A community of 30,000 US Transcriptionist serving Medical Transcription Industry

Medical Scribes... - MT2

Posted: Sep 13, 2012

Has anyone ever worked as a "Medical Scribe?" Will you tell me about it, please?

Scribes - anon

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One of my clients I see as a patient has a scribe for his office transcription. She follows him around with a tablet and just takes her stylus and points. click...click..click... and she is done. She gets medical benefits and everything, although she is not very knowledgeable. My record looked horrible, and he obtained my templates to use because he did not like her work... I think they get paid around $9 per hour. I wish I did not have to work at home, or the benefits alone would be worth it to me..

Scribes - MT2

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Thank you for the info. As much as I love transcription I can not find a job that pays well. I spent most of my day today looking up this position. The Joint Commission just this last July gave guidelines. And, I read scribes work really close to the doctor and some of them have a computer on top of like a cart and she enters info that way. But, she is THE ultimate keeper of the records, following up on tests ordered, procedures needing to be done, going over instructions with the patient when they need a test or surgery. Also straightening up the patient's EMR so everything entered coinsides. My only worry is being on my feet 8-10 hrs every single day.

MT2 - I thought about looking into - this type of job. (s/m)

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I was unsure how I (or the patient) felt about being in the exam room while the patient was speaking to their doctor or being examined. I, myself, wouldn't like having a non-medical person in the exam room. Yes, we're privy to all kinds of personal info about the patients, anyway, but we're not face-to-face with them, and that feels different, to me.

You're right--being on your feet 8 hours would be a big change for some folks to think about (and not even possible for others). A friend I discussed this with a couple months ago also suggested to me that you might have to work longer hours than a typical workday, if the doctor works over....like you said, maybe 8-10 hours a day.

I also like having a job where if I need to take a day off or am ill, I know there are others who can cover my work....the way we have it as MTs (or used to in the hospital setting, anyway). If I worked as a scribe in a doctor's office, I can't imagine there would be more than one scribe per doctor. Hmmmm.....maybe the doc would do their own scribing if their scribe was out that day(??). I wondered if you worked one-on-one with a particular doctor, if you'd need to take YOUR vacation when the doctor took his or hers!! (LOL) After all, if the doctor isn't in for a week or two, I'm not sure what the scribe would do!

Scribing is certainly an interesting new job category, but I feel that I still have a lot of questions about it. There aren't a lot of scribes who I know of who could be asked about their jobs, and there's no long-term history of the career yet.

I didn't like the idea of being in the room with diseases - sm

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You can take a flu shot, but the idea of being around people with contagious diseases is not for me. If I were going to be that close to hands-on patient care, I would be an RN.

Being in the room with diseases... - MT2

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Your very first sentence in your note shows you haven't been transcribing for long or you don't know what you are transcribing, you just know how to spell the words or look them up! Secondly, the Scribes do NOT have a hands on position. She simply enters the room pushing her computer so she can enter what the patient wants, etc. AND, from what I've read, an experienced MT can start out at like $33,000.00 a year (not including time and a half for overtime). In all my years of transcribing I just took it on myself to be sure the patient's chart was completed as a whole and readable. Just go into AHDI and search for "Healthcare Documentation Specialist." This new job position explains where the MTs are to go, along with QA and editors. And, you mentioned "you would be an RN"....in my years of transcribing and I even taught MT for a year, I've spoken to several RNs who either thought it was too hard to do (even though they were getting like $25 an hour) they can't spell or pronounce well enough to be a MT. I had a couple of RNs taking my transcription class and they were glad they did, but decided not to enter that category...all of them say the same thing "it's too hard."

Your message is confused, convoluted, and misinterprets everything I did say - sm

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I said, I don't want to be in the room with patients. Period.

I said if I had wanted to be in a room with sick patients, which I do not, I would prefer to be an RN, not a Scribe, which I consider to be a ridiculous position.

I won't address your insulting comments about my own background and education in medical transcription, because you got everything wrong, including that.

If she teaches MT and has that much problem with reading comprehension - Pity her poor students!

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She didn't address your message at all. She just went off on a tangent of her own about how great being a scribe is. None of it made any sense. It was a confused, garbled mess.

Transcriptionists, Scribes & Healthcare Documentation Specialist-same thing... - MT2

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I found a lot of info on the internet. "AHDI has released an important new position." Long story short a "Healthcare Documentation Specialist" is an umbrella term that includes medical transcriptionists, speech recognition editors, QA specialists & a variety of other roles in clinical documentation and data capture. Although there are guidelines, the provider trains you the way he/she wants it done. It's been proven that it helps the docs spend more time with the patient, can concentrate on the patient's problems and increase patient productivity. If anyone wants to read about Healthcare Documentation Specialists" you can google it.

Also, I read that if you have the background and schooling of a transcriptionists the "average" salary for someone "seasoned" is between $30,000 & $33,400.00. Seems that since all these docs who have had to dip their toe into the pool of proper medical documentation (you have to be up to par in case the docs get a surprised visit from The Joint Commision)they like the EMR, but don't like having to cross all of those "T's" and dot all the "I's." Also, this person will probably be in scrubs and they enter the room pushing a cart designed to hold their EMR computer. I've seen ladies doing this, but I assumed she was a nurse entering the info. The reason docs pay well for this person who is highly trained in proper documentation is HE OR SHE is right there! They see you everytime they enter their office. I'm excited and I pray I get this job.

LOL! Scribes are less educated and are paid less than we are.. - anon

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They do not push the computer in the room. They carry tablets, or all I have met. They lack even basic training (excuse me while I spell out even basic medical terms and medications to them), and what really upset me is my surgery center client copied my templates to use in his office because she is not skilled enough to do this. My templates I created and were not paid for are copyright-protected.

Scribes are barely above receptionists but below transcriptionists. If you are taking a new job as a scribe, you are taking a step backwards careerwise. If you are not making enough money working for nationals, please get your own accounts instead of committing career suicide.

The one I met pushed the computer in the room but mainly sat there bored stiff - sm

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I had an awful experience with a scribe who pushed a computer as big as an x-ray machine into the very small room. Nothing was working right for her and she looked bored. She did more waiting around than anything. She looked miserable.

Medical Scribes - MT2

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I have been reading other peoples opinion, experienced doing the same thing...found MT from home not much good. Ran out of work, pay is crummy, not personal face-to-face communication. Then if our area is in the rainy season more often than not I have to shut down and unplug until the lightening stops...now I have to make up that time. Then I love how these home based companies assume you're trained IT Support. No thanks, I'd rather be in the office. From what was described the usual work duties of a medical scribe (i.e. Healthcare Documentation Specialist)you will have plenty of work to do when the dictator isn't in. Actually you'll probably get a lot done when they are out of the office because the scribe has to get tests, referrals and consults ordered, documented, signed by me then signed by the dictator. A lot of the EDs began using scribes as far as the early 70's. It just never dawned on me that the one lady who slipped into the room pushing a computer around, getting pertanent information from the patient, then entering it in BEFORE the scribe and computer leaves that exam room. Another helpful tip I read about is if the doctor thinks you need to step out of the room use like a "password" and step out...never letting that computer stand alone until the doctor who's dictating signs after you do, the documentation. Like I said, I'm excited..I've had 2 back surgeries and found that sitting in one place is something I can't do. The last company I worked from at home had a pop-up window asking where you were for the last 10 minutes!!Unreal!

What in the world did you just say? Never mind. - I do not want to know

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What in the world was that all about?

This is a little scary - nm

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The thought process in this message scares me.

ignore them. I hope you get it! nm - downtime

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nm

I thought medical scribes were mostly - medical students (sm)

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prospective medical students willing to work for almost nothing just to get a little practical experience and follow a doctor around all day. I think someone is pulling your leg if they are saying it pays over 30K when prospective medical students will do it pretty much on a volunteer basis. Perhaps in the clinics it is different, though.

COLLEGE students, NOT medical students - sm

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They are often pre-med students. Those are COLLEGE students.

In the US, a 4-year college degree is required for entrance to medical school. Thse students are "pre-med."

Medical students do not have time to work.

Yes, that is what I meant to say, I stand corrected - pre-med students. (NM)

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No message

If I were about to starve and no other jobs were available - I would consider it until I found something else

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Sure, if being a scribe were the only job available and I needed work, I would hold my nose and do it while I look for something else.

The name is cool enough for schools to be able to heavily promote it - It is not such a great job

[ In Reply To ..]
The name sounds cool! The job isn't.

It does sound cool, but people don't work as scribes very long - For Good Reason

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It isn't a job anyone wants for very long. Take the job if it's offered to you and then do it until something else---anything else---comes along. That's what most (former) scribes do.

applied, would have taken the job - downtime

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but as usual, didn't get an interview.

downtime - MT2

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The Administrator just got my resume and application on her desk and I completed it 12 days ago. So, keep that in mind. And keep in mind that you're interviewing with them at THEIR best time to stop their busy schedule or finish it to meet you and tell you about the position. But, I DO know what you mean about no interviews. It is a very tough market out there. Shoot! I even applied for a cashier at a local grocery store and no interview from them either.

this was a different job - downtime

[ In Reply To ..]
at a local hospital. I was notified it had been filled. I'm so frustrated that I can't get an interview anywhere! thank you for your kind words.

It's a new job people are unsuccessfully trying to promote as a viable career - please see message

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It's kind of a fad that was popular a couple of years ago. People are still trying to revive it as a viable career. There are people here and there who are doing it, often medical students, but that isn't working very well either.

consider this - anMT

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If you thought dealing with QA and supervisors was bad, try shadowing a doc all day. I think I'll pass.

I'll do about anything to get out of MT - downtime

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I've gotten less and less picky as the weeks have gone by. Applied for Unit Clerk jobs the other day, today it was Medical Clinic Receptionist.

I had to put up with one once but never went back to that doctor - Claustrophobic Situation!

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First the poor woman was sitting outside the room in a chair, looking a little bit like a manicurist hoping a client would walk in the door. She was waiting for the doctor to arrive. Then she bumbled and struggled her way through the door into the exam room with her cart. Then we waited again for the doctor. It was really close in there. That got even worse when the doctor and the nurse arrived and had to keep walking around and reaching over her. Then the software malfunctioned. I was so claustrophobic at that point I just wanted out of there. Never again!

I felt so sorry for her though. She was like a nonperson. She had no real station there. She wasn't a nurse or medical assistant. She wasn't supposed to talk, or apparently even smile, and she just looked miserable. So was I. Never again!

I am getting sick and claustrophobic again just thinking about it. It was a really sad situation.

Now if someone was desperate for a job and nothing else was available, I wouldn't advise them to turn it down. Otherwise, claustrophobia! Don't even consider it.

My feeling is... - do you really

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want somebody else in the room who might see you naked? On the flip side, do you really want to be in a room where you might have to see other people naked? No on both accounts for me!

I can think of things I'd rather do. - LOL

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All things considered, I think I'd rather do something else.

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