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On Human eHR Input Devices [aka Personal Secretaries]
By Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA CMP™
[Publisher-in-Chief] www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org
What it Is – How it Works?
According to their website, PhysAssist Scribes provide turn-key solutions, recruits, interviews, trains and certifies staff, schedules and maintains highly-trained human eHR input scribes for their clients [$8-10/hour wages]. Emergency room departments and physicians were an initial target market.
Data Input Services
Scribes provide real-time charting for physicians by shadowing them throughout their shifts and performing a variety of tasks including recording patients’ history and chief complaints, transcribing the physical exam, ordering x-rays, recording diagnostic test results, and preparing plans for follow-up care, etc.
Typical Clients
Clients are mostly hospital based physicians, but one can imagine progressing down the food chain to large medical practices and even to solo practitioners as technology advances and HR costs are reduced. So, give em’ a click, and tell us what you think.
Reported Benefits
- Increase physician performance
- Increase physician job satisfaction
- Increase overall patient satisfaction
- Improve chart accuracy
- Decrease patient length of stay
- Increase communication among ED staff
- Improve physician recruiting and [retension] retention.
Related story: http://www.hhnmag.com/hhnmag_app/jsp/articledisplay.jsp?dcrpath=HHNMAG/Article/data/12DEC2010/1210HHN_FEA_staffingissues&domain=HHNMAG
Assessment
- It seems implausible to me that in order to facilitate the widespread use of eMRs, one has to hire another layer of bureaucracy in order to input the patient encounter. Is this an indictment of the various speech recognition systems or physician keyboarding ability? I am not a technophobe but eHRs are not yet up to pragmatic-use snuff. This is reminiscent of jeweled encrusted “buggy-whips” of the 1850’s. They were expensive, cumbersome and added no utility; but were “nice-to-have” devices for the affluent until the internal combustion engine came along [i.e. non-solo or small group medical practitioner].
- Of course, injecting another human resource [i.e. personal secretary] into the data input equation increases privacy breach possibilities for this protected health information [PHI]. And, it is not exactly the model of a contemporary and lean micro-medical office.
- Does a secretary-scribe really have to be “certified”? Won’t a good typist do just as well? Is this an example of vertical integration in the PhysAssist business model? How long till the scribes join the labor-union movement and seek employment benefits?
- What happens to the doctor, patient and data input chain when a scribe quits, or is a no-show for work?
- What ever happened to Occam’s razor (or Ockham’s razor), often expressed in Latin as the lex parsimoniae (translating to the law of parsimony, law of economy or law of succinctness), which is a principle that generally recommends selecting a hypothesis that makes the fewest new assumptions. IOW: KISS
- Of additional interest to note is the misspelling of the word retention, as “retension” on the www.IAmScribe.com website. Not a very good impression for a transcribing firm; or am I just an aging editorial curmudgeon?
- Are e-MR scribes a necessity or mere frivolity?
Conclusion
And so, your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Are such secretary scribes a “covered entity” or “business associate” under the HIPAA laws with the needed paperwork, etc? Or, is this an Obama administration job creation initiative?
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Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com
OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
DICTIONARIES: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko
PHYSICIANS: www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com
PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
BLOG: www.MedicalExecutivePost.com
FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors
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Filed under: CMP Program, Information Technology, Op-Editorials, Practice Management | Tagged: business associate, covered entity, Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA, EHRs, EMRs, HIPAA, PHI, PhysAssist Scribes, www.certifiedmedicalplanner.com | 15 Comments »
