Scribes work the EMR, Physicians work the patient

Despite the push for electronic health/medical records (EHR/EMR), many physicians remain annoyed with current technology.  The LA Times has an article about the use of scribes often pre-med students, who handle the documentation.  EMR/Vendors were contacted for the story, but so far declined to comment.

The companies that develop and sell electronic medical records systems are "in total denial" about how complicated they are for doctors to use, Strumpf said. "They know these systems need scribes," he said. "They work with us to train our scribes on their systems, but they don't want to be public about it."

Calls and e-mails to two major suppliers, Epic Systems Corp. of Verona, Wis., and GE Centricity of Burlington, Vt., were not returned.