Why are Medical Scribes Important for Healthcare Providers

A 2016 study of 57 U.S. physicians showed that for every hour spent with patients, physicians spent nearly two additional hours on EMR and clerical work while at the clinic, then an additional one to two hours in the evenings. That’s a lot of extra time, much of it spent writing clinical notes.

When we talked with family physicians about writing patient notes, most estimated that it takes them three hours daily to record their notes. Physicians see between 25 and 40 patients daily, and most say that they take several minutes to record their notes for each patient. 

Given that most physicians type their notes, and that most people type much more slowly than they speak—average speed on a keyboard is 40 words per minute, compared to 100-150 words per minute out loud—it’s not surprising that physicians have developed different strategies to accelerate the process of recording patient notes. These include:  

• Learning to type more quickly.

• Honing their ability to remember patient interactions and writing notes whenever they have free time during the day.

• Writing very brief notes, with fewer details.

• Using a template that creates notes in advance, then filling in specific details after the appointment.

• Using the dictation or transcription feature in their word processing software.

All of these can affect the quality of patient notes. Typing more quickly leads to a greater risk of errors in the chart. Relying on memory increases the chances that doctors will miss critical information. Templates often result in patient notes that don’t truly reflect each patient’s individual needs and conditions. And finally, many common dictation and transcription services produce texts that are full of awkward breaks and errors, and that need careful review before they are entered into a patient’s medical record.

How does Tali AI help?

Whatever workflow physicians use, Tali streamlines the process of documenting patient notes in the EMR. Here’s how it works:

• Tali’s Medical Scribe is a widget that sits on the EMR. Once a physician opens a patient’s chart in the EMR, the dictation feature is ready and waiting, right where physicians compile their notes.

• Tali even has a mobile application, so physicians can scribe notes in the EMR using the smartphone as a microphone.

• Tali cuts the time needed to compile patient notes by more than 50%: by using voice instead of typing, the time needed to dictate notes drops from ten minutes to four minutes or less.

• Tali is especially helpful for online appointments since it can automatically transcribe the conversation between the physician and the patient. This makes the note-taking process even faster and more efficient.

• We’ve trained Tali’s Medical Scribe using a robust medical lexicon, so it handles medical language with ease. Physicians can document their notes naturally, as if they were talking to another doctor. And because the output of Tali’s algorithm is highly exact, physicians don’t need to spend valuable time reviewing their notes to correct the common errors created by other transcription options.

• Tali also improves the accuracy of its notes by using a list of command words that reflects the functions physicians use most, minimizing errors and awkward breaks in the text. 

We’ve heard what physicians are looking for, and we’re actively working to develop features that will help Tali make it easier for physicians to record clinical notes. Want to see Tali in action? Download Tali today or contact us directly for more information.