The need for medical scribes has been on a boom since the digital era began.  Before we get into how much a medical scribe makes or how much you can pay a virtual medical scribe, let’s get into a little bit of the basics and try to understand where all this started.

As mentioned, medical scribes and medical transcriptionists were in great demand when the transition into the digital era began. Deciding to enter into the digital era is easy, but the work behind going paperless is a huge task.

Let’s take a look back at the situation before medical records were digitalized. People used to come in with files full of medical reports and in case of complicated medical situations, there were multiple files with prescriptions, scan reports, bills, insurance papers, and so on, all cluttered together, stored in bundles over bundles all over the space. We took the files everywhere we went and it was haywire when we wanted to find something important from those big bundles. Most often, we even lost a few of those reports.

When the digital era has begun, every sector took to find a way to simplify its field with this new means and the medical sector wasn’t out of this. Electronic medical records were born.

What is EMR?

Electronic Medical Records are an individual’s medical records in electronic format. This paperless format is supposed to be a one-stop to all the medical history of the patient. Any physician can reach into it and will know in an instant the background and medical history of a patient. This may be alarming from a security point of view, but think about this, when someone meets with an accident and the doctor needs to know about the patient, the EMR will be a lifesaver.

This was a huge task though since the years and years of paper medical records had to be converted into digital format. Data entry specialists and medical transcriptionists were hired to start converting all the old records into EMRs/EHRs.

Who are medical scribes?

Medical scribes are people who are hired to sit in a physician’s office and enter all the important details into the EMRs then and there.

When a patient visits a doctor, from the moment the patient enters, a medical scribe starts scribing all medical information that is key to that particular visit into the EMR of the patient, leaving out the irrelevant details.

The difference between medical transcription and medical scribing is that scribes work on live time while transcriptionists work on recorded voice notes which are made by physicians once the patient leaves. Scribing of medical information needs high attention to detail and since everything is happening in life, a person with a keen eye and a good medical background will easily catch up.

What is virtual medical scribing?

The problem with having a scribe sit inside a physician’s office is that some patients feel uneasy divulging information in front of anyone but a physician. This feel of invasion of privacy sometimes leads to patients withholding certain symptoms which may hamper diagnosis of illness. The need for hidden scribing was required and with advancement in technology, virtual medical scribing became a possibility.

Virtual Medical scribes are medical scribes who work out of the physician’s office. They scribe medical records from the comfort of their homes or in company premises that offer virtual medical scribe services.

Who are best for Medical Scribe jobs?

Medical scribe jobs are mostly taken up by college students who are looking for internships or are interested in getting into the action before they actually step into the game. When scribing medical records, the medical scribe is exposed to so many different cases and has the chance to learn hands-on. Scribing medical records need great attention to details and so the person needs to have the good observational skill, listening skill, computer skills, and medical background.

What is a medical scribe’s salary?

The salary of a medical scribe depends on various factors. However, the average market rate currently ranges from $10-$20. A medical scribe’s salary is always more than a transcriptionist’s since the work demands a great deal of knowledge, concentration, and listening skill.

In the case of a virtual medical scribe, their role plays an even bigger role since there’s nothing visual to relate to or figure out how things are going to turn out, especially in the case of ER scribing where the situation is always chaotic and one needs to be quick. Based on many other factors, the salary varies.

Factors on which a medical scribe’s salary depends

Medical Scribing for OP and medical scribing for ER

Though medical scribing is the same in all situations, the price of your hourly wage depends on whether you are scribing for OP visits or ER. A medical scribe’s salary is more for the ones who work in an ER than the ones who work in a physician’s office. Since the ER is always a chaotic place, the pressure of scribing in such an environment is huge compared to the calm OP visits or lab visits. So if you are aiming for a high medical scribe salary than your peer, then ER is your way. But beware, the hike in price comes at a cost.

Medical scribing in-house or Medical Scribing away from the office

When a medical scribe is hired in-house, the cost of logistics for having the medical scribe present there is huge compared to hiring a virtual medical scribe and so, this logistic cost is also going to be shared by the medical scribe.

In the case of virtual medical scribes, the physician or the hospital is only going to be paying the company for the virtual medical scribe service and not the logistics for availing the service, thus a medical scribe who is working through a company has the chance of getting more salary than the ones working in-house.

Medical scribing salary based on the country of the scribe’s premise

In countries like India, where the currency exchange rate is less equating to the American dollar, the cost of hiring a virtual medical scribe from a country like India is very less compared to hiring a medical scribe in America. But this doesn’t mean a loss on the part of the medical scribes from India since the currency exchange rate allows for a win-win situation for both parties.

So hiring medical scribes from a developing country that offers virtual medical scribing services is beneficial from a physician’s point of view as well as for the medical scribes who are scribing the medical records from such countries.

There are other factors like experience, the hiring hospital/physician, etc but the above-mentioned play an important role. So if you are planning on getting into a medical scribe job for the money, then it’s best if you consider all these and choose wisely. If you are looking into medical scribe jobs for the exposure you’ll get, then don’t think twice because you will find so much experience when working as a medical scribe.

If you are reading this trying to figure out how much you can pay your virtual medical scribe, then contact us @CrescereMed and you’ll be able to find top-class virtual medical scribes for a competitive rate in the market.