Impact of scribes on throughput metrics and billing during an electronic medical record transition

Emily Woods, MD

Dr. Woods is an emergency physician at Mayo Clinic in Rochester MN and SE MN.

This study was recently published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The objective was to evaluate Mayo Clinic Emergency Department's already established scribe program on throughput and revenue capture while Mayo Clinic underwent EMR transition.

We used a prospective cohort design to compare patients that were managed with and without scribes in an academic ED. Multiple throughput metrics and RVUs were collected and data was analyzed over 3 months during out go live period (immediate 2 weeks) and adoption of the EMR  (two weeks post implementation to the end of the study period).

We found there was no significant difference in throughput metrics or RVUS during this three month period, although in some specific instances improvements were noted.

A scribe's ability to mitigate operational inefficiencies during EMR transition does seem to be limited in an academic institution. We were unable to replicate prior research that highlighted to impact of scribes on revenue.

Check out our full below.

https://authors.elsevier.com/c/1bSeM2dHVPwqfS

Access to this full length article is available for free until September 12, 2020.

Authors: Heather Heaton MD, MAS, Emily Woods MD, Wyatt Gifford BS, Karen Koch MSN, RN-BC, Christine Lohse MS, Ryan Monroe MS, Kristine Thompson MD, Laura Walker MD, Thomas Hellmich MD, MBA