Medical scribing refers to the practice of documenting patient encounters between a doctor and a patient. Medical scribing is typically carried out by a dedicated individual, i.e., a scribe whose role it is to record detailed and accurate notes during medical consultations, which allows healthcare providers to focus more on their patients and spend less time on documentation themselves. Scribes will often capture information such as a patient’s history, physical examination findings, diagnostic impressions, and treatment plans.
In veterinary medicine, scribing has gained traction as more practices are trying to improve operational efficiency. Veterinarians, like their counterparts in human medicine, can benefit significantly from having a scribe document critical information about a patient visit. However, hiring human scribes for medical notes in veterinary medicine is still relatively rare, as many clinics can’t afford the additional expense. While some veterinary technicians help on the documentation side, like in completing patient histories before the DVM begins an assessment, they typically have many other responsibilities that preclude them from serving as full-time scribes.
Rather than hire scribes in-house, some clinics in human and veterinary medicine are opting for outsourced or remote scribing services. These services tend to be expensive because they often rely on manual medical note reviews to ensure high-quality medical documentation. Again, most veterinary clinics typically do not have the budget for outsourced scribing, so they retain the burden of medical documentation internally.
Medical scribing vs. Dictation
Scribing is different from dictation, which refers to when doctors verbally articulate patient information, which is then transcribed by a transcriptionist or converted into text by speech recognition software. Like medical scribing, dictation helps speed up medical documentation and can be particularly useful for capturing detailed narratives and complex cases. Medical dictation can also be handled in-house by a dedicated transcriptionist or outsourced to an external group.
Dictation has some limitations compared to scribing. Dictation software may not interpret speech or medical terminology correctly, resulting in transcription delays or errors. Additionally, dictation does not offer the interactive and adaptive support that a live scribe can provide, such as clarifying ambiguities or following up on additional details in real-time.
Two of the biggest dictation companies in veterinary medicine include Talkatoo and Dragon Veterinary. These organizations offer a dictation service, in addition to other medical note taking services, that capture what a user speaks into some sort of microphone. They have tuned their software platforms to pick up on specific veterinary medical terms. These tools can also be customized by power users with shortcuts or macros.
While scribing and dictation both enhance documentation efficiency, scribing tends to be more precise at capturing clinical encounters, whereas dictation provides a quicker, albeit sometimes less reliable, means of recording information. Each method has its place depending on the specific needs of the healthcare setting and the preferences of the providers involved.
How much do medical scribing and dictation cost?
The cost of medical scribing and dictation can vary widely depending on several factors, including the level of service, geographic location, and the specific needs of the healthcare practice. Medical scribes can be employed on an hourly or salary basis. Clinics may also take on the costs of training and integrating scribes into their practices, as well as purchasing any related software.
Companies typically pay for medical dictation services on a volume or subscription basis. Common payment models are to pay per minute of audio transcribed or pay a fixed monthly fee for a set number of transcription minutes. The higher the quality of the transcription needed, the more clinics will pay. Clinics that deal in more specialized areas of medicine may also pay more to ensure transcripts are accurate and relevant to the medical discipline.
On both the medical scribing and dictation fronts, AI-powered solutions are starting to alleviate some cost burden and complexity. The key is knowing how to evaluate solutions thoroughly to ensure they meet documentation requirements, while simplifying life for healthcare practitioners.
Key considerations before using scribing or dictation software
Before committing to a scribing or dictation solution, here are some things to consider:
Do you operate in a niche specialty with specific terminology?
How much time do your doctors spend today on medical documentation?
Are your medical documentation templates highly customized?
How important are patient and data privacy in your medical area?
How important is accuracy in medical documentation?
How important is speed?
How important is integration with your EHR or PIM?
Answering these questions will help guide your search for the right scribing or dictation solution. The right choice depends on your budget and needs.
The future of scribing in veterinary medicine
Going forward, veterinary AI scribes and dictation tools are only going to get better. More and more veterinary clinics, in particular, will be able to adopt solutions that automatically handle medical documentation based solely on an audio recording of the patient visit.
For those seeking a low-cost solution that improves on traditional scribing and dictation services, PupPilot is here. Our platform can generate a SOAP note within minutes from a recording of a patient encounter. Veterinarians don’t have to edit out any non-clinical language or worry about small talk. Our AI knows what information is relevant to the clinical visit and will populate the SOAP note accordingly.
Curious to try PupPilot in your clinic?