outcomes.

Impact of medical scribes in a trauma surgery outpatient clinic

A cross-sectional study was performed in an orthopedic trauma surgery outpatient clinic to find the impact of medical scribes on patient satisfaction, physician satisfaction and consultation time. For this purpose 151 patients were seen with a scribe and 304 without a scribe. It was observed that the consultation time was 3.2 minutes shorter with scribes than without scribes. Physician satisfaction and productivity were also found to have increased considerably. Additionally, an annual cost savings was achieved with the use of medical scribes.

Impact of medical scribes on physician productivity and well-being in an orthopedic sports medicine clinic

Orthopedic surgeons spend a considerable amount of time on administrative paperwork. A study was carried out in order to examine the impact of scribes in a high-volume orthopedic sports medicine clinic. The survey was conducted amongst orthopedic surgeons for a period of eight months. A four-hour clinic session was documented by the surgeons after the last patient visit was over. The time spent per half-a-clinic day was 104 minutes without the help of scribes and 25 minutes with the help of scribes. The time spent documenting on scribe days was 26 minutes and 87 minutes on non-scribe days. The study concluded that the use of scribes significantly reduced the time spent by surgeons documenting during clinic hours and at the end of each day.

Impact of scribes in a pediatric plastic surgery practice

A study based on a time-driven costing approach model was conducted to compare the costs of pediatric/craniofacial plastic surgical visits with and without the use of medical scribes. Two plastic surgeons saw pediatric patients with and without scribes for a period of ten months. It was observed that of the total 45 patient visits with the help of the scribe the average appointment activity duration was 12.83 minutes. Then, a total of 72 patient visits were observed without the use of a scribe, with an average appointment activity duration of 12.01 minutes. It was concluded that there was a $13.82 savings per appointment with the use of medical scribes.

The inferences by the American Journal of Surgery on the use of medical scribes

The burden of documentation is a significant contributor to burnout. By lightening the administrative workload, coding, and inter-office communication, scribes can significantly boost the productivity and well-being of surgeons.

Improving efficiency by streamlining documentation allows surgeons to see more patients per clinic day, which is more than enough to offset the cost of hiring the scribes.

By improving efficiency and documentation, medical scribes can assist surgeons in generating more work relative value units (wRVUs) and income.

The Upshot

The above discussed studies clearly validate that optimizing the usage of scribes in surgical practices prove to be highly beneficial. Scribes reduce clerical burden, increase work satisfaction, decrease time spent documenting in the EHRs and substantially improve surgeon productivity. That being said, surgeons should necessarily incorporate scribes into their surgical practices to effectively experience these benefits. In short, scribes are a valuable addition to a healthcare practices surgical team. Looking to hire medical scribes for your surgical practice? Get in touch with Scribe4Me, today