Last year, we discussed how many healthcare providers were unhappy with their EHR despite investing a huge amount in such systems. Now, a new survey from AmericanEHR Partners and the American Medical Association (AMA) shows that physicians are still not satisfied with the use of EHR in their practice. In this survey on Physician Use of EHR Systems 2014, more than half of all participants responded negatively to the questions regarding how their EHR systems improved costs, efficiency or productivity. This new study again highlighted the significance and efficacy of a combined approach of EHR and medical transcription.
The above mentioned online survey collected data on EHR use, satisfaction with EHRs and health information technology. The key findings of this survey are as follows:
- Around 42 percent of respondents believed that the ability of their EHR system to improve efficiency was difficult or very difficult.
- 72 percent of respondents believed that the ability of their EHR system to reduce workload was difficult or very difficult.
- 54 percent of respondents said that their EHR system increased their total operating costs.
- 43 percent of respondents said they had yet to overcome the productivity challenges associated with their EHR system.
While 37 percent of primary care physicians said they were satisfied with their system, only 28 percent specialists were satisfied with their system. As per the survey, the specialists cope up with the EHR by hiring scribes to perform the data entry. Around 13 percent of physicians surveyed said they employ a scribe while 9% said they are planning to employ a scribe in the future.
Medical Scribes or EHR Transcription – Which Is the Better Alternative?
Scribes document patients’ data in electronic templates through relatively minimal use of text. They don’t listen to recordings, but listen to the physicians directly, clarify their doubts in real time and ask physicians to provide more details if the template requires that. In other words, we can say it is a bilateral communication process. Though scribes can save physicians’ time and increase the efficiency of completing patients’ reports, there are several drawbacks involved such as:
- Most scribes receive very little training and therefore their knowledge of medical terminology may not be very commendable. This may negatively affect the communication between the physician and scribe, which would increase the chance of medical error in patient reports.
- Physicians may respond to the doubts raised by the scribes, clarify them or provide appropriate details during a patient encounter. This may prevent physicians from spending quality time with their patients and providing appropriate care.
- The patients may not be comfortable with a third person during the visit to their physician, especially in the case of physical examination or an issue that is very intimate.
EHR transcription involves a blended approach of transcription and EHR. First, the physicians’ recordings are transcribed with the help of experienced and skilled transcriptionists. The transcripts are checked thoroughly and populated into the appropriate fields within the EHR system. Professional transcriptionists ensure maximum accuracy for your reports. By relying on a dedicated medical transcription service provider, you can give full attention to your patients and enhance productivity. There are medical transcription companies which provide three-level quality assurance with proofreaders and editors to ensure maximum accuracy for your reports.
