The use of virtual scribes by physicians helps to reduce tedious and mundane documentation. Healthcare organizations have leveraged virtual scribes during the pandemic. According to a KLAS report, EHR documentation using virtual assistants help to boost physician satisfaction and reduce burnout associated with documentation tasks.
5 Benefits of using virtual scribes
- Reduction in documentation time – data entry into the Electronic Medical Records (EMR) Software can consume a lot of time. By using virtual scribes clinicians can save almost 3-5 minutes on every patient visit.
- Enhanced patient satisfaction – Documenting during the exam can annoy patients as it takes away the feeling of personalization. The virtual scribes will allow doctors to have eye contact and give undivided attention to them. This can lead to improved patient satisfaction which can lead to patient retention.
- Boost clinician satisfaction – Accurate charts can be completed easily. The remote scribes are efficient enough to enter clinical notes, update charts, and even make valuable suggestions to healthcare providers.
- Improve revenue stream – Since the time spent on clinical documentation is reduced by 3 minutes, clinicians have an opportunity to see more patients in a day ultimately earning more revenue.
- Reduce physician burnout – Physician burnout is when the provider is over-stressed due to managing administrative, clinical, and financial tasks, Being overburdened leads to the clinician being completely drained and can hamper the patient care process in worst cases. 42% of physicians state that they are burnt out. With virtual scribes documentation process is streamlined, improving work-life balance.
Best practices to reap maximum benefits from virtual scribing services
At times low-quality scribes and IT hitches can be a barricade to getting the benefits of virtual scribing services. Below are the best practices to follow by healthcare organizations to reduce time-consuming documentation tasks and keep clinician burnout at bay.
- Training – It is important to ensure that physicians are dedicated to training scribes and committed to working to establish strong partnerships.
- Prepare backup scribes – Ensure that the virtual scribing service offers backup scribes when primary scribes are unable to log in.
- Know that there will be technological challenges – healthcare organizations should be prepared beforehand for any technical issues such as software updates and connectivity problems.
