4 ms·

I have often wondered if it would be better to just hire professional data entry people to follow the doctor around and enter all the information into the syste

I have often wondered if it would be better to just hire professional data entry people to follow the doctor around and enter all the information into the system. Does it really make sense paying someone $500K a year to peck and tap into a EHR?

fencepost 8y ago
Hiring a medical assistant to effectively take dictation and record things in the EMR happens, but far more common are voice recognition systems and templating (which leads to its own set of issues). Long additional hours charting are another thing that happens - most doctors I know seem to spend at least a couple extra hours charting, dealing with labs, etc after they've seen their last patients for the day.
tivert 8y ago
> I have often wondered if it would be better to just hire professional data entry people to follow the doctor around and enter all the information into the system. Those data people are called "medical scribes," my doctor has started using one. Seems like they're mostly pre-med college students looking to get exposure to healthcare environments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_scribe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_scribe
- uberduber 8y ago
  They even have eScribes from foreign countries through video chat. One of my doctors has one from the Phillipines which was familiar with his very uncommon EMR. The scribe company gave him an iPad to video chat.
- danieltillett 8y ago
  Sounds ideal - they can even remind the doctors to wash their hands before touching the patient.
  - tivert 8y ago
    > Sounds ideal - they can even remind the doctors to wash their hands before touching the patient. I don't think doctors (or anyone else for that matter) is going to tolerate being followed around by an assistant who's going to nag them about how to do their job.
briandear 8y ago
Stanford Health has exactly that: they are called “Flow Managers” or something similar.

fencepost 8y ago

Hiring a medical assistant to effectively take dictation and record things in the EMR happens, but far more common are voice recognition systems and templating (which leads to its own set of issues). Long additional hours charting are another thing that happens - most doctors I know seem to spend at least a couple extra hours charting, dealing with labs, etc after they've seen their last patients for the day.

tivert 8y ago

> I have often wondered if it would be better to just hire professional data entry people to follow the doctor around and enter all the information into the system. Those data people are called "medical scribes," my doctor has started using one. Seems like they're mostly pre-med college students looking to get exposure to healthcare environments. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_scribe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_scribe

uberduber 8y ago
They even have eScribes from foreign countries through video chat. One of my doctors has one from the Phillipines which was familiar with his very uncommon EMR. The scribe company gave him an iPad to video chat.
danieltillett 8y ago
Sounds ideal - they can even remind the doctors to wash their hands before touching the patient.
- tivert 8y ago
  > Sounds ideal - they can even remind the doctors to wash their hands before touching the patient. I don't think doctors (or anyone else for that matter) is going to tolerate being followed around by an assistant who's going to nag them about how to do their job.

briandear 8y ago

Stanford Health has exactly that: they are called “Flow Managers” or something similar.