Scribes Improve Emergency Physician Productivity

Use of scribes increases the number of patients seen and the relative value units generated per hour but does not decrease emergency department turnaround time.

Scribes assist physicians in a variety of ways, including documenting details of histories, physical exams, and procedures; assisting in discharges; and following up on laboratory and radiographic studies. To assess the effect of scribes on emergency physicians' productivity, researchers reviewed productivity data for 243 clinical shifts worked by 13 EPs at an academic emergency department (ED) during an 18-month period.

Scribes were present the entire time for 31% of shifts. Overall, use of a scribe was associated with a mean increase of 2.4 relative value units generated per EP per hour, primarily resulting from an additional 0.8 patients seen per hour. ED turnaround time was not significantly affected.

Reviewing Author

Diane M. Birnbaumer, MD, FACEP

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardSecurisyn

Editorial boardsThe Merck Manuals (Home and Physician Editions)

Diane M. Birnbaumer, MD, FACEP

Disclosures

Consultant / Advisory boardSecurisyn

Editorial boardsThe Merck Manuals (Home and Physician Editions)