Table 3. The Effect of Medical Scribes on Patient Satisfaction, Clinician Satisfaction, Productivity, Revenue, Time/Efficiency, and Patient–Clinician Interaction, By Study
StudyPatient SatisfactionClinician SatisfactionProductivityRevenueTime/ EfficiencyPatient–Clinician Interaction
Arya et al25——RVUs per hour increased
Patients per hour increased		—Statistically significant difference in turnaround time to discharge not detected—
Koshy et al26Statistically significant difference not detectedPhysician satisfaction increased with scribe————
Bank et al27Statistically significant difference not detected—Patients per hour increased
Total wRVUs per hour increased		Additional revenue was generated as a function of increased patient volumeDirect patient contact time was lower for scribe visits, but amount of patient interaction without the computer was greaterSingle-rater observation scored scribe visits as better in patient–provider interaction
Bastani et al28Statistically significant difference between time periods before CPOE and after scribe not detected
Time periods before CPOE and after scribe were perceived more favorably than the time period after CPOE/before scribe		———Door-to-room time remained consistent across all 3 waves
Door-to-doctor time increased after CPOE/before scribe but returned back to pre-CPOE levels in the after-scribe time period
Doctor-to-admit disposition time decreased after scribe when compared with time periods before CPOE and after CPOE/before scribe		—
Allen et al29—Physician satisfaction increased with scribeStatistically significant difference in the number of patients per day not detected
Proportion of admitted patients increased		—Admitted patients:
    Door-to-triage, door-to-room, door-to-disposition, and clinician-to-disposition times decreased
    Door-to-exit and disposition-to-exit times increased
Discharged patients:
    Door-to-disposition, door-to-exit, clinician-to-disposition, and disposition-to-exit times decreased		—

  • CPOE, computerized physician order entry; RVU, relative value unit; wRVU, work relative value unit.