May 22, 2023
Traditionally, an ENT physician’s job was focused solely on providing care for patients with conditions affecting their ears, nose, and throat. However, the introduction of the EHRs shifted many clerical responsibilities to ENT physicians considerably increasing their cognitive and physical workload. This slowed ENT physicians down and distracted them from having meaningful face time with their patients. Managing EHR use during visits while balancing computer interaction and providing patient-centered care was a challenging task. To ease this burden ENT physicians across the country are turning to medical scribes for assistance with EHR documentation. Let us in the blog post discuss how scribes are a useful adjunct in improving documentation efficiency and providing high level of ENT care.
ENT scribes improve documentation consistency and efficiency
A study examined the pre-and post-scribe implementation parameters to determine the feasibility of scribe usage in ENT practices. The researchers analyzed 1808 charts in the electronic health records of which 903 were pre-scribe implementation and 904 were post scribe implementation. It was observed that the use of scribes in an academic otolaryngology practice improved provider efficiency and documentation consistency. First, there was a modest increase in the number of patients seen in a day. Then, the prompt closure of patient charts enabled ENT physicians to focus solely on a patient-focused approach to care. And finally, normal clinic work hours were shortened by 17% without the need for dictation and chart review during a clinic day. In short, scribe utilization in ENT practices facilitated prompt completion of documentation while reducing provider hours spent at the clinic.
Do ENT scribes improve patient experience and quality of care?
A retrospective cohort survey study was conducted in order to evaluate patient perceptions of scribes in an otolaryngology clinic using scribes. A total of 153 patients completed the survey of which 96 interacted with a scribe. It was found that patient satisfaction had no significant connection with the usage of scribes. The patients who interacted with scribes reported that they were helpful 77.1% of the time. Overall, the study demonstrated that patient satisfaction was neither impaired nor improved with the scribe present during clinic visits. However, taking into account the benefits reported by earlier studies, these findings support the fact that scribes serve are an indispensable tool in delivering high-quality otolaryngology care.
What does an ENT scribe do?
Basically an ENT scribe is like a personal assistant to an ENT physician focussing on gathering information from the patient visit and documenting it in the EHR in real-time. They transcribe physician-patient encounters, medical histories, and diagnostic test results while assisting ENT physicians to focus solely on direct patient contact and care. On a typical day, an ENT practice sees approximately 25 to 30 patients for a wide range of needs, in addition to pre- and post-operative consultations. ENT scribes are highly trained in the ins and outs of the EHR system, each provider’s unique style and approach to patient visits and provide charting according to the provider’s preference. In short, ENT scribes save physicians time by documenting findings from patient exams and assessments, enabling them to deliver the most effective and efficient care possible.
The upshot
ENT scribes are a potential solution to make medical record documentation more efficient and deliver high-quality ENT care. If you are an ENT specialist fed up with the amount of documentation required in EHRs and would like to focus on providing patients with a better health care experience Scribe4Me’s ENT scribes are a perfect solution. We have a team of certified ENT virtual scribes who can remotely provide medical documentation support while you focus on diagnosing and treating your patients with ear, nose or throat disorders. Sounds appealing? Send in your inquiry and our scribe representative will walk you through the process and help you decide if our ENT scribes are a best fit for your practice. We are confident that our ENT medical scribes will help streamline your workflow and improve patient care. Give it a shot! You’ll never regret it.
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Thomas Kennedy
Thomas Kennedy
Documentation is an important daily clinical responsibility. In order to optimize patient care, physicians are always on the lookout for new ways to effectively and efficiently document patient visits.
The use of virtual medical scribes has become increasingly popular in the recent years, as medical practices across the country are on the constant lookout for ways to reduce clinical documentation overload, thereby improving overall productivity.
The clerical burden associated with EHR usage is attributed as the number one cause of physician burnout. We also know that physicians spend twice as much time on EHRs and other clerical tasks compared to the time providing patient care.
