Every Rose Has Its' Thorn: Electronic Medical Records and Scribing in the Medical Industry
Gish, Tappy
Gish, Tappy
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The medical field has progressed dramatically over the years; encompassing new techniques and attempting to streamline medicine as to be more efficient and productive for our growing population. The United States currently spends more on health care than any other nation in the world; however we are not healthier, as would be assumed for a nation with such spending deficits. With increased research into ways in which to improve the system, came implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR) in 2009. This idea, in and of itself, embraces the critical thinking that with enhanced communication comes enriched care. This idea was ingenious in connecting a vast population of care with the immediacy and accuracy of electronic medical records. Now, while this idea has turned out to be beneficial in many ways, "every rose does have a thorn," and this inconvenience came in the form of outlandishly increased documentation and clerical responsibilities of the physicians themselves. The answer to this problem lies in the use of medical scribes. Unlike dictation services, scribes are a vital, integral, and most-importantly, an active part of patient care. The scribe system is helping to move the current physician interaction back to its' original goal: that of patient-centered care and direct contact. Instead of exaggerated focus on the chart completion, research has shown that physicians are actually able to increase their productivity and critical care billing, decrease their lost charges, down-code visits and procedures, and increase their attention on the patient themselves; that for which they pursued the field of medicine in the first place.
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University of Wyoming Libraries