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Learn skills needed to become a scribe with these training options.

As medical scribes become more popular with doctors and hospitals the need for training is increasing as well. Medical scribe training can take many forms including online courses, books and manuals, specialized training by large companies, and courses at local colleges. There are several key questions related to medical scribe training:

• What is a medical scribe?
• Which topics are taught during training?
• What are the different training options?

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The scribe is the troop’s secretary. Though not a voting member, they attend meetings of the patrol leaders’ council and keep a record of the discussions. They cooperate with the patrol scribes to record attendance and dues payments at troop meetings and to maintain troop advancement records. The troop scribe may be assisted by a. Trusted by hundreds of physicians all around the United States. Learn more about how DeepScribe eliminates the burden of clinical documentation with our resources.

What is a Medical Scribe?

The medical scribe is a medical paraprofessional responsible for facilitating documentation related to doctor-patient interactions. The scribe has many other duties as well which include – but are not limited to – recording, entering and maintaining information in EHR or electronic health records. A medical scribe will also collect and organize data, take dictation, schedule appointments and perform other clerical tasks.

To be effective, a medical scribe needs intensive training – which may occur online, in a classroom, on-the-job or in a combination of these formats. Continuing education is also important to keep skills current in an ever-advancing field. Medical scribes are becoming a fixture in more and more care environments: This is particularly true in emergency medicine. The field is growing quickly as physicians grapple with the increasing demands of electronic health records (EHR).

Medical Scribe Training Topics

There are a few pre-requisites to becoming a medical scribe. First, a medical scribe must be high school graduate. For some employers, it is preferable for a medical scribe to have a work background, some college courses or a degree in science: particularly in biology or pre-medicine. This will give the new scribe a leg up as they train for a new career as they will be more familiar with much of the terminology. Since many medical scribes go on to become physicians themselves, the training and clinical experience as a medical scribe can prove invaluable. A medical scribe will have a variety of roles and responsibilities and, so, will need to receive focused training in a variety of job-related topics. Some topics that Medical scribes may see in training include:

• General medical knowledge
• Anatomy and physiology
• Bloodborne pathogens
• Radiology, EKG, MRI and other results
• Pharmacology
• Discharge procedures
• Coding
• Medical billing
• Workflow management
• Medicolegal and patient privacy issues including HIPAA
• Medical and legal documentation

Medical Scribe Training Books & Manuals

There are several books that may be used in training new medical scribes. These well-known resources are not just for novice scribes, but often also serve as a reference for experienced scribes. These can also be used by physicians in the field as a guide for their own scribe programs. These references include:

1. Medical Scribe Training Manual, 5th Edition

Covering topics including medical vocabulary, anatomy, documentation process, common medications and common new scribe mistakes, The Medical Scribe Training Manual, 5th Edition is a comprehensive resource for beginning Medical Scribes. This text covers the basics needed to begin scribing and is suitable for both ER and general medical scribes. Physicians may also find this book to be a useful resource for continued on-the-job training and for addressing common mistakes.

2. The Ophthalmic Scribe Manual

The Ophthalmic Scribe Manual: A Guide to Clinical Documentation in Ophthalmology is a comprehensive manual for those serving a particular medical specialty.

After three years and 20,000 patient encounters this manual was written by a medical scribe with deep expertise in ophthalmology. The book is focused on ophthalmology, but many chapters are applicable to medical scribing in other areas of medicine.

3. The Ultimate Medical Scribe Handbook: Emergency Department, 4th Edition

The Ultimate Medical Scribe Handbook: Emergency Department, 4th Edition is described as a starter guide for medical scribe training. The manual is specifically geared toward ER scribes. Topics covered include:

• Medical terminology
• Anatomy
• Medical notes and billing
• Common emergency medical conditions
• Basics of emergency medicine
• HIPAA standards

This manual can be used on its own or as a supplement to other training courses or materials including those by the publisher at www.medicalscribetraining.net. The reference includes detailed images as well as sample conversations that demonstrate doctor-scribe interactions.

4. The Ultimate Medical Scribe Handbook: Primary Care 3rd Edition

The counterpart to the ER training book mentioned above is The Ultimate Medical Scribe Handbook: Primary Care Edition. This training guide is a helpful reference for those scribes working with physicians in primary care rather than emergency medicine. It covers many of the same topics including terms, anatomy, medical notes and billing and HIPPA, but the reference is dedicated to those procedures within a primary care setting.

5. The Ultimate Medical Scribe Handbook, General Edition

From the same authors, The Ultimate Medical Scribe Handbook, 2nd General Edition provides a general medical scribe reference that is geared at general medical scribe topics rather than a single specialization.

Online Courses, Independent Schools and Colleges

Online Courses

Several online courses are available and are taught by current and former scribes. This course through Medical Scribe Training Institute is one example.

Pacific Medical

Pacific Medical Training Scribe Academy is an independent school that offers an online clinical scribe course designed to graduate field-ready scribes. All coursework and required reading selections are available online. In this program, scribes will learn primary roles and responsibilities, patient flow procedures and have practice with common forms and documentation. Scribes will also learn about patient privacy and billing procedures. Students will learn common medical terms and how to document medical, surgical, social and family history and more as they prepare to enter the field. At the end of the program, scribes will be given a final exam with a certificate upon completion. Resume and job search assistance is also available through the program.

Saginaw Valley State University

The Center of Academic Innovation at Saginaw Valley State University has partnered with Covenant HealthCare to train and provide clinical experiences to medical scribes. They call these scribes “physician facilitators” and train the undergraduates to provide and maintain electronic medical records, or EMR, for doctors.

Students learn all the pertinent academics – including medical terminology, procedures, understanding of healthcare delivery and record creation – as well as gain clinical experiences working with real physicians treating real patients. Since many medical scribes are in pre-med programs, the program is beneficial. It builds both real-world experience and professional relationships with physicians, both of which can be very important in the future. Graduates may be offered a paid medical scribe job through Covenant HealthCare upon graduation, but opportunities are competitive.

Scribe Academy at Grand Valley State University

Grand Valley State University is home to Scribe Academy, which trains its students to work with healthcare professionals in local emergency medicine programs. Students in Scribe Academy learn in a variety of educational settings. Classes are offered online and in the classroom, and students also participate in clinical experiences. Class time consists of 65 hours of instruction, while clinical instruction is 40 mentored hours.

Many students enrolled in the school are seeking degrees in medicine and science at GVSU or other universities. Some are looking to add clinical experience to a resume, while others are looking for paid work experience in the medical field. Successful completion of the medical scribe program can lead to employment with Helix Scribe Solutions.

Company Led Healthcare Scribe Training Programs

Several medical scribe companies offer their own specialized training programs. This training occurs after an applicant is hired. The training can be intense and successful completion is a requirement for continued employment. Usually company sponsored training involves online, classroom and on-site components. This training is very thorough and prepares a scribe to become productive once they are permanently placed at a particular location. Trainees are paid during this time, in some instances at a lower hourly rate, which is increased once training is completed.

ScribeAmerica Training Program

Scribe America – a leading medical scribe company – offers its own training program. The demanding 120-hour program is broken up into a 3-step process geared toward graduating the best emergency medical scribes in the field.

Three steps to ScribeAmerica training

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1. Classroom training

   First, scribes spend 2 weeks in the classroom. This is considered the orientation period in which trainees will be introduced to the skills – including medical terminology, HIPAA compliance, system software, documentation, billing and coding – needed to be a successful medical scribe. Next, working under an experienced scribe, the scribe in training will begin Step 2.

2. Supervisory period

   The second step is a supervisory period in which the prospective scribes gain clinical experience working shifts with their training partners. The experienced scribe provides overview and feedback as the new scribe puts his or her skills to work. This one-on-one training is highly intensive and includes a final assessment of clinical performance.

3. Re-assessment and review

   Step 3 is ongoing re-assessment, review and continuing education to ensure scribes are effective, efficient and up-to-date. Scribe America also provides collaboration with and training for client physicians and program managers. This allows for seamless integration of medical scribes and allows Scribe America to train scribes based on the specific needs of a particular ER. This produces scribes better trained for the programs with which they will work.

Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group

Another educational option for prospective medical scribes is through the professional training and staffing company American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group. This group runs a medical scribe training program which can lead to certification once the medical scribe certification exam is passed. This program is a little different, however, in that a large part of the focus is to train a physician’s existing support team to scribe. So, transcriptionists, nurses, technicians and medical assistants can be trained through this program to create EHRs at an accelerated rate.

Since the program works with experienced paraprofessionals, in just 80 hours of instruction learners already active in the health field can be ready to take on the duties of a medical scribe. American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group is not exclusive to medical paraprofessionals. Individuals just entering the field will receive 240 hours of intensive instruction in academic and clinical areas to prepare for work as a healthcare scribe. Successful candidates will also sit for a certification exam at the end of the program to demonstrate mastery.

Elite Medical Scribes Training

Elite Medical Scribes – one of the larger medical scribe employment agencies – hosts The Elite Academy. The Elite Academy is one of the leading programs in the United States for training highly qualified scribes. The online training program is facilitated through cutting-edge technology paired with attentive instructors who provide immediate feedback to help guide learning. The curriculum is designed to give trainees all the knowledge they will need to become successful medical scribes. Programs are even differentiated by specialty.

Scribes in training will learn human anatomy and physiology, medical terms and abbreviations, electronic health record systems, medical charting, documentation, creating notes in EliteSoft, medico-legal policies, billing, coding, clinical workflow and compliance policies. The program also opens access to a virtual workshop for simulated real-world experience with over 300 virtual scenarios to provide a wide range of realistic simulations across many medical specialties. This greatly reduces onsite training time for physicians and hospitals. When scribes have successfully completed training and certification, a graduate will perform clinical work under the guidance of an Elite Medical Scribe Trainer taking on increasing responsibilities until proficient.

The following guidelines outline the responsibilities of a scribe for a test taker with a disability. If you have any questions, please contact Disability Services. Note: Only test administration staff may be assigned to serve as a scribe for a test taker.

Multiple-choice Questions

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Sometimes a test taker, because of his or her disability, has trouble speaking clearly or distinctly. The scribe should confirm the test taker's response. If the scribe cannot understand a test taker's speech, or it is barely audible, large cards, each indicating one of the four or five test options, can be used. The test taker can then choose the appropriate card.

Essay or Constructed-response Questions

Test takers with disabilities must be given the same opportunity as other test takers to plan, draft and revise their essays or constructed responses. This means that the scribe may write down an outline or other plan as directed by the test taker. The scribe must write down the words of the test taker exactly as dictated. When the essay or constructed response is finished, if time permits, the test taker may read the essay or response and dictate revisions. If the test taker's disability prevents him or her from reading the essay or constructed response, the scribe may read it aloud and allow the test taker to dictate revisions.

The scribe's responsibility is to be both accurate and fair, neither diminishing the fluency of the test taker nor helping to improve or alter what the test taker asks to be recorded.

The scribe's role includes the following considerations:

• At all times, the scribe must write only what the test taker dictates.
• The scribe may not prompt the test taker in a way that would result in a better essay or response. For example, prompts such as, 'Let's list reasons to support your position' or 'Do you want to give more examples?' give the test taker an unfair advantage and are inappropriate.
• However, the scribe may respond to questions such as, 'Where are we on my outline?' by pointing to and reading the outline.
• The scribe should ask for the spelling of commonly misspelled words and homonyms such as to, two and too; or there, their and they're. If the test taker uses a word that is unfamiliar to the scribe or a word that the scribe does not know how to spell, the scribe should ask the test taker to spell it.

Because good essay and constructed-response writing demands fluency, the scribe's job is to record the test taker's production accurately without making the task even more complicated. Clearly, a well-educated scribe could improve the mechanics (spelling, capitalization and punctuation) of a weak essay or response. On the other hand, even a capable scribe who had to spell out every word would begin to sound stilted. The scribe's responsibility, therefore, is to strike a balance.

Test takers must:

• indicate the beginning and end of each sentence and paragraph
• indicate all punctuation marks
• unless the use of a dictionary has been approved by ETS, spell all commonly misspelled words and all words associated with a topic such as geographic places and people's names, without reference to a dictionary

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Test takers, after indicating that they know to start a sentence with a capital letter and end with a period, or to capitalize the letter 'I' when referring to themselves, do not have to continue to specify these conventions throughout. The scribe should apply these automatically.

The essay or response must be written in longhand or typed, as approved by the testing program. The test taker should have an opportunity to review and revise the essay or response providing the time allotted has not expired. Cross-outs and insertions are allowed and are not penalized, as for all test takers. Persons who score the essays or constructed responses will not be informed that any testing accommodations were allowed.

The scribe will have to make many decisions about how to proceed in situations that are not described above. The guiding principle in making these decisions should be that the process should neither help nor penalize the test taker.

Test Center Procedures for Using a Scribe

• An approved scribe should be admitted to the test center with the test taker; the scribe's photo bearing identification should be checked.
• Prior to the start of the exam, the test center administrator/supervisor will review the Guidelines with the test taker and the scribe, and will set the ground rules for the conduct of the examination.
• The test administrator must remain in attendance at all times during the test administration.
• An approved scribe is not present to function as an aide to the test center staff. It is inappropriate to ask the scribe to perform clerical duties of any kind. The scribe should not be asked to assume any responsibilities belonging to the center staff or the test taker.
• Test center staff must ensure that proper test security is maintained. It is important that the test administrator ask questions and avoid any hasty interpretations of what may be communication of test content or exchange of information between the test taker and the scribe that might give the test taker an unfair advantage. The task requested by the test taker might be acceptable once understood. Discussion or communication concerning interpretation of test content is not permitted. If such discussion occurs and cannot be controlled, or if test center staff observe anything they deem unusual, the situation should be reported on the Supervisor's Irregularity Report (SIR) or the Electronic Irregularity Report (EIR) and the test taker advised of your action.

Scribe America Human Resources

The test center administrator may also stop the test and dismiss the test taker if he or she believes that the scribe has provided the test taker with any unfair advantage. In such instances, ETS reserves the right to cancel the test taker's score.

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