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Medical scribes and medical transcriptionists are both key roles in the world of healthcare. They may sound like very similar jobs, but there are some key differences. With the added pressure on healthcare systems in recent years, your organization may find itself in need of additional professionals and paraprofessionals to keep things running smoothly. If that’s the case, you need to be aware of different roles, what they are, and how they interact.

Here, we’re going to run through exactly what these two jobs entail, and then discuss the main ways in which the two jobs differ.

What is a medical scribe?

A medical scribe is a paraprofessional who works in a healthcare environment to support front-line doctors and nurses. Often, paraprofessionals offering medical scribe services will work in real-time healthcare situations to take down notes and reports of what might transpire during an appointment.

Primarily, their role is to take a lot of notes during patient interviews and appointments. This allows the doctor concerned to focus entirely on patient care, and move away from any worries or focus that they may have on taking notes of what’s happening. These notes can also serve a secondary process, and lead to an improved record of patient care taking place, leading to improved diagnoses and treatment over longer periods of time.

Medical scribes may also be involved with a number of minor administrative tasks to support the doctor that they’re working alongside. While they don’t fill the role of a personal assistant or a receptionist, they can deal with the data management side of a modern healthcare environment.

Notably, medical scribes will often take care to avoid direct contact with patients. Aside from introducing themselves out of politeness, a scribe will typically be on one side of the doctor-patient interaction, taking notes and ensuring that everything is well-recorded.

What is a medical transcriptionist?

The work a medical transcriptionist does is a little different from a medical scribe. Typically, a medical transcriptionist will transcribe audio files that a doctor has recorded during the course of an examination, interview, or simply when they’ve had a thought about a case.

During the course of this work, a medical transcriptionist will use specialized equipment and software to ensure what they’re doing is as accurate and rapid as possible. This goes from the more obvious tools, such as the dictaphones that a doctor may carry, to more surprising tools, such as software that can allow them to type more rapidly.

After taking a transcription, the transcriptionist will typically review and edit their work for accuracy. Then, they may enter it into the system. While it is often their role to record information, it may fall to different paraprofessionals to ensure that the data taken down is recorded appropriately and stored in the correct location.

What are the differences between these two roles?

Let’s run through the main differences between these two roles, to ascertain exactly how a medical scribe and a medical transcriptionist differ in their work.

Work location

A medical scribe will typically be in the room with the healthcare professional and the patient. This is to ensure greater accuracy of their real-time recordings and to allow them to clarify details if needed.

A medical transcriptionist’s role may be remote. For instance, a doctor could record their appointments and findings on a dictaphone for that dictaphone to be sent to a transcriptionist’s home or office. Then, that professional can make the notes and documentation needed for that case.

Document creation

The creation of the document itself is a slightly different process depending on the role of the creator. For instance, a scribe may work with a pen and paper – physically taking shorthand notes during meetings to ensure accuracy and rapidity.

A transcriptionist, though, often uses specialized software and hardware to listen to audio recordings with enhanced clarity and make transcripts with improved accuracy.

Working hours

Since a medical scribe will typically be working onsite alongside medical professionals, their hours typically fit around the times when a patient interaction is taking place. While a developed team may have a shift system in place, it’s currently more common for hours to vary from day to day.

A transcriptionist, though, will typically work flexible hours from their own home or office. Often, as long as the documentation is received promptly, the hospital doesn’t mind when, exactly, the work gets done.

Medical scribes and medical transcriptionists both have valuable roles within the healthcare system. It’s important to consider the importance and differences that each role has.