For healthcare providers, the patient always comes first. Although physicians have other duties demanding their attention (such as administrative tasks), the primary focus is attending to patients’ needs.
Unfortunately, these administrative functions can get in the way of a doctor’s healthcare duties, denying them valuable time needed to treat illnesses. However, with medical scribes, healthcare providers can reclaim their time and free up their schedules to attend to patients.
Medical scribes assist doctors with administrative and clerical tasks like taking notes during patient visits, documenting procedures and test results, and inputting data in electronic medical records (EMR).
Medical scribe jobs are becoming more popular across the US, as physicians realize how these professionals can help them guarantee enhanced efficiency and even increase revenue. If you’re still unsure about hiring a medical scribe for your practice, here are five core benefits of working with these healthcare assistants to help you reconsider:
More Time to Focus on Your Clients
Doctors who work without medical scribes often have to execute clinical documentation tasks on their own. In other words, you’ll be responsible for taking notes on patient history, treatment plans, etc., during consultations.
With your attention divided during your interactions, you’re less focused on the individuals who need your medical services. As a healthcare professional, your primary duty is to provide your patients with the best medical care possible, and it’s more difficult to do this when you’re multitasking.
Your accuracy with note-taking reduces significantly when you’re shifting focus between the sick individual in front of you and your notes. However, with a medical scribe handling your documentation, you can pay attention to the needs of your patients without any distractions.
Enhanced Efficiency and Productivity
When you’re not distracted by administrative duties, you can get more done around the healthcare center. Research has shown that hiring a medical scribe helped improve productivity for physicians, with more clients treated per hour.
Since your scribe handles the documentation during appointments, you can see patients in less time, as your attention isn’t divided by taking notes.
By spending less time on each appointment, you’ll have extra space in your schedule to take on more clients. Your revenue will also experience a boost since you’re handling more cases daily.
Improve Your Revenue
Having time for additional patients isn’t the only way hiring a medical scribe can increase your revenue. Medical scribes are skilled at documentation, and their expert skill set guarantees enhanced accuracy.
Accurate documentation in the healthcare system ensures patients are billed correctly. In contrast, mistakes in medical notes can affect the bills handed to clients and your revenue at the end of the month.
You’re also more likely to make these errors when you’re shuffling your attention between administrative duties and caring for your patients. A medical scribe is your best bet to reduce any mistakes in documentation that can negatively affect your revenue figures.
Reduce the Possibility of Burnout
It’s easy to wear yourself out when you’re doing too much at the office. If your day-to-day responsibilities as a healthcare provider include handling administrative tasks while attending to patients, you risk suffering burnout within a short while.
Clinical documentation alone can take up several hours from your schedule. However, a medical scribe can significantly ease your workload by taking administrative tasks off your hands.
You can focus completely on patients and utilize any free space during the week to recharge your batteries. With extra time to rest, you’re more mentally and physically equipped to cater to your patients.
A Cost-effective Solution
The alternative to working with a medical scribe is hiring traditional administrative staff to handle your practice’s documentation. Your administrative employees will likely work full-time and demand a sizable salary.
In contrast, most medical scribes work based on your schedule or when you require their services. As such, they are paid hourly – which is considerably cheaper than hiring full-time staff.
They also usually have prior medical experience or training. In many cases, they’re medical students seeking hands-on exposure to the healthcare setting. This background in medicine can be beneficial to your practice, as they’ll more likely get up to speed with the day-to-day demands faster than traditional administrative staff.
Conclusion
Hiring a medical scribe comes with many benefits to your medical practice. It’ll free up your schedule to focus more on your clients and ensure you can attend to more cases daily. Your revenue will experience a boost as a result. Plus, since you’re multitasking less, there’s a lesser possibility of experiencing burnout.
