Incorporating medical scribes into workflows has helped clinicians seen more patients, according to research findings presented at the American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress 2019.
Two attending surgeons at an outpatient surgical oncology practice at Loma Linda (Calif.) University Medical Center piloted the study to evaluate how medical scribes impact clinician workflows. During a four-month timeframe, 335 clinical encounters were evaluated. Of the patient encounters, 183 were without scribes and 202 were with scribes.
With the medical scribes, the average number of patients seen per day increased from 10 to 16. Additionally, the resident involvement in patient visits increased from 34 percent to 45 percent with the assistance of a scribe.
There was no significant difference in the medications prescribed, orders placed, cases scheduled or length of office visit. Patient wait times were also similar with or without a scribe.
"The use of scribes could be one of the great tools that enhances physician-patient encounters and improves surgeon workflow," Sirivan Seng, MD, the lead study author concluded.
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