Virtual Medical Scribes vs. On-site Medical Scribes

Anyone working in the medical field today well understands that the leaps forward in care that technology has brought also brings a heavy burden when it comes to administration. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) bring a wealth of information but take a tremendous amount of time out of a physician’s schedule. Bringing a medical scribe into your practice can both lift the burden of EHRs and raise the level of patient care . However, there are times that having a trained medical scribe physically on-site just isn’t feasible. In those situations a virtual medical scribe may be just what your physicians need.

How a Virtual Scribe Works

Unlike a standard medical scribe, a virtual scribe provides real-time administrative help without being present. During the appointment, our scribes are connected virtually to record all information from the patient visit. They enter data in your EHR, provide medical transcription, and record medical records. They can become an integral, virtual part of the team. The standard steps for working with a medical scribe are:

• A Scribekick virtual scribe will connect to your appointment virtually via a HIPAA­-compliant video conferencing app that works across smartphone and tablet operating systems as well as on both Mac and PC computers. Just a single tap of the finger before you start seeing patients connects you virtually in real-time with your scribe.
• The physician can focus solely on their patient while our trained virtual medical scribes document in real-time during the appointment in your EHR, eliminating the need for doctors to spend any time on EHRs and allowing them to see more patients daily.

• Physicians review and update (if necessary) the virtual medical scribe’s work just like they would for an on-site scribe. This eliminates further administrative and documentation work, increases billing accuracy and thus optimizes both the speed and amount of reimbursement.

Virtual Medical Scribes vs. On-site Medical Scribes

There are many benefits to hiring a virtual medical scribe, including:

• Just like using an in-house medical scribe, physicians do not need to spend time on administration.
• Virtual scribes potentially offer cost savings over on-site medical scribes.
• Practices in more rural areas may not require, or be able to accommodate a full-time physical scribe, making a virtual scribe the right answer.
• You do not need to provide an office or any physical space for virtual medical scribes.
• Some patients will find a virtual medical scribe less intrusive as they’re not physically in the exam room.

Like our on-site medical scribes, our virtual medical scribes are thoroughly trained in the specialty in which they’ll work. And, like our on-site scribes, we work with our virtual scribe practices as partners to develop a professional medical scribe program that delivers on their specific needs. Whether you chose an on-site or virtual medical scribe, our scribe program can help your physicians get back the job satisfaction that administrative tasks can drain from their work.