Medical scribes provide a vital service that frees up a doctor's valuable time and relieves them of the burden of paperwork. But that paperwork is absolutely necessary and still has to be completed. Fortunately, a medical scribe is up to the challenge. But, as with many jobs today, that vital work can still be completed remotely with the same kind of care and accuracy. Therefore, many medical facilities are turning to virtual medical scribes that work remotely. Here are a few of the top reasons why.
Cost-Effective
Physician and patient interactions must be recorded and charted. A doctor can't be expected to remember every tiny piece of information after seeing a patient, but that information could be the difference between life and death later. Medical scribes are essential because they chart and catalog the information that arises during medical examinations for the benefit of both patient and doctor. But it's a time-consuming process. When a physician is responsible for charting, it can cost up to $4 per minute or $240 for a full hour. It doesn't make sense to pay that much for paperwork. But a remote scribe can do the work easily later by listening to a recording of the examination at an average salary of around $23,000.
Saves Time
In addition to cutting costs, a virtual scribe saves time. Charting a single visit with a patient takes an average of 12 minutes, with more complex cases reaching up to 20 minutes to chart. Every minute spent charting cuts into the time a physician has to move on to the next patient. The end result is the physician has less time to see patients overall. More people can be attended to if that work is taken care of by a virtual scribe.
Added Comfort
When it comes to medical care, the more people that are in the room during an examination, the more uncomfortable the patient feels. No one wants to feel like their medical exam is a spectator sport. Instead of needing to be physically in the examination, a virtual medical scribe can listen to a recording of the exam later and complete the necessary charting after the fact, improving the patient's comfort.
More Accuracy
When a virtual scribe works from recorded data rather than from information jotted down in-person, they have the added benefit of being able to go back and listen to the recording to ensure nothing was misheard or falsely recorded as they chart information. Our memories are not always as reliable.
For more information, reach out to remote medical patient scribe services.