Administrative work, including patient documentation, is a bloated portion of healthcare that slows organizations down. Every care team divides and tackles the administrative burden differently. What remains the same is that documentation and related tasks are one of the chief contributors to provider burnout. 

Burnout Results in Revenue Leakage

Burnout has been a hot topic for many years, and while the reduction in COVID-19 cases has correlated with lower rates of burnout in healthcare, the numbers haven’t budged by much. Providers are still less effective on the job, leaving the profession, or retiring early to escape an exhausting and unfulfilling work environment. Lower patient throughput, poor job performance, and the cost of recruiting and hiring critical talent all reduce an organization’s earning potential. 

This is why provider enablement is so critical – focusing your care team strategy on supporting providers to work at the top of their license, doing the work that motivates them. 

Everyone on a care team feels their best when they are doing the job they are specifically qualified to do, which is why the addition of medical scribes results in better documentation, lower rates of burnout, and increased patient throughput.

In fact, the study titled “Annual Impact of Scribes on Physician Productivity and Revenue in a Cardiology Clinic” found that providers paired with scribes “generated an additional revenue of $24,257 by producing clinic notes that were coded at a higher level” (Bank).

Experts Make a Difference in the Field

Introducing medical scribes as documentation experts supports top-of-license work for the entire team, all while lending a level of expertise in documentation that results in higher quality documentation and less revenue leakage.

A 2019 study, “Impact of Scribes on Emergency Medicine Doctors’ Productivity and Patient Throughput: Multicentre Randomised Trial,” showed that the addition of medical scribes in the emergency setting reduced time of stay and improved patient throughput, both results that correlate with greater ROI. Length of stay for patients decreased by 19 minutes on average, while senior doctors working triage in the emergency department saw a 24.9% increase in primary patients per doctor per hour. Across departments, patients seen per provider per hour increased by an average of 15.9%. Ultimately, the study concluded that “The cost-benefit analysis based on productivity and throughput gains showed a favourable financial position with use of scribes” (Walker, Katherine, et al).

Studies Agree

With increased throughput and earnings, medical scribe programs tend to pay for themselves, improving revenue and morale, reducing revenue leakage, and resulting in better functioning care teams overall. A study titled “The Productivity Requirements of Implementing a Medical Scribe Program” reported that an addition of only 1.34 new patients per day was necessary to recoup the cost of medical scribes – and more studies agree medical scribes are worth the investment:

• A 2020 study concluded that the addition of medical scribes “improved physician satisfaction due to decreased administrative burdens of the EHR” (Pozdnyakova Piersa, Anastasia, et al).
  
• Another 2020 study found medical scribes “improved RVUs per hour, RVUs per encounter, patients per hour, provider satisfaction, and patient satisfaction” (Gottlieb, Michael, et al).
  
• A 2018 study stated that not only did medical scribes result in “decreased physician EHR documentation burden, improved work efficiency, and improved visit interactions,” but that the overall quality of care improved (Mishra, Pranita, et al).
  
• A 2022 exploration on medical scribe ROI found similar improvements in productivity and burnout reduction, noting that “The financial value was demonstrated by a generous ROI. This study suggests that the pairing of a medical scribe with an admitting hospitalist physician can add significantly more value than expense” (Kesner, Nathaniel, et al). The study found an overall ROI of 322%.

The addition of medical scribes achieves something that you cannot put a price on: decreased burnout, a rediscovery of purpose, better patient outcomes and encounters. Medical scribes also come with a well documented ROI; increased throughput, improved billing, and better documentation. The cost of a scribe program is easily covered by the benefits it provides. It is undeniable that the addition of medical scribes to your care team further leverages the earnings potential of your organization.

Ready to increase your earnings? Contact us about medical scribes.

Bank, Alan J, and Ryan M Gage. “Annual Impact of Scribes on Physician Productivity and Revenue in a Cardiology Clinic.” ClinicoEconomics and Outcomes Research : CEOR, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 30 Sept. 2015, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4598196/. 

Gottlieb, Michael, et al. “Effect of Medical Scribes on Throughput, Revenue, and Patient and Provider Satisfaction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” Annals of Emergency Medicine, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Feb. 2021, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9756438/.

Kesner, Nathaniel, et al. “Pairing a Medical Scribe with a Hospitalist Physician Improved Clinician Satisfaction, Increased Productivity and Provided a Return on Investment.” Journal of Hospital Management and Health Policy, AME Publishing Company, 25 Dec. 2022, jhmhp.amegroups.org/article/view/7439/html.

Miksanek, Tyler J., et al. “The Productivity Requirements of Implementing a Medical Scribe Program | Annals of Internal Medicine.” Annals of Internal Medicine, 6 Oct. 2020, www.acpjournals.org/doi/abs/10.7326/M20-0428.

Mishra, Pranita, et al. “Association of Medical Scribes in Primary Care with Physician Workflow and Patient Experience | Electronic Health Records | Jama Internal Medicine | Jama Network.” JAMA Internal Medicine, Nov. 2018, jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2701617.

Pozdnyakova Piersa, Anastasia, et al. “Impact of a Medical Scribe on Clinical Efficiency and Quality in an Academic General Internal Medicine Practice – BMC Health Services Research.” BioMed Central, BioMed Central, 11 July 2021, bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-021-06710-y. 

Walker, Katherine, et al. “Impact of Scribes on Emergency Medicine Doctors’ Productivity and Patient Throughput: Multicentre Randomised Trial.” The BMJ, British Medical Journal Publishing Group, 30 Jan. 2019, www.bmj.com/content/364/bmj.l121.