Could Medical Scribes Improve Productivity in the ED?

By Kelly Young

Edited by Susan Sadoughi, MD, and Richard Saitz, MD, MPH, FACP, DFASAM

Medical scribes are associated with improved physician productivity in Australian emergency departments, according to a study in The BMJ.

Nearly 4000 emergency department shifts, representing 88 physicians, were randomized to have scribes document consultations or to not have scribes.

Physicians saw more patients per hour when they used scribes than when they did not (1.31 vs. 1.13 patients). Primary consultations saw a somewhat greater gain (1.04 vs. 0.83 patients per hour). Patients' median length of stay in the ED fell from 192 minutes in non-scribed shifts to 173 minutes in scribed shifts.

Patient safety incidents occurred in about 1 of every 300 scribed consultations, most often involving patient identification errors. When scribes were used, hospitals saved about $26–$31 per scribed hour.