The arrival of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and the demand related to the administration of clinicians has increased the thriving medical virtual scribes industry. Presently virtual scribes are rapidly expanding the job segment in healthcare. In fact, in the USA, one in nine clinicians utilize virtual scribes. Nevertheless, scribes are extremely expensive. They are difficult to scale across the broad healthcare companies because every clinician requires their own.
Virtual scribes are slowly gaining popularity as a substitute for old-style medical scribes. Instead of joining clinicians onsite, these virtual scribes hear regarding patient encounters through phone or video conferencing from offsite locations. This comes with numerous benefits over old medical scribes, entailing a small price tag, a greater sense of privacy, and a rise in service flexibility.
Keeping this scenario under consideration, we are presenting to you some benefits, challenges, and drawbacks of these virtual scribes.
Benefits
Service Flexibility
Virtua scribes can function from any remote location, they are a big choice for medical practices in rural or secluded areas where there is limited access to onsite scribes.
In addition, the majority of virtual scribing companies offer on-demand service to shelter vacancies because of vacation and illness. This eliminates scheduling the nightmare while employing onsite medical scribes.
Less Training, Accelerated Onboarding
The majority of the doctors are required to familiarize virtual scribes with their personal care style and tendencies, majority of the heavy lifting is already done. Virtual scribes know clinical notes and ways to function with clinicians. They are comfortable incorporating EHR and their workflows.
Lesser Functional Creep
Functional creep is the procedure of growing the responsibilities of a worker beyond the actual job scope. It is one of the most serious concerns regarding the onsite medical scribes. Scribes who have proven themselves self-sufficient and reliable may be asked to finish more difficult EHR tasks whereas the providers concentrate on patient care. If the clinician is not careful, functional creep could put them at risk of malpractice.
More Privacy Perception
Virtual scribes concentrate more on patient encounters from offsite locations. This permits the clinician and the patient to be alone in the examination room. This provides the patient with no sense of privacy. This is particularly advantageous for those who don’t feel comfortable with a 3rd pair of eyes and ears in the room.
Drawbacks
Lesser Standardized Training
The scribing industry is booming. Standardization training has not caught up. A few 3rd party staffing organizations have created internal programs that their virtual scribes and onsite scribes must accomplish. However, these programs attain little to no guidelines and regulations from federal agencies.
Cost
The impact of turnover may not be as marked while functioning with a scribe staffing agency, because they can rapidly backfill. Nevertheless, introducing the latest scribe will probably interrupt workflow because it takes time for the provider’s exam style and communication.
Challenges
More Threats and Telemedicine Trends
The huge majority of the healthcare consultations and daily visits over the past few years were conducted through telehealth software because of the provider and the patient health and safety reasons. However, with all these techniques of offering care comes proliferating cyber threats.
Security Risks
One of the major challenges of virtual scribes is the risk associated with offshore data transmission. It is common for virtual scribing companies to implement the majority of their scribes offshore, raising the breach susceptibility of sensitive patient health data.
In Conclusion
After viewing the discussion above, it can be said that there are numerous drawbacks and benefits to weight when considering a virtual scribe. For the majority of the practices, the entire cost, service flexibility, and patient-concentrated encounters make virtual scribes a very suitable substitute for old-style medical scribes.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is the function of a virtual scribe?
A virtual scribe functions like a traditional medical scribe. However, their role is more suitable for the healthcare future where the industry is heading; remote medicine. Their tasks entail: communicating with healthcare service providers and documenting visits of the patients.
What is the main advantage of a virtual scribe?
By decreasing the load of administration, virtual scribes allow doctors to concentrate more on patient care. Overall, this leads to the development of an enhanced communication structure and enhanced patient results. As an outcome, it improves entire patient satisfaction.