Dive Brief:
- Medical scribes may be the fastest growing occupation in the EHR sector, with an estimated 15,000 currently in the U.S. expected to grow to 100,000 by 2020, but concerns are being raised regarding regulation and oversight.
- Scribes enter relevant information regarding a patient's conditions and doctor's advice into a computer, often joining physicians and patients in exam rooms. But scribes are not licensed and there are no standards regarding certification or training.
- However, federal law does limit work scribes can do. The Health IT for Economic and Clinical Health Act (2009) mandated unlicensed workers cannot enter orders for prescriptions or X-rays. But, according to Kaiser Health News, there are occasions when scribes are allowed to enter pending orders, provided they are reviewed and approved by a doctor.
Dive Insight:
George Gellert, regional CMIO at Christus Santa Rosa Health System in Texas, said, "This is literally an exploding industry, filling a perceived gap but there is no regulation or oversight at all." Many say the scribes free doctors from extensive note-taking and enable them to focus more on the patient.
However, the minimum qualification to be a scribe is only a high school diploma and companies like ScribeAmerica, which employs 10,000 scribes, only provides two weeks of training, followed by close supervision in care settings for a week. PhysAssist, a rival company, provides one week of training followed by 72 hours of close supervision.
ScribeAmerica claimed in the company's Medical Scribe Journal doctors who employ scribes free up enough time to see an additional five to eight patients per day, increasing a primary care practice's annual revenue by $105,000.
Although guidelines established by the Joint Commission in 2012 state doctors must review scribe entries, make any required corrections, and sign off before leaving the patient care area, there is currently nothing in place to ensure adherence.