An Evidence-based Preoperative Evaluation Documentation Template Improves Perioperative Communication.

OBJECTIVES: The number of surgeries performed in the United States has increased over the past two decades, with a shift to the ambulatory setting. Perioperative complications and mortality pose significant health care burdens. Inadequate preoperative assessment and documentation contribute to communication failure and poor patient outcomes. The aim of this quality improvement project was to design and implement a preoperative evaluation documentation template that not only improved communication during the perioperative pathway but also enhanced the overall user experience. METHODS: We implemented a revamped evidence-based documentation template in the electronic medical records of a health care organization across three internal medicine clinics on the downtown campus and seven satellite family medicine clinics. A pre- and postintervention design was used to assess the template utilization rate and clinician satisfaction. RESULTS: The preoperative template utilization rate increased from 51.2% at baseline to 66.5% after the revamped template "went live" (p < 0.001). Clinician satisfaction with the preoperative documentation template also significantly increased (30.6 vs. 80.0%, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Adopting a user-friendly, evidence-based documentation template can enhance the standardization of preoperative evaluation documentation and reduce the documentation burden.

Developing a Medical Scribe Program at an Academic Hospital: The Hennepin County Medical Center Experience.

BACKGROUND: Medical scribes are frequently incorporated into the patient care model to improve provider efficiency and enable providers to refocus their attention to the patient rather than the electronic health record (EHR). The medical scribe program was based on four pillars (objectives): (1) provider satisfaction, (2) standardized documentation, (3) documentation components for risk adjustment, and (4) revenue enhancement. METHODS: The medical scribe program was deployed in nine non-resident-supported clinics (internal medicine, ophthalmology, orthopedics, hematology/oncology, urology), with the medical scribes (who have no clinical duties) supporting both physicians and advanced practice providers (nurse practitioners and physician assistants). This paper describes a prospective quasi-experimental study conducted at an academic, inner-city, hospital-based clinic system, RESULTS: A pre-post analysis showed positive results; of the 51 providers, 44 responded to the survey pre and 41 responded post. Respondents in the post-scribe group felt that a scribe was valuable (90.2%), that documentation time at the office improved (75.0% poor or marginal pre-scribe, vs. 24% post; p <0.0001), and that time spent on the EHR at home declined (63.6% with excessive or moderately high home EHR time pre vs. 31.7% post; p = 0.003). More providers felt satisfied with their role in clinic with the use of scribes, and more providers felt that with scribes they could listen sufficiently to patients (p <0.05). CONCLUSION: Scribe support was well received across the institution in multiple clinical settings. Benefits for providers were seen in documentation time and ability to listen to patients. Scribes appear to be an effective intervention for improving clinician work life.

Integration of Medical Scribes in the Primary Care Setting: Improving Satisfaction.

There are little published data on the use of medical scribes in the primary care setting. We assessed the feasibility of incorporating medical scribes in our ambulatory clinic to support provider documentation in the electronic medical record. In our convenience sampling of patient, provider, and staff perceptions of scribes, we found that patients were comfortable having scribes in the clinic. Overall indicators of patient satisfaction were slightly decreased. Providers found scribe support to be valuable and overall clinician documentation time was reduced by more than 50% using scribes.