More than 500,000 physicians and other providers around the world use Dragon Medical One, a speech-recognition program for documentation from Burlington-based Nuance Communications.Ī growing number of physicians also have scribes with them in the clinic, drafting notes in real time. Many companies market products aimed at reducing the administrative workload for doctors. “There are privacy issues to be mindful of, but I think it’s fairly well managed.” “Any time you introduce a new entity into the equation, the risk multiplies,” he said. Nilesh Chandra, a data security expert at PA Consulting in Boston, said it’s now common for US health care data to be shared globally. And most patients don’t seem to mind: The consent rate is 99 percent, according to IKS Health. Patients must give consent before their appointments are recorded. Scribes working in India access the recordings through “dumb terminals” designed just for that purpose. The audio recordings are stripped of personal details like names and dates of births, and they’re stored on US-based servers. The program is designed to comply with US data privacy laws. “It’s capturing the visit much more accurately,” Gupta said. Sachin Gupta, chief executive of IKS Health, said virtual scribes provide highly detailed notes that allow health care providers to code for more complex health conditions and bill insurers at higher rates. When doctors spend less time at the computer, they can fit in more appointments - and generate more revenue. The time savings can vary widely by doctor, specialty, and setting.Īnd while they’re trying to relieve burnout, hospitals that hire virtual scribes are also seeking a return on their investment. IKS Health says its service can save physicians 90 minutes to two hours per day. All of the Indian scribes have medical degrees and are trained to take notes like US doctors. About 1,000 US clinicians use Scribble, and the company is adding about 100 users a month. General and the Brigham are using a virtual scribe service called Scribble, from the Mumbai-based company IKS Health. “The scribe is going to capture all of that,” said Healey, associate medical director of the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization. Healey recently started working with virtual scribes and finds he no longer needs to write down details. Healey has been jotting notes on scraps of paper as he meets with patients to help remember what they tell him. The Brigham plans to sign up at least 100 physicians within the next 12 months.įor years, Dr. General is part of the Partners HealthCare system - a handful of doctors started working with virtual scribes this summer. At Brigham and Women’s Hospital - which along with Mass. General physicians in 12 specialties are using virtual scribes, and the hospital has plans to roll out the service to hundreds of additional doctors. “Sometimes, before scribes, I would go into a visit with the patient, and the patient would start talking at 200 miles per hour, and I would start getting all stressed out - like, how am I going to remember all this stuff?” Ting said. Ting and other fans of virtual scribes argue that these remote workers thousands of miles away actually take better notes than local doctors, because they can type while they listen and don’t have to rely on memory to recall details. And now, as more patients access their medical records online, notes also can help them manage their health. They’re used to support insurance company billing. They remind care providers about a patient’s diagnoses and treatments. General Physicians Organization.ĭoctors’ notes serve many purposes. Ting, chief medical information officer at the Mass. “What we’re trying to get our doctors back to is face-to-face with their patient, where the technology fades into the background, but then comes forward to support us when we need it,” said Dr.
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