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Each year more and more research has come out to try and grab the attention of the public and the leaders in healthcare to the worsening epidemic that has been around much before the COVID pandemic. This epidemic was first noted in the early days of the 1970s [1] and from then swept the nation and has only worsened like a slight 21st-century plague–physician burnout plague, which, if not addressed, will be a detriment to patients, physicians, and the future of medicine alike.   Realizing this issue has been a continued issue of dismissive attention by the masses, the World Health Organization (WHO) came together back in 2019 to redefine the definition of burnout, now categorizing it as a “syndrome” that results from “chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed.[2] Sadly, this change has not affected the rising epidemic as once hoped.   In the past two years, physicians and healthcare workers have dealt with more stress and unprecedented conditions due to the COVID pandemic, which has only exacerbated the problem. Physician burnout is not equal. Certain specialties are “more affected” by the larger causes than others, which one can guess could be due to the extreme circumstances …

Scribes do much more than transcription. Learn about more physician scribe benefits here. The United States continues to face a horrible projected physician workforce shortage over the next decade. The US Department of Health and Human Services projects a shortfall of 54,100 to 139,000 physicians by 2033 and a shortfall of 21,400 to 55,200 primary care physicians by 2033.[1] This shortage is due to aging physicians and physician burnout. Without a change in the burnout epidemic, the numbers can be more catastrophic. There are a number of tools healthcare administrators can implement that can help to alleviate the number 1,2 & 3 causes of burnout–the administrative, bureaucratic tasks, lack of respect from administrators/employers & too many hours at work.[2] One of the top ways to reduce these 3 issues is with medical scribes. When healthcare administrators remove their stigma about physician burnout and “hear” the physicians’ cries for help and find the tool to fix the issue, it can lead to physicians feeling that they are respected. Some administrators feel Medical Scribes are only “live transcribers.”  This is far from the truth. Medical scribes do much more than only transcribe what the physicians say. Medical scribes are like personal assistants …

The average adult in this world makes a large number of decisions each day- estimated to be around 35,000 from small to large decisions in a 24hr period![1] It’s no wonder decision fatigue is so common. The strategy we end up using to have the decision depends on a number of factors such as the time we have to make the decision, the complexity of the decision, and the ambiguity that is involved.   When any person is placed under a stressful condition, the decision-making process inherently changes. For physicians & nurses, that change, commonly known as decision fatigue, can be deadly. “Death by medical error or accident is the nation’s leading cause of accidental death, exceeding all other causes of accidental death combined. Medical error and accidents kill approximately as many people each month in the U.S. as COVID-19 did before vaccines became available.”[2]   The Cause of Decision Fatigue   The underlying cause of decision fatigue for physicians has been commonly related to the physician’s stress level and the number of total decisions they have to make in their day. It is estimated that a typical adult makes 226.7 decisions on food alone, and 35,000 total in a …

While Diana Abreu-Molnar was in her Public Health Master’s program, she had known she wanted to pursue a career in medicine but was unsure of the route she would pursue. She was deciding between an accelerated nursing program, which she was leaning towards, or possibly medical school. When speaking with a friend one day, she found out about medical scribing.   How This Physician Got into Scribing   That is the person that Diana Abreu-Molnar (now Dr. Abreu-Molnar), still credits as the person to help pave the path to whom she has become today. That same friend, who is now a physician as well, started working as a Medical Scribe at the company that evolved into Scrivas and brought Dr. Abreu-Molnar on board. Dr. Abreu-Molnar first began rotating in the ER at West Kendall Hospital, which is where she first met Dr. Fernando Mendoza, the founder and CEO of Scrivas. She then applied for a position at Baptist Health Children’s Emergency Room, where she truly fell in love with pediatric and emergency medicine.   Did Scribing Give Her an Advantage?   Dr. Abreu-Molnar worked as a Medical Scribe in the peds ER for a total of a year and a …

Many different people interact with a single patient. This article demonstrates how patient handoff errors can lead to deadly consequences. Jennifer Nibarger, a 47-year-old wife, a daughter, and an aunt to 14 nieces and nephews was airlifted to a level 1 Trauma Center after a horrific crash.[1] She had a number of complications with her breathing and added hospital-acquired infections. After many weeks though, things were looking up as her condition significantly improved and discharge planning had begun for a possible Wednesday departure dependent on the results of a barium swallow test which would show if she could be started on soft foods.   The barium swallow test results discovered that she had TEF – Tracheoesophageal Fistula, which is a hole in the tissues between the trach and esophagus. This type of rare complication would require a complex surgery to repair. That surgery would never come into fruition though because the very serious complication had caused the barium to move into her lungs causing respiratory distress. After being transferred between units and landing back into the ICU, she was simply put onto the ventilator receiving large cycles of O2 concentration believing she only had anxiety. No physical assessment, no blood …

Did you know that Scrivas Medical Scribes do more than just transcribe the patient encounter for the physician? The role of a Medical Scribe from Scrivas is much more than a transcriptionist or an AI that only transcribes a patient encounter! Scrivas Medical Scribes are similar to a personal assistant for a physician. To fulfill the role of a medical scribe, all Scrivas Medical Scribes must pass a rigorous interview and selection process, then excel in our own Scrivas University Medical Scribe certification program. The program includes a comprehensive didactic curriculum, extensive on-site observation and training, and multiple benchmarks by our Quality Assurance Team during and after training is completed. Scrivas Medical Scribes are typically scheduled 15-30 minutes before a shift to begin pre-charting for the day which includes ensuring that all labs and imaging results are pulled and ready to be viewed by the physician. Throughout a shift, they can continue to look out for results, guide patients to the rooms, and depending on the type of specialty, can alert them of new patients as they come in. The Scrivas Medical Scribe benefits not only the physician but the workflow of all the office/department and the patient’s satisfaction. As …

The feeling of sadness still continues to flow over me almost daily when I think about the fact that I am not in medicine anymore…that I gave up my white coat completely at the end of 2021 because of doctor burnout. The feeling then quickly goes to the back of my mind at the realization of what I continuously had to put up with–the long hours, and I don’t mean just an 8- or 12-hour clinical shift. I mean add 30-45 minutes prior to my shift to review my charts and get ready for my 25-30-patient load as well as the 2-3 hours after my shift that I had to stay to finish my notes. Even worse was the reminder of the times I missed way too many date nights with my husband, missed the Taekwondo match where my son won a gold trophy, all because I had to finish my notes that spilled over from the day. Or the continued annoyance that staring at my computer was apparently “not important” enough to my director to warrant a solution to my complaints. Everything that I stressed over for over 4 years.   Doctor Burnout Doesn’t Come from What the Job …

Adding a medical scribe role to your team can help your already overburdened staff. This article shows how. The beginning of every New Year has always been the time for reflections, setting goals, and promises typically centered around improving our own lives. As Healthcare Leaders we must look at this time as a reminder to not only reflect and set resolution goals for ourselves but look at how you can improve the lives of the people that work for you. Throughout the years, physician burnout has continued to worsen, physicians continue to believe that there is no hope in sight for a solution, and typically either they become dehumanized or end up giving up the white coat in frustration and anguish. How Do I Know I Need to Add a Medical Scribe Role to My Team? Now is the time to reflect and review the electronic health record (EHR) data, the workflow and processes of your health system, pinpoint the cause, and find a solution. If your physicians are staying after work and/or working after hours to keep up on with the clinical notes, there is a solution. If your physicians are mainly using the copy and paste feature for …

2021 is almost gone, with only 4 weeks left, and many people will be looking to squeeze in a few additional medical appointments and surgeries since they either met their deductible this year and/or may be losing health insurance next year.   Medical offices have this compounding dilemma with the increasing struggle of facing this with the lack of healthcare staff or even physicians themselves. Physicians and staff members alike are feeling the need to quit altogether due to the stress of the pandemic, added administrative tasks, the unprecedented, escalating wave of abuse from patients due to issues over appointments, vaccinations, and blood tests,[1] and lastly, the reimbursement treadmill that requires many of the physicians to see four or more patients every hour in order to make a living only exasperates the stress levels.[2] Just last year, physicians around the U.S. responded to a national survey stating that high or extremely high administrative tasks and “getting paid as a top challenge facing physicians.”[3] Also, almost 90% of first-year physicians spend most of their time away from patient care, half of which is spent on the electronic health records (EHR), which does not help with reducing burnout at the beginning.[4]   …

Finding solutions for physician burnout has never been more critical. In 2016, the RN Work Project found that 17% of newly registered nurses leave their first nursing job within the first year and 33% leave within 2 years, [1] while burnout rates for physicians were on average 69%. [2] In just 4 years, those numbers have jumped to up to 30% of newly registered nurses leaving their first nursing job within the first year, up to 57% by their second year, [3] and 79% of physicians reporting feeling burned out. [4] General hospital staff turnover has also risen in those 4 years from 16.2% to 19.5%. [5]   “Choose a job you love and you’ll never have to work a day in your life.”- Confucius This has been a timeless quote spoken to young individuals who are in pursuit of their career path. For some, their passion of wanting to make a real difference in people’s lives made their decision easier than most to pursue a career in healthcare. Why is it then that more and more healthcare professionals are leaving the field?    Researchers concluded in a recent study, that the COVID pandemic, feeling burned out or overworked, and finding …

Zero harm in healthcare is attainable with cooperation in our industry. Here are four of the obstacles we face as we try to achieve this critical goal. Almost 23 years ago, the monumental report, “To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health System” was published. This report outlined the alarming statistic that as many as 98,000 Americans were dying annually due to medical errors. Yet despite new initiatives, such as “Chasing Zero,” researchers now estimate that medical errors cause 251,454 deaths per year. There are a number of obstacles that still are in the way of improving patient safety, such as a lack of interoperability, culture, and training, as well as burdens on the physician and nurse that get in the way of quality clinical care.    4 Obstacles to Zero Harm in Healthcare Lacking Interoperability: Interoperability in healthcare refers to the ability of different computerized systems, such as electronic health records (EHRs) to readily connect and exchange information with one another so providers can have access to all data for a patient that is being treated.  Interoperability in healthcare is designed to boost efficiency and productivity, improve care, coordination, and patient experiences, improve patient safety, and help lower costs. …

In the 2021 Medscape survey, an internist hit the core problem of physician burnout when asked what contributes most to the issue: “I’m working 6 days a week, nights, weekends, and holidays!” [1] The last blog broke down the reason for this burnout problem–that there is not enough time in the clinical day to do the work of almost two full-time jobs.   Healthcare leaders and physicians alike have looked to tools to reduce burnout symptoms. Two very popular tools are medical scribes and dictation services. Which service works better? Which will be better in the long run to obtain the return on investment (ROI)? Both medical scribes and dictation offer time-saving options, and both have pros and cons. Let’s assess each to get a more defined conclusion:   Medical Scribe Medical scribes, also known as documentation assistants, are professionals that in real-time document the physician/APP-patient interaction and enter it into the EHR, including the patient history, test results, physical examination findings, and any other pertinent information. Medical scribes are often pre-med, pre-nursing, or pre-APP students eager to learn documentation. Scrivas medical scribes are certified through Scrivas University, which is run by a medical doctor to ensure the highest level …

“Time is money” and “There is not enough time in a day,” are statements that resonate among a vast number of professionals, especially physicians who are battling against the clock to see the number of patients they are loaded with and keep up with all the administrative tasks and charting that each encounter comes with. As health informatics grows, and the need for interoperability increases[1], electronic health records (EHRs) are a necessary evil.   It is unrealistic though to assume that a physician who sees 20 patients in a day can also complete accurate charting all in 1 clinical shift on EHR’s.   Let’s break down why doctors don’t have enough time: There are 480 minutes in an 8-hour day. If you count two 15-minute breaks, the total goes down to 450 minutes. Primary care physicians (PCPs), for example, spend on average 18 minutes[2] with patients (not taking into account new patients). If a physician sees 20 patients in the clinical day, it would equal 360 minutes, which leaves only 90 minutes (1.5 hours) to complete all the documentation for the 20 patient visits from start to finish accurately! *This of course doesn’t take into account if the physician takes …

Medical scribe programs help physicians and nurses meet their obligations, but are they profitable? This article shows the possible ROI. Scrivas medical scribes have been proven to be able to free up to 2 hours* of a physician’s clinical day after 90 days from implementation. This new found “free time” is one of the main reasons why scribes can be profitable.   How Profitable Are Medical Scribe Programs? To give a base line for a more generalized view though, let’s say that Dr. ABC, a primary care physician, has 2 hours now of “free time” after our scribe program has been implemented. Before scribes, Dr. ABC was seeing 20 patients in a day, the average for most physicians[1], which broken down means 2.5 patients per hour. Now, Dr. ABC can see 5 additional patients because of the additional 2 hours but to give him/herself more time with the patients, they have decided on only seeing 4 additional established patients.   Dr. ABC’s has outsourced a medical scribe program for his/her 40-hour work week and the rate is about $23.50 (an all in-inclusive rate) and the scribes work 8 hours which totals $188 per day.   Dr. ABC has now begun …

Wondering how a medical scribe benefits those in large medical practice settings? This article explores the answer. When a Director of Operations for a large medical practice or medical group begins to see inefficiencies within their practices, it is proactive to find the quantitative data to figure out the best course of action to improve the current standing. The best way to go about this is to look at the practice(s) as a human body. If a certain body system begins to fail, the entire body begins to have issues. For example, let’s compare the physicians of a practice to the thyroid. If the thyroid levels become too low, like a physician feeling burnt out, the human body and physicians become slower and more tired which can lead to burnout. Severe cases of hypothyroidism can lead to myxedema which can lead to death, just as burnout can lead to the physician leaving the practice or retiring early from his/her practice.   As the Director of Operations looks through the whole practice to find the root problem(s), they will need to look at all aspects from the front staff workflow, back staff workflow, physician workflow, etc. One of the components of …

How did one South Florida hospital system protect their patients and staff during the pandemic? COVID contact screening played a significant role.   The COVID-19 pandemic is now the #1 pandemic blamed for American fatalities since the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic![i] The United States healthcare systems were not prepared or designed to deal with an unpredictable, large-scale, fast-spreading COVID virus, although clinical laboratory testing has increased over the years to try and be prepared for any future viruses.   How Health Care Facilities Are Handling Shortages As COVID first began and spread quickly, hospitals scrambled to institute COVID-related protocols and procedures, find adequate personal protective equipment (PPE), and fill in crucial positions as absences began to occur due to exposures and infections. Hospitals also needed to find additional support staff to fill new COVID-related positions, such as COVID contact screening and tracing. Due to more and more front-line workers missing due to exposures and infections and budget concerns from canceled elective procedures, hospitals were adding the full-time equivalent (FTE) COVID-related work duties to hospital workers with already FTE job duties. Pandemic-induced hospital staffing shortages turned into a national bidding war, with hospitals willing to pay exorbitant wages to fill these …

Discover how one Scrivas medical scribe regained his sense of purpose in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. The past two years have been a whirlwind to the world, including Diego Murillo, due to the unprecedented pandemic and what came with it—“COVID burnout.”  “In these past 2 years, life has gone so out of whack I personally felt like I lost all sense of direction and I’ve only recently begun to gain the reins on my life again bit by bit,” noted Diego.  There were two components Diego attributes to being able to find a sense of direction and being able to “get himself out there” again, which was being vaccinated and by becoming a Scrivas medical scribe.  Diego received the COVID vaccine in early March, which helped to give him the confidence and a layer of protection and security he needed. Once he felt more comfortable during these unsure times, he began to refocus on working towards his career goals of becoming a physician assistant (PA). Diego heard of medical scribes from his fellow classmates throughout his college years. He felt that building up certain connections and first-hand experiences was vital to him. Scribing in Different Specialties “I recently …

Throughout Alexandra Guillen’s life, she has had to painfully watch family members she loves battle a variety of different cancers from colon to breast cancer. Her curiosity behind the causes and different treatments of this horrific disease has led her to her passion—oncology medicine. During college, Alexandra had the opportunity to shadow oncologists in clinics and her passion continued to grow. She recently graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in Biology and after speaking with a friend who currently works as a scribe at the University of Florida, she knew that being a scribe was her next venture while studying for the MCAT. “I wanted to see the day-to-day workflow of medical practitioners in action. I thought it would be a great learning experience since I would like to practice medicine in the future,” Alexandra states. Little did she know that becoming a scribe was not only truly beneficial for her future but the future of the physician she works with by reducing their burnout! “I didn’t know how important a scribe is to a physician! From seeing 20 patients a day, extensive charting due to the complexities of the disease, the variety of the treatments and …