How Can Virtual Medical Scribes Benefit Healthcare Practices?

The era of technology and post-pandemic brought a new rendition to healthcare and is accessible to patients and doctors alike. The virtual medical scribe company industry is a result of the rising advent of EHR, or Electronic Health Record, in the medical industry. Though the trajectory of the introduction of medical scribes was initiated in the 1970s, it was only after 2011 that it became highly popular, and the pandemic rightly acknowledged the urgency of virtual medical scribes. As for 2024, the popularity of virtual medical scribes is so great that almost one out of nine clinicians in the US approve of a scribe per year. 

Popularity of the Virtual Medical Scribes

The rise in popularity of virtual scribes as an alternative to traditional medical practices is mostly their ease of accessibility for patients and the flexibility of the physicians. Rather than visiting onsite and going through the entire tiring procedure, the patient can share their problems over the phone or via video conferencing. Patients feel quite at ease sharing their problems in comfortable surroundings and can be more honest regarding their health, which helps in a quicker diagnosis. Privacy is also maintained, as intermediate medical help, additional family members, etc. are not required. The functionality creep of the doctors is reduced too, which implies that virtual scribes are more efficient in their service and can provide thorough support to their patients when required.

Duties of Virtual Medical Scribes

The duties of a virtual medical scribe are no different than an onsite one but seem more suited for the future of medicine. The duties include:

• Documentation of patient visits: Usually the documentation and record-keeping or maintaining the patient history becomes cumbersome. Even form fill ups require quite a deal of time. Patients are not required to waste their precious time in doing data entry into the EMR or filling up the questionnaire on their medical history. 

• Communication with healthcare providers and experts: The scribes are trained to be experts in multiple EMRs and ICD-10 cm. In universities like Stanford, the virtual medical scribes are usually post baccalaureate students, undergoing a 1-year fellowship with over 100 hours of online quizzes, etc. They practice medicine under the mentorship of doctors, as well as work a 20-hour shift weekly. Thus, they are well-informed on recent medical developments and can help doctors with easy identification of diseases. The virtual scribes also understand the requirements of the provider better and set up the chart according to their preference. They can also communicate with the doctors better and bring in quick details of the patient’s history.

• Ensuring HIPAA Compliance: All medical scribes have to be compliant with legal regulations and maintain the privacy of the patients. 

• Helping with the Patient Flow: for a doctor, having an efficient virtual medical scribe is bliss, as it ensures an effective usage of time. Clinical documentation is not required, and a few extra minutes are saved per patient. Moreover, chances of both patient and physician satisfaction are ensured.

• Having recorded data, patient examination test results, medical history, and prescription: Virtual medical scribes are usually required to keep track of their patients and update them on their medical history. Moreover, they are also required to guide their tests and maintain the prescription. An additional skill on typing, medicine billing is a bonus skill helpful for scribes. 

Benefits of Virtual Medical Scribes And The Future of Healthcare

Virtual medical systems are the future of healthcare, or they aid in the technology-driven medical system. The future of medicine by 2030 will highly rely on AI, which collaborates with the patient’s medical record portals and doctors for swifter diagnosis. Virtual medical scribes can effectively look into the prospects of disease prevention. 

Moreover, smart gadgets can monitor physical changes in the body and revert to the doctor in cases of  The recent global pandemic taught a few things that the medical system could work on, such as the increasing usage of telemedicine. Telemedicine refers to easily available medical kits that can help in quicker diagnosis of illness. Many such telemedicines include the very popular COVID-19 test kit, oximeter, etc., which could easily be door-dashed in the pandemic situation. 

The easy accessibility of telemedicine implies that patients would not be required to wait in long queues for diagnosis, which could potentially increase the chances of the spread of any communicable diseases. Moreover, telemedicine is far cheaper and more flexible.