No matter what field of healthcare you’re in, the goal at the end of the day is provide the best possible care for your patients. Whether that means being really present for appointments, providing a personalized diagnosis and treatment plan, or ensuring patients have everything they need to feel their best, clinicians certainly have busy days. This means that there's a limited amount of time to document patient visits and ensure data is entered accurately into their electronic health record. 

Are there ways that providers can streamline their administrative tasks so they can focus more on quality time with patients? 

In today’s article, we’ll be delving deeper into:

• The purpose of medical scribes
• What an ambient scribe is
• How ambient scribes can assist healthcare providers

What exactly does a medical scribe do? 

Medical scribes have an important job to do

If you’ve never heard the term medical scribe before you’re not alone. Although they’ve been around for quite some time since the implementation of electronic health records (EHR), you may not have known exactly what their role is. A medical scribe is an indispensable part of a healthcare team who helps the provider with medical documentation so that the patient’s EHR is updated with new information. They can also gather and organize information for the clinician on the patient prior to the visit to help bring the doctor up to speed on the patient’s history. 

A lot of medical scribes are folks who are interested in medicine, looking for a way to get hands-on experience before medical school, or who are looking to pay down some student loan debt in between semesters. Medical scribes are very helpful to doctors because they allow them to concentrate on what they do best—listen to and take care of their patients. Not having to worry about typing information into a patient record or inputting data after their appointments for the day frees them up to give better care and be more present for patients in the moment.

There are in fact a lot of benefits to having a medical scribe accompany a provider throughout the day:

• Medical documentation. The primary function of a medical scribe is to transcribe patient encounters, update EHRs, ensure medical histories are up to date, and input the results of any tests or changes in medication. The scribe works alongside the doctor to accurately write all the information that’s exchanged during the visit, which is essential not only for keeping good patient records, but so that this information can be easily shared among other providers or even insurance companies. 

• Gather patient information. Medical scribes will often gather patient information for the clinician as well, whether it’s from previous notes or medical documents, or records from other facilities or providers. This helps the physician be better prepared to discuss questions and concerns with the patient.

• Assist the patient. Additionally, medical scribes can also help the patient with scheduling additional tests or appointments, and guiding them through check in and check out procedures. 

Physicians would much rather devote their time to patients and not administrative tasks, which makes the job of a medical scribe essential to building better provider/patient relationships and ensuring the best possible care.

Is being a medical scribe a stressful job? 

Because you’ll be working in a healthcare environment and dealing with lots of different patients, you can expect to be busy and can end up in stressful situations. As a scribe, you’ll need to make sure you can type quickly and accurately, and that you are prepared to follow the physician around for their full shift. Medical scribes often encounter large learning curves, as every clinician likes their charts and records filled out according to their preferences. And if you work in multiple locations, there could be different software to acclimate to. 

While you’re not working directly with the patient, you’re there to record everything that takes place, and some medical situations can be stressful. However it can be very rewarding to work as a medical scribe, and lots of folks enjoy seeing how patients improve over time. If you’re interested in attending medical school, it could also be a great way to make connections, gain experience, and see what it’s really like working in a healthcare facility. 

What is the difference between a scribe and a transcriptionist? 

Although they may work for the same employer, a medical scribe is different from a medical transcriptionist. Scribes are present with the clinician and patient in order to document the events as they happen in real time. A medical transcriptionist on the other hand transcribes verbatim what is recorded during the patient visit via the clinician’s dictation. These transcribed dications are then put into the patient’s EHR.               

What is an ambient scribe?

Is an ambient AI scribe a better alternative? 

Medical scribes are one way to allow providers to focus their time on patients as they take the administrative and data entry burden off clinicians. Did you know that there is another way you can do this—with an ambient scribe? Ambient scribes are artificial technology that gives physicians another way to offload non-clinical tasks so they can focus on caring for patients. Like a lot of other fields, AI is making its way into the healthcare industry, and is helping doctors of all kinds of specialties get back to doing what they do best.

An ambient AI scribe is designed to listen to patients’ encounters with physicians by catching the conversations in real time. All the provider has to do is first confirm consent with the patient, then turn on the application with their smartphone and the AI scribe starts to listen and transcribe. One of the major benefits of an ambient scribe is that it documents but does not record patient encounters, ensuring the privacy that a patient would expect at their doctor’s office. AI scribes can take the documented information and use it to fill out clinical notes (or SOAP notes) that will eventually go into the patient's EHR. 

Ambient scribes use natural language processing algorithms in order to learn and transcribe the conversation during a patient encounter. This material is then formatted into a note that can then be reviewed by the clinician for accuracy. While AI scribes are very good at transcribing and putting information exactly where it needs to go, a human still needs to review the note to ensure it speaks to exactly what happened and includes all the correct information. The provider can also add any additional voice notes to include in the file, and then move on to their next task.

Providers who choose to use ambient AI scribes notice that they’re no longer distracted by having to enter notes during a visit, or afterwards at the end of the day. One of the major problems with human data entry of notes is that it can lack important details, or something can be omitted entirely. Not so with an ambient scribe that’s listening for the entire duration of the encounter. 

In addition to ambient listening, AI scribes can also help automate the patient journey, from checking in, scheduling additional appointments or tests, follow up reminders, and even sending over post-visit information. Everything is organized and tracked, so important medical information is not lost or overlooked. Scribes also make it seamless to share any health documentation with other providers, pharmacies, or insurance companies should the need arise. 

What is ambient documentation? 

Ambient documentation is just another way to describe what ambient scribes are doing—which is listening to and transcribing the vital information from a patient encounter. 

What is an example of ambient data? 

The ambient AI scribe is turned on for the entirety of the patient encounter and it prepares ambient data as the encounter progresses. It will listen and transcribe what’s being discussed, and in just a short amount of time has easy to read information ready for review such as the history of present illness, current medications, findings from the exam, recommended treatments, and any necessary follow ups. ambient scribes can also pull up information in the EHR easily just by asking for it, instead of requiring the clinician to sift through the EHR. Having access to all the patient’s data at their fingertips allows providers to concentrate on listening to the concerns of their patients.

Benefits of an ambient scribe over a medical scribe

Why you may want to choose an ambient scribe instead of an in-person medical scribe

Now that you know a little more about what exactly an ambient scribe does, it’s time to discuss some of the major benefits of using one in your healthcare practice.

• Gives clinicians back some time. This is one of the major benefits of including an AI scribe in your practice. A lot of clinicians suffer burnout from overworking and extended hours. On top of ensuring their patients are cared for, they also need to make sure that information from encounters is recorded in the patient’s record. This is either done in the session, or afterwards after appointments are over. When you take this burden off of providers, it frees them up to spend more time with their patient to listen intently and have a conversation. It also gives them a little more space in their day to themselves to step away or focus on another task, reducing the chance of burnout.

• Fosters better relationships. Because the provider isn’t worrying about writing down what’s happening during the encounter, they can be more present and build better relationships with patients. It’s difficult to do two things well at the same time, and with an ambient scribe notating what is said, the provider will not need to worry about missing something important. 

• Easy to use. Ambient AI scribes are applications that can be downloaded to any smartphone or tablet. There isn’t any extensive training required to use them, and as soon as you receive patient consent, you’ll just need to turn them on to start listening. 

• Ensures better accuracy. A lot of inaccuracies in patients’ data files are the result of human error or omissions. With an ambient scribe, clinicians no longer have to rely on their own memory (or that of someone else) to ensure all the necessary information was transcribed and is documented correctly.

• Communicates seamlessly with EHRs. Once the encounter is complete, the doctor has reviewed the information and included any additional notes, the documentation can then be shared into the EHR system. Having accurate and complete EHRs is essential to track the progress of patients, and it makes it very easy to share with other providers.

You may want to consider going with an ambient scribe over a medical scribe if you’re interested in streamlining the documentation and data input process.

Will you choose the future and get an ambient scribe?

AI is here to assist healthcare professionals everywhere by offloading some of the mundane administrative tasks so they can focus on patients. The technology is there, and lots of clinicians have already got on board, will you be next?