Article Figures & Data
Tables
- Table 1.
Productivity and Charts Closed by End of Day Before (August-September 2016) and After (March-April 2017) Implementing Scribes in Primary Care
Pre-scribe n = 980 hours Mean (SD) Post-scribe n = 718 hours Mean (SD) P value, t test RVUs/h 2.59 (1.17) 2.86 (1.22) <.001 Patients/h 1.82 (0.76) 1.98 (0.78) <.001 RVUs/patient 1.42 (0.29) 1.44 (0.29) .37 Proportion of charts closed by end of day (11:59 pm) 0.67 (0.42) 0.71 (0.40) .37 RVU, relative value unit; SD, standard deviation.
- Table 2.
Face-to-Face Time and Other Cycle Components Before (August-September 2016) and After (March-April 2017) Implementing Scribes in Primary Care*
Pre-scribe n = 92 Minutes:second (SD) Post-scribe n = 29 Minutes:second (SD) P value t test Pre-visit 2:09 (1:55) 2:33 (2:36) .44 Visit 17:40 (6:44) 19:46 (6:39) .15 Computer 9:27 ( 4:16) 6:53 (2:51) <.001 Face-to-face 8:13 (4:41) 12:53 (5:28) <.001 Proportion of visit time spent face to face 0.46 (0.16) 0.64 (0.12) <.001 Post-visit 5:27 (3:54) 4:53 (2:49) .47 Total provider cycle time 25:16 (8:42) 27:12 (9:20) .31 ↵* Other cycle complements include pre-visit, visit, computer, and post-visit time.
Pre-visit time = time spent reviewing the chart prior to entering the exam room; visit time = time the provider spent in the clinical exam room; face-to-face time = time the physician spent interacting with the patient or family member, without using or looking at the computer; computer time = difference between face-to-face time and visit time; post-visit time = time spent in the chart after leaving the exam room until the chart was closed; total provider cycle = sum of pre-visit, visit and post-visit time.
SD, standard deviation.
- Table 3.
Patient Comfort with Scribes and the Number of People in the Room Before (August-September 2016) and After (March-April 2017) Implementing Scribes in Primary Care
Comfort of patients Pre-scribe n = 100 Very comfortable, % Post-scribe n = 81 Very comfortable, % P value, χ2 Comfort with number of people in room 93 66 <.0001 Comfort with scribe 69 - Appendix A.
Seasonal Analysis for Productivity and Charts Closed by End of Day Before (March-April 2016) and After (March-April 2017) Implementing Scribes in Primary Care*
Pre-scribe n = 980 hours Mean (SD) Post-scribe n = 718 hours Mean (SD) P value, t test Relative value units/h 2.71 (1.21) 2.86 (1.22) .02 Patients/h 1.86 (0.50) 1.98 (0.78) <.001 Proportion of charts closed by end of day (11:59 pm) 0.67 (0.42) 0.71 (0.40) .35 ↵* To examine the possibility that seasonal variation contributed to our findings, we compared March-April 2016 with March-April 2017. Because productivity can vary by season, we wanted to confirm that changes persisted even when comparing the same season in the year before. If changes did not persist in this analysis, we would be concerned that seasonal variation in productivity between August-September and March-April accounted for changes in productivity.
- Appendix B.
Characteristics of Patients Who Completed Satisfaction Surveys Before (August-September 2016) and After (March-April 2017) Implementing Scribes in Primary Care
Pre-scribe, n = 100 Post-scribe, n = 81 P value Age, mean (SD) 50.63 (18.25) 45.61 (16.37) .05 Sex Male 37% 25% .09 Female 63% 75% Hispanic Yes 31% 37% .39 No 69% 63% SD, standard deviation.
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