Scribe Impacts on Provider Experience, Operations, and Teaching in an Academic Emergency Medicine Practice

Scribe Impacts on Provider Experience, Operations, and Teaching in an Academic Emergency Medicine Practice

ORIGINAL RESEARCH Scribe Impacts on Provider Experience, Operations, and Teaching in an Academic Emergency Medicine Practice Jeremy J. Hess, MD, MPH* *Emory University School of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Atlanta, Joshua Wallenstein, MD* Georgia Jeremy D. Ackerman, MD, PhD* †Massachusetts General Hospital, Department of Emergency Medicine, Boston, Murtaza Akhter, MD† Massachusetts Douglas Ander, MD* Matthew T. Keadey, MD* James P. Capes, MD* Section Editor: Jeffrey Druck, MD Submission history: Submitted January 15, 2015; Revision received June 2, 2015; Accepted June 16, 2015 Electronically published October 20, 2015 Full text available through open access at http://escholarship.org/uc/uciem_westjem DOI: 10.5811/westjem.2015.6.25432 Introduction: Physicians dedicate substantial time to documentation. Scribes are sometimes used to improve efficiency by performing documentation tasks, although their impacts have not been prospectively evaluated. Our objective was to assess a scribe program’s impact on emergency department (ED) throughput, physician time utilization, and job satisfaction in a large academic emergency medicine practice. Methods: We evaluated the intervention using pre- and post-intervention surveys and administrative data. All site physicians were included. Pre- and post-intervention data were collected in four- month periods one year apart. Primary outcomes included changes in monthly average ED length of stay (LOS), provider-specific average relative value units (RVUs) per hour (raw and normalized to volume), self-reported estimates of time spent teaching, self-reported estimates of time spent documenting, and job satisfaction. We analyzed data using descriptive statistics and appropriate tests for paired pre-post differences in continuous, categorical, and ranked variables. Results: Pre- and post-survey response rates were 76.1% and 69.0%, respectively. Most responded positively to the intervention, although 9.5% reported negative impressions. There was a 36% reduction (25%-50%; p<0.01) in time spent documenting and a 30% increase (11%-46%, p<0.01) in time spent in direct patient contact. No statistically significant changes were seen in job satisfaction or perception of time spent teaching. ED volume increased by 88 patients per day (32-146, p=0.04) pre- to post- and LOS was unchanged; rates of patients leaving against medical advice dropped, and rates of patients leaving without being seen increased. RVUs per hour increased 5.5% and per patient 5.3%; both were statistically significant. No statistically significant changes were seen in patients seen per hour. There was moderate correlation between changes in ED volume and changes in productivity metrics. Conclusion: Scribes were well received in our practice. Documentation time was substantially reduced and redirected primarily to patient care. Despite an ED volume increase, LOS was maintained, with fewer patients leaving against medical advice but more leaving without being seen. RVUs per hour and per patient both increased. [West J Emerg Med. 2015;16(5):602-610.] Western Journal of Emergency Medicine 602 Volume XVI, NO. 5 : September 2015 Hess et al. Scribe Impacts on Providers INTRODUCTION patient satisfaction.22 Walker et al. found a decrease in time Patient care includes a range of indirect activities, to provider and increase in productivity and revenue in their such as reviewing patient charts, documenting findings and Melbourne ED.23 Using retrospective methods, Allen et al. impressions, ordering and reviewing tests, and interacting found an increase in ED throughput and provider satisfaction with other healthcare personnel. Indirect care constitutes a after scribes were implemented.24 significant proportion of emergency medicine (EM) physician While scribe impacts on productivity have been studied tasks,1 and was found to occupy more than half of EM prospectively, research on other outcomes such as provider physicians’ time in academic settings in one study.2 satisfaction and teaching have been retrospective. The goal of Scribes–paraprofessional staff that perform charting and this prospective study was to assess a scribe program’s impact sometimes other tasks for licensed medical providers–have on ED throughput, physician time utilization, and physician been used to reduce indirect patient care demands. Scribes job satisfaction in a large, urban, academic EM practice. Our have long been a fixture in American healthcare3,4 but have hypothesis was that the incorporation of a scribe program become more common in the last decade. Their roles are would increase the amount of time spent in direct contact with generally agreed upon but not fixed. Their primary role is to patients, increase the amount of time spent teaching students document in the medical record at the direction of a physician. and residents, improve overall work efficiency, and improve Scribes can also help navigate the medical record, gather provider job satisfaction. results of laboratory and radiographic testing, and assist with managing and coordinating communication with consulting METHODS and referring physicians. Study Setting and Design Scribes have become common in EM, and scribe services This was a prospective quasi-experimental pre-post design are typically acquired through contracts with national conducted in an academic EM practice supporting multiple corporations. Scribe corporations tout the benefits of scribes EDs. The scribe program was implemented in two of these for emergency departments (EDs),5-7 citing known associations EDs, both in primary teaching hospitals within our university between waits and delays in care and patient satisfaction and medical center with a combined volume of 100,000 annual quality of care,8,9 as well as associations between physician patient visits. Our EM academic practice has approximately job satisfaction and time for teaching in academic settings10-12 70 providers working at these two sites and an annual turnover and links between job satisfaction and burnout risk, which rate of approximately 3%. Providers typically work in one is particularly high in EM.13 Corporations also highlight the of the two sites as well as an independently-owned county potential impacts on the bottom line by increasing the number hospital that did not implement a scribe program. Both scribe of patients seen per hour and improving documentation, sites host residents and medical students. reducing downcoding and thereby increasing reimbursement. Scribes have recently become a significant part of the Selection of Participants healthcare landscape in recent years and have been seen, in Study subjects were EM physicians with clinical part, as a workaround for cumbersome electronic medical and teaching responsibilities in our academic practice. records.14 Research on scribes and their impacts on EM is Physicians were eligible if at least half of their clinical growing. Preliminary work in the form of recently published time was spent at one of the two scribe sites (hereafter abstracts has substantiated some of scribe service providers’ termed primary site). There was no minimum clinical time claims, suggesting, for instance, that scribes have the potential threshold required to participate. The study was approved to protect against burnout,15 that scribe services may increase by our institutional review board and participants gave ED throughput,16 productivity among certain providers,17 written consent to participate. and revenues,18 decrease turnaround time for billing,17 and decrease downcoding.18 Other work suggests that scribes can Interventions increase the amount of teaching in a clinical shift.19 The intervention was the implementation of a scribe Several published studies suggest scribe programs have program at the two clinical sites. Emergency Medical Scribe the potential to improve EM productivity and operations but Systems (EMSS) implemented the program and provided that improvements vary by context. Arya et al. found that at ongoing program management. There were no financial one-year post-implementation of a scribe program there was arrangements between EMSS and any of the authors. In the an increase in patients seen per hour and in relative value EMSS model, scribes are college students or recent college units (RVUs) generated per hour but no effect on time to graduates interested in health science careers. Scribes discharge.20 Marshall et al. found no change in patients seen receive on the job training and are considered by EMSS to per hour, a decrease in patient length of stay (LOS), and be proficient after 15 shifts and skilled after 45 shifts. The no change in physician charges.21 Bastani et al. found post- program was initiated in January 2012 and fully staffed scribe improvements in the time to see a provider and the (defined as greater than 95% of shifts with a scribe) beginning time from provider to admission as well as in ED LOS and April 2012. Scribes and providers are matched for a shift and Volume XVI, NO. 5 : September 2015 603 Western Journal of Emergency Medicine Scribe Impacts on Providers Hess et al. the scribe works closely with the physician and transcribes the AMA were secondary outcomes. For provider productivity history of present illness, physical exam findings, differential the primary outcome was average provider-level pre-to-post diagnosis, and medical decision-making. The scribe also change in monthly average RVUs per hour, and average documents orders, procedures, test results, and consultant provider-level

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