By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    mosquito misting spray to fight malaria
    Avoid Malaria with Mosquito Misting Systems
    June 12, 2023
    Medical Surveys
    Beyond the Clinic: Medical Surveys Are a Roadmap to Passive Income for Doctors
    September 23, 2023
    Glutathione
    What Are The Benefits of Glutathione?
    January 22, 2024
    Latest News
    6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
    September 10, 2025
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Tips for Older Travelers
    April 14, 2012
    Anti-RUC Suit Challenges Process for Setting Doc Pay Scales
    October 25, 2011
    Math Matters: Dosing Errors Can Be Deadly
    May 1, 2012
    Latest News
    Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
    September 9, 2025
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Scribes Continue to Grow in Hospitals
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Business > Hospital Administration > Scribes Continue to Grow in Hospitals
BusinessHospital Administration

Scribes Continue to Grow in Hospitals

BarbaraDuck
BarbaraDuck
Share
8 Min Read
SHARE

Nobody thought that scribes were going to a permanent solution but it looks like they are.  Originally the idea was to help transition doctors over to electronic medical records but the scribes stayed as they show a lot of value for the doctors, especially in the ER where time is short and doctors need to move on to the next patient as quickly as possible.  The scribes doing the job don’t get paid a lot, usually $8 to $12 an hour but they get to follow doctors all over the ER or even other departments and make sure all the n

Nobody thought that scribes were going to a permanent solution but it looks like they are.  Originally the idea was to help transition doctors over to electronic medical records but the scribes stayed as they show a lot of value for the doctors, especially in the ER where time is short and doctors need to move on to the next patient as quickly as possible.  The scribes doing the job don’t get paid a lot, usually $8 to $12 an hour but they get to follow doctors all over the ER or even other departments and make sure all the notes and data are entered correctly.  Did we build the user input screens universal and easy enough…nope.  If you read the article below Microsoft donated free of charge “A Common User Interface” that anyone could work with and guess what, nobody bit as we don’t’ collaborate well in the US. 

Scribes in Healthcare Continue to Grow At Major Hospitals–Proof that Medical Records Systems are Still Not User Friendly Enough And Can Disrupt Physician Time With the Patient

Scribes are not always needed in every system though as if you were to look at a closed system like Kaiser Permanente, they are designed different and with their set up there’s clinic, hospital and payer all together so none of what occurs with independent situations and their doctors too are on salary for the most part, so 2 completely different models, one organized and and one fragmented trying to come together.  We learn a lot from Kaiser as they worked hard at their system to make it work and they have a great Innovation department that works hands on with doctors and nurses too. 

Using Scribes at the Hospital – Some Doctors Really Like This Idea

I did several posts here at the Medical Quack on how it works and played with the demo myself and of course that would be every doctor’s dream who works at more than one hospital to have the same or similar screens every where you go, right?  Did anyone think or listen to that idea…nope ….we are still stuck on the word “innovation” and can’t move past it to go the next level up to “collaboration”…still happens.  This is the big road block in part of medical record adaptation too is that sometimes the user’s input is not always taken seriously, user meaning the doctors and they get a bad wrap over that so now you can add looking at this situation from another view.  I had one guy tell me he had to learn 5 different hospital medical record systems to get through his internship, hats to off to him for sure!

More Read

Sequestration
Cancer Patients Seeing the Ripple Effects from Sequestration
Vermont Moves Closer to Single Payer Delivery
Population Health Management [INFOGRAPHIC]
Why All Hospitals Are Also Digital Companies
FDA Social Media Guidance: Hangout on Air

Needless to say electronic records are here to stay, in what and shape and form along with price is always up for discussion . 

In 2008 while at HIMMS working to promote Tablet PCs, I loaded up this demo from Microsoft of a prototype of what medical recordswould be like in the future from 2007 as it made for one heck of a demo on a tablet.  I walked around and was showing off the tablet and all the medical record vendors were asking me “who’s system is that”…it was funny and of course I explained it was a demo prototype but everyone wanted to make sure they were not missing something that somebody else had already developed.   Of course at the same time I was looked at as a bit of a goober too as I had all my notes in One Note and actually used a tablet to take notes and had intelligence files set up before the convention so I could be efficient and cover a lot of ground.  Back in 2008 at HIMMS nobody took the tablets out of their booths and used them for anything else other than to demo an EMR so I was the odd person out ahead of my time.

 

 

Back on track, I guess we can wait and see if scribes move in to nursing.  Shoot who knows this blog post might start a movement.   

I can understand why the doctors like them as they have had coding and so much other accounting and software responsibilities added on that were not there a few years ago so something has to give to make sure patients get the time and attention and on the other hand data is entered correctly and timely.  BD

The rise in electronic medical records has given Brittany Fera, a premed student at Temple University, an “awesome” job that she had no idea existed before she saw an ad last year.image

It’s not the geeky programming kind of job you might guess.

The new record-keeping systems, which are touted as a way to improve efficiency and quality, slow down emergency medicine physicians so much that the doctors are hiring young people like Fera to input data for them. They call this growing group of employees “medical scribes.”

The largest scribe company, California-based ScribeAmerica, has 800 employees in 21 states, up from 350 to 400 in 10 states in 2009. Emergency Medicine Scribe Systems (EMSS), another California company, has 600 scribes – 500 more than it had two years ago. PhysAssist Scribes Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, went from providing 7,500 hours a month of scribe coverage in 2005 to 38,000 last month. All credit electronic records for their growth.

Electronic medical records systems create need for scribes to input data | Philadelphia Inquirer | 04/21/2011

TAGGED:health care businesshospitalsscribes
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

Hospital Evacuation – it can and does happen!

May 23, 2011

Healthbox Nashville Launches with 7 Fresh Digital Health Startups

September 20, 2013
Business

All Our Problems in One Graph

September 16, 2011
healthcare performance programs
BusinesseHealthFinanceHospital AdministrationPolicy & Law

8 Performance Programs That Will Change Healthcare

January 8, 2014
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?