Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

The documentation solution your patients want you to adopt

Brian Clare, MD
Tech
February 13, 2015
Share
Tweet
Share

Remember the Latin phrase “Primum non nocere”? It means “First, do no harm.” Most of us physicians committed to it when reciting the Hippocratic Oath, back when we were first embarking on our careers in medicine.

Sadly, today’s technology threatens this sacred physician-patient relationship. Electronic health records (EHRs), although much-needed, have created perverse, unintended consequences for the patient experience.

To be clear, EHRs are inherently good.  They’re the backbone of better-coordinated care, more structured health data, and improved health outcomes. But it’s now a well-documented fact that physicians are burdened by the cumbersome clerical work that’s often brought about by implementing and using EHRs.

And the real victim of these unintended consequences is the patient.

The hallmark of a positive patient-physician relationship is a narrative — one that’s told by the patient and heard by the physician. EHRs have interrupted these two-way conversations.

Now, many patients speak to physicians’ backs as they type furiously to capture data into EHR systems. Physicians are no longer active participants in patient narratives, but rather data capturers who are more concerned with clicking boxes than actively listening and processing. Patients are frustrated. Physicians are exhausted. Satisfaction scores are gloomy.

But there is a way around these problems.

Medical scribes are a fast-growing solution for removing technology from the patient-physician relationship. Why should highly-trained physicians devote 44 percent of each clinical day to data entry and clerical tasks? With an estimated 20,000 scribes currently working across the U.S., physicians are discovering documentation assistants as a way to preserve the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship while reaping the many benefits of EHRs.

Recently, our scribe staffing team received a call from a private practice in North Carolina. The physicians wanted to know how soon they could bring on medical scribes. Why? Because their patients told them to. They’d experienced the benefits of scribes at another specialty group in the area and were now demanding the same positive, face-to-face interactions with their doctors elsewhere.

Granted, some oppose scribes as a solution. Challengers describe hiring scribes as Band-Aids and encourage physicians to instead advocate for product improvements and advancements.

Yes, EHRs do need to better suit physician users’ needs. But we can’t wait for vendors to improve their products. Physicians and patients need help now, if for no other reason than to preserve those all-important patient-physician interactions. And there’s no guarantee future EHR improvements will significantly decrease the amount of time spent documenting patient data. Scribes are a proven, viable, long-term solution.

In fact, many physicians (including myself) used medical scribes long before EHRs were widely embraced. And you can bet those early adopters will continue to employ scribes even after EHR systems are fully optimized. Direct, engaged interaction with patients is simply too great a sacrifice to make without their assistance.

Brian Clare is an emergency physician and founder and CEO, eScribe Management Services. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Prev

It's time for medical practices to own their billing mistakes

February 13, 2015 Kevin 25
…
Next

The occupational hazards of being a doctor are frightening

February 13, 2015 Kevin 5
…

Tagged as: Emergency Medicine, Health IT

Post navigation

< Previous Post
It's time for medical practices to own their billing mistakes
Next Post >
The occupational hazards of being a doctor are frightening

ADVERTISEMENT

More by Brian Clare, MD

  • a desk with keyboard and ipad with the kevinmd logo

    I care about structured data. Here’s why you should, too.

    Brian Clare, MD

More in Tech

  • AI is already replacing doctors—just not how you think

    Bhargav Raman, MD, MBA
  • A mind to guide the machine: Why physicians must help shape artificial intelligence in medicine

    Shanice Spence-Miller, MD
  • How digital tools are reshaping the doctor-patient relationship

    Vineet Vishwanath
  • The promise and perils of AI in health care: Why we need better testing standards

    Max Rollwage, PhD
  • 3 tips for using AI medical scribes to save time charting

    Erica Dorn, FNP
  • Would The Pitts’ Dr. Robby Robinavitch welcome a new colleague? Yes. Especially if their initials were AI.

    Gabe Jones, MBA
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

View 24 Comments >

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

ADVERTISEMENT

  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • America’s ER crisis: Why the system is collapsing from within

      Kristen Cline, BSN, RN | Conditions
    • Why timing, not surgery, determines patient survival

      Michael Karch, MD | Conditions
    • How early meetings and after-hours events penalize physician-mothers

      Samira Jeimy, MD, PhD and Menaka Pai, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • Forced voicemail and diagnosis codes are endangering patient access to medications

      Arthur Lazarus, MD, MBA | Meds
    • How President Biden’s cognitive health shapes political and legal trust

      Muhamad Aly Rifai, MD | Conditions
    • Why are medical students turning away from primary care? [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • The One Big Beautiful Bill and the fragile heart of rural health care

      Holland Haynie, MD | Policy
    • Why “do no harm” might be harming modern medicine

      Sabooh S. Mubbashar, MD | Physician
    • The hidden health risks in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act

      Trevor Lyford, MPH | Policy
  • Recent Posts

    • Beyond burnout: Understanding the triangle of exhaustion [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Facing terminal cancer as a doctor and mother

      Kelly Curtin-Hallinan, DO | Conditions
    • Online eye exams spark legal battle over health care access

      Joshua Windham, JD and Daryl James | Policy
    • FDA delays could end vital treatment for rare disease patients

      G. van Londen, MD | Meds
    • Pharmacists are key to expanding Medicaid access to digital therapeutics

      Amanda Matter | Meds
    • Why ADHD in women requires a new approach [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

The documentation solution your patients want you to adopt
24 comments

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...