Even before electronic health records (EHRs) were widely used in the medical field, scribes had been proven to increase productivity and improve patient experience. Now, if you’re looking for a medical scribe company, you’ll find plenty of options online. Moreover, you’ll likely come across Scribe America.
Working in hundreds of hospitals across 40 states, Scribe America can be considered among the biggest providers of specialized service in its industry. So, if you’re weighing whether you should hire from this company, this article is for you. We’ll also discuss how you can save money while ensuring productivity and accuracy with Wing’s medical scribes. This way, you can choose the ideal solution for your budget and needs.
Understanding Scribe America
For over two decades, Scribe America has been designing, hiring, training, and managing on-site and virtual medical scribes. The company is known to provide customized and specialty-specific services for hospitals, emergency departments, urgent care facilities, and outpatient clinics. Here’s a detailed look at Scribe America’s background and core services:
Overview of Scribe America’s history, mission, and core services
In 2003, Dr. Michael Murphy and Dr. Luis Moreno founded Scribe America for the purpose of commercializing medical scribe services across the country. A few years into operation, the company became known to provide America’s first “career scribes.” These were individuals with advanced degrees who pursued careers as medical scribes.
During the same period, the company was featured in a Good Governance Institute case study. The research highlighted a 34% productivity increase with the use of scribe services for electronic health record keeping. Today, Scribe America provides on-site and remote medical scribes who help improve efficiency while reducing the clerical burden of maintaining electronic medical records (EMRs).
You can turn to Scribe America for the following:
- In-person scribes – These are individuals who provide ancillary inpatient support and dedicated documentation. They will help you optimize EHR use while streamlining workflow for your on-site data.
- TeleScribes – You can choose between TeleScribes Video and TeleScribes Audio. The former provides the same benefits of a live scribe, albeit from a remote location and over a teleconferencing platform. Meanwhile, TeleScribes Audio provides affordable and flexible scribe services over a mobile phone or landline.
- Speke AI – This is Scribe America’s AI-powered documentation service. You can use the program to turn natural doctor-patient conversations into accurate medical notes. Designed with machine learning technology and supported by experienced medical scribes, Speke can be tailored to meet your needs.
Advantages of working with Scribe America
- Real-time EMR updates
- RAF-HCC coding compliance
- Scribe alerts for incomplete notes
Potential limitations or challenges of hiring from Scribe America
Scribe America is a leading option for medical scribes across the US. However, hiring through them isn’t without its downsides. Some of the biggest are:
- They are unclear on whether you have a dedicated scribe, which means continuity and organization may become a sticking point
- There’s lack of transparency on their website re: medical scribe pricing
- Limited published information on service contracts – you’ll need to schedule a private consultation to get all the details
Are there Other Options Besides Scribe America?
If you’re still on the fence about hiring from ScribeAmerica, then you should consider other options for outsourcing medical scribing. Here’s what you have to know:
What is an outsourced medical scribe service?
Instead of training in-house medical scribes, you’ll turn to a managed service provider. They will handle recruitment, training, and payroll. So, you don’t have to deal with the burden of HR management. Moreover, you can work with scribes on a contract basis, which means you can switch to a different provider if necessary.
Factors to consider when evaluating medical scribe providers
Medical scribes are responsible for capturing detailed and accurate documentation of doctor-patient conversations. Moreover, they do not conduct translations or make independent decisions while inputting information into the EHR. Even so, they need to be able to perform the following duties:
- Provide EHR navigation assistance for the healthcare provider
- Respond to messages
- Retrieve patient records, test results, reports, notes, and laboratory results
- Input data into the HER
- Research information that the healthcare provider requests
These are just some of the duties of a medical scribe, and they can vary depending on the specialties they serve. So, when choosing a managed service provider, you must ensure that the people they hire possess the following medical scribe skills:
- EHR management – The scribe has to be proficient in handling EHR systems. Moreover, they should be familiar with medical abbreviations and terminology to ensure accurate documentation.
- Computer skills – Aside from EHR proficiency, medical scribes must also be adept in using Microsoft Office programs and teleconferencing tools like Skype and Zoom. What’s more, they must know the regulations included in the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).
- Communication and interpersonal skills – Since medical scribes document conversations, they should also have excellent communication and active listening skills. Besides, they will collaborate with healthcare providers. So, they need to be professional and adaptable at all times.
The Top Alternatives to Scribe America
While the services and pricing scheme of ScribeAmerica may work for some, they may not be ideal for other healthcare providers. So, if you’re looking for the best alternatives, here are some names to consider:
Wing Assistant
If you’re looking for an alternative to Scribe America that offers value for money, you won’t go wrong with Wing. Wing Assistant is among the best medical scribe companies that cover a wide range of documentation activities.
If you want a cost-effective solution, you can delegate administrative and transcription duties to our HIPAA-compliant scribes. Our focus is to take the burden of documentation off your shoulders so you have more time to care for your patients. As such, we provide a task management tool where you can collaborate with your scribe, share files, and allocate projects.
Advantages of hiring a Wing medical scribe:
- Scribes who have gone through an unforgiving vetting process
- The ideal attitude, the right technical skills, and passion for the job
- Comprehensive experience in documenting patient history, EHR navigation, medical dictation, and general administrative tasks
- Transparent medical scribe pricing – rates are listed on the site
- Dedicated Customer Success Manager who will address all your concerns
ProScribe
Like Scribe America, ProScribe also provides on-site and remote medical scribes. You can also expect services that are tailored to your unique business needs. After all, the company customizes its scribe training programs according to your goals. Moreover, ProScribe handles scribe recruitment, training, and ongoing management.
ProScribe also uses a HIPAA-compliant program to connect healthcare providers with virtual medical scribes. The scribe can watch and listen to doctor-patient conversations and conduct EHR documentation in real-time through the app.
Advantages of using ProScribe’s services:
- Six-week implementation program
- Organized scheduling platform covering multiple shifts
- Programs personalized for any specialty
MedicalScribes.org
Some healthcare practices prefer running their medical scribe team. So, if this is the case for you, MedicalScribes.org may be the ideal alternative to hiring a managed medical scribe from Scribe America. You can hire this company to personalize your medical scribe training according to your specialty’s needs.
Moreover, you can rely on the quality and accuracy of the courses because experienced clinical scribes and physicians developed them.
Advantages of hiring MedicalScribes.org:
- Comprehensive medical scribe training programs covering terminology, medical charting, scribe admin tasks, and more
- Online courses and training partnerships with various universities
- Option for one-on-one training
Keep in mind that MedicalScribes.org is a training institute. So, if you’re looking for a company that will manage your scribe team, they may not be the best choice. Instead, you should assess your needs and find a suitable service provider.
Evaluating the Best Fit for Your Needs
According to Vantage Market Research, the global medical transcription market is forecasted to reach a USD5.11 billion value by 2028. Indeed, with an industry as big as this, healthcare practitioners have plenty of options at their disposal. However, just because a medical scribe company is popular, it’s not necessarily the ideal choice for you. To get the best value for your money, you need to find a provider and evaluate whether they fit your specific needs.
What are must-haves or non-negotiables?
When you want to ensure the accuracy, efficiency, and overall success of your medical practice, you shouldn’t forego the following qualities:
Healthcare regulation compliance and privacy
Remember that your practice is governed by healthcare regulations. Moreover, your medical scribes will become the business associates of a covered entity. So, you must ensure that the company you hire strictly adheres to HIPAA regulations and laws for protecting patient privacy. They must have a robust security system to avoid the risks of unauthorized access or data breaches.
Comprehensive medical scribe training
While medical scribes are not required to be licensed, they must undergo thorough training. So, when choosing a managed service provider, you should check if their team is trained for your specific documentation requirements. Your scribes should have a thorough understanding of medical terminology within your specialty. Here are some questions to ask:
- Do you provide specialty-specific or general medical scribe training?
- How many hours of training do your scribes undergo?
- Do you run mock consultations and documentation during training?
- Were your medical scribes evaluated for readiness before they started working?
- Are your new scribes supervised by tenured employees?
Transparency of costs
Another non-negotiable when choosing a medical scribe company is the transparency of the costs. When you want to ensure that you’re getting the best value for your investment, you need to know what you’re paying for. Some companies may not be transparent with their fees and may surprise you with hidden charges.
On the other hand, Wing medical scribes come with a fixed monthly fee. Moreover, we’ve got all the costs and inclusions published on our site. So, you know exactly what you’ll get for your investment.
What are your nice-to-haves?
There are other factors that you can do without. However, if you want to maximize your medical scribe services, it would be great to have the following:
Latest scribe technology
If you want to ensure workflow efficiency and seamless data transfer, your medical scribe provider should provide integration with EHR systems. This way, your scribes can optimize the documentation process within your practice. Consequently, you can reduce the time spent on administrative tasks and have more for patient care.
Flexibility and scalability
Your healthcare practice may eventually experience demand changes. When this happens, you’ll need more scribes working with you. So, it’s worth considering a company that allows ample room for flexibility and scalability. Choose a provider that can easily adapt to your changing needs to ensure efficiency and continuity of services.
Moreover, you must consider how well they can cover various shift hours. In case your regular scribes go on vacation or sick leaves, the company you choose should be able to provide alternate solutions. This way, you can ensure that you’ll have a medical scribe ready whenever you need them.
Performance monitoring
One of the reasons why you want to hire medical scribes is to increase efficiency and save money. However, how would you know that you’re getting your investment’s worth? So, we recommend choosing a medical scribe company that provides performance metrics. This way, you will see areas for improvement that will help you boost your ROI. Here are some related questions to ask:
- Do you conduct chart audits?
- How do you monitor every medical scribe’s job performance?
- How do you address scribes who are not meeting quality standards?
- Do you provide ongoing medical scribe training?
Scribe program management
You’d want to have more time on your hands. So, if you want your scribe program to run seamlessly, we suggest partnering with a company that will manage the process. To ensure that all shift schedules are covered, work with a service provider with comprehensive experience in the field. This way, you can ensure that your practice has a scribe for every consultation.
Hire Top Medical Scribes from Wing
When it comes to lightening the burden of documentation, Wing medical scribes are what you need. You can trust that our team has adequate experience in healthcare admin tasks such as electronic record-keeping, charting, and note-taking. You don’t have to worry about efficiency and accuracy because we take pride in our stringent pre-screening and vetting process.
Besides, when you choose us, you’ll have a dedicated Customer Success Manager who will help you with onboarding, training, and performance feedback. Moreover, you can ensure that someone will be available to address any concerns you might have. As a company providing full-service scribe solutions for health providers, we take care of everything—from training and guidance to payroll and quality control.
If you’re ready to boost your practice’s efficiency, schedule an appointment with Wing today!
Eunice Samson’s interest in keeping up with the “bleeding edge” of technology has led her to a career in digital marketing. She’s currently writing SEO content for eCommerce, SaaS, PaaS, and IaaS companies. Aside from searching for opportunities to increase her online marketing knowledge, Eunice also scours the Internet for useful bonuses and coupon codes that she can use to fuel her love for photography. During her free time, she watches professional photo retouching tutorials between streaming her favorite TV shows. Fun fact: Eunice has never met a cupcake she didn’t like.
