The Evidence Base for Scribes and the Disruptions of COVID-19

Gottleib et al present a systematic review with some economic evidence for using scribes. Improvements are seen in physician productivity and increased per-patient revenue in the United States of America, but not patient flow. The improvements are relatively small and this may or may not be economic for a facility depending on the location, true costs and gains/losses of the scribe program. Scribes are well tolerated by patients and most physicians have a better experience when allocated a scribe. There are gaps in our knowledge regarding scribes, including total costs of programs, quality and safety information, whether scribes reduce physician burnout and the impact of the role on the scribe. Scribe roles and locations of work have changed during the COVID-19 period. Future research should explore how best to spend health dollars to improve patient access to skilled providers in a timely fashion, including comparisons of various provider roles and explorations of how to make health information technologies work better for the end user.