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]
As the end of the year approaches, what can a physician do to give quality care to the patients, keep up with the necessary number of patients, be able to squeeze a few more appointments in to help their patients, all while not getting burned out? It seems like an impossible task, especially as the physicians around the United States are increasingly feeling burned out, but it is not![5] There is a solution to help combat burnout and increase your volume to satisfy your patients that need you–outsource a medical scribe program. Medical scribes are a great resource to help combat the administrative burdens that are placed on you. Medical scribe duties include “prepping” the chart prior to the start of the day so all lab and test results are noted for your review. The medical scribe will then document in real-time the patient encounter ensuring that all needed information is noted, the scribe will then review any pending information and submit the chart to you for your review and signature at the end of the day. Medical scribe duties are the administrative tasks you have to bear currently, which you can offload to them.
Outsourcing a medical scribe program is more beneficial as well, as it will allow you to remove the HR burdens from hiring to schedules, training, and the quality assurance hassles that come with having an in-house scribe program.
The stress that has continued to pile on you as a physician from the EHR integration to the pandemic and shortages will, unfortunately, continue for some time. Instead of turning away from medicine, turn to a proven and effective solution.
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/oct/02/i-used-to-love-being-a-gp-now-i-feel-useless-scarred-for-life-fears-as-staff-quit-after-abuse
[2] https://washingtonmonthly.com/magazine/november-december-2021/the-doctor-will-not-see-you-now/
[3] https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/2021-s-top-challenges-facing-physicians
[4] https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2019/april/first-year-doctors-spend-almost-90-percent-of-their-time-away-from-patients
[5] https://www.medicaleconomics.com/view/physician-burnout-in-2021-has-reached-a-crisis-point-exclusive-survey-results