[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":335,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"The use of medical scribes had a positive impact on workflow in an outpatient surgical setting, increasing the number of patients seen and the level of resident involvement.That\u2019s among the findings from a pilot study presented this week at the 2019 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress.The study involved two attending surgeons at an outpatient surgical oncology practice at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California."While often employed by physicians in nonsurgical specialties, scribes are rarely seen in surgical outpatient clinics," observes lead author Sirivan Seng, MD, who is currently a resident physician at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa."Our main finding was that medical scribes increased the number of patients seen per day and resident contact with patients in the clinic," says Seng, who\u2014along with colleagues\u2014reviewed outpatient clinic records and compared various metrics before and after medical scribes were introduced into the surgical practice.

Specifically, the average number of patients seen per day increased from 10 to 16. In addition, the study\u2019s results showed that resident involvement in patient visits increased from 34 percent to 45 percent when assisted by a scribe."I think it's really important, from a resident perspective, that medical scribes become incorporated into the surgical practice,\u201d adds Seng. \u201cNot only does it benefit the attending physician, but it also benefits the resident and the patient.\u201dShe concludes that the use of medical scribes \u201ccould be one of the great tools that enhances physician-patient encounters and improves surgeon workflow.\u201dWhile scribes in the study improved workflow, the average patient wait times for clinical encounters were similar without scribes\u2014about 30 minutes. And although times to completion and closure of charts were shorter with scribes, it was not significant. In addition, there were no significant differences in medications prescribed, orders placed, cases scheduled or length of office visits.Seng surmises that the reason the scribes did not lead to significant improvements in productivity may be because of the relatively small sample size\u2014a total of 335 clinical encounters occurred in the study, 183 without scribes and 202 with scribes.","saveContent":"The use of medical scribes had a positive impact on workflow in an outpatient surgical setting, increasing the number of patients seen and the level of resident involvement.That\u2019s among the findings from a pilot study presented this week at the 2019 American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress.The study involved two attending surgeons at an outpatient surgical oncology practice at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California."While often employed by physicians in nonsurgical specialties, scribes are rarely seen in surgical outpatient clinics," observes lead author Sirivan Seng, MD, who is currently a resident physician at Crozer-Chester Medical Center in Upland, Pa."Our main finding was that medical scribes increased the number of patients seen per day and resident contact with patients in the clinic," says Seng, who\u2014along with colleagues\u2014reviewed outpatient clinic records and compared various metrics before and after medical scribes were introduced into the surgical practice.

Medical scribes improve workflow in outpatient surgical setting

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