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Medical scribe vs emergency medical technician

The differences between medical scribes and emergency medical technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an emergency medical technician has an average salary of $39,743, which is higher than the $30,045 average annual salary of a medical scribe.

The top three skills for a medical scribe include patients, medical terminology and excellent organizational. The most important skills for an emergency medical technician are patients, CPR, and EMS.

Medical scribe vs emergency medical technician overview

Medical ScribeEmergency Medical Technician
Yearly salary$30,045$39,743
Hourly rate$14.44$19.11
Growth rate16%7%
Number of jobs80,035137,617
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Average age3736
Years of experience12-

What does a medical scribe do?

As a medical scribe, their main responsibility is to follow a physician's daily work and do charting of patient encounters in real-time by accessing their medical electronic health record (EHR). It is their duty to make sure the patient schedules are followed, generate referral letters for physicians and manage and sort medical documents within the EHR. Medical scribes can be held as data custodians, medical assistants, and nurses to focus on patient in-take and care throughout clinic hours. In addition, they manage patient flow through the clinic and increase productivity to cater to more patients.

What does an emergency medical technician do?

Emergency medical technicians or EMTs are skilled medical professionals who act as first responders to injured or sick patients. They apply first aid or do emergency medical procedures upon arriving at the area where the emergency happened. For serious or grave injuries, they do not have complete medical equipment at their disposal, so they have limited capacities on the field. Despite that, EMTs do their best to ensure that patients would reach the hospital for such high-risk cases. EMTs are expected to be calm under pressure and have extensive knowledge of first aid and of basic medical procedures.

Medical scribe vs emergency medical technician salary

Medical scribes and emergency medical technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Medical ScribeEmergency Medical Technician
Average salary$30,045$39,743
Salary rangeBetween $23,000 And $38,000Between $26,000 And $59,000
Highest paying CityBoston, MANew Brunswick, NJ
Highest paying stateMassachusettsNew Jersey
Best paying companyBoston Medical CenterLewistown Hospital
Best paying industryHealth CareGovernment

Differences between medical scribe and emergency medical technician education

There are a few differences between a medical scribe and an emergency medical technician in terms of educational background:

Medical ScribeEmergency Medical Technician
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 36%
Most common majorBiologyMedical Technician
Most common college--

Medical scribe vs emergency medical technician demographics

Here are the differences between medical scribes' and emergency medical technicians' demographics:

Medical ScribeEmergency Medical Technician
Average age3736
Gender ratioMale, 28.4% Female, 71.6%Male, 60.9% Female, 39.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 24.3% Asian, 9.7% White, 50.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 6.6% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 15.5% Asian, 4.5% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%
LGBT Percentage6%8%

Differences between medical scribe and emergency medical technician duties and responsibilities

Medical scribe example responsibilities.

  • Manage sensitive and confidential materials such as patient health records following HIPAA regulations.
  • Adhere to OSHA guidelines while performing instrument sterilization in addition to managing medical inventory.
  • Rotate in internal medicine, surgery, obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, orthopedic surgery, and burn medicine departments
  • Transcribe patient orders including laboratory tests results, radiology test findings, medications, allergies.
  • Utilize PC and LIS to enter and retrieve patient data, includes verifying orders and retrieving results using HIPAA compliance.
  • Perform Phlebotomy procedures on patients.
  • Show more

Emergency medical technician example responsibilities.

  • Provide medical emergency response, non-emergency transport services, event medical services, manage transportation services and paramedic and EMT training.
  • Demonstrate manual dexterity, with ability to perform all tasks relate to quality patient care.
  • Coordinate emergency transport of patients while providing treatment and triage in a variety of emergency situations.
  • File reports for patients, restock ambulance and supplies at base, have ACLS training, injection.
  • Handled/administered all types of ACLS medications to pediatric, adult and geriatric patients on a daily basis.
  • Assist nurse/physician with procedure such as suturing, lumbar puncture, catherization, casting/reduction, and application of restraints.
  • Show more

Medical scribe vs emergency medical technician skills

Common medical scribe skills
  • Patients, 18%
  • Medical Terminology, 17%
  • Excellent Organizational, 10%
  • Physician Assistants, 8%
  • Emergency Medicine, 6%
  • HIPAA, 4%
Common emergency medical technician skills
  • Patients, 19%
  • CPR, 11%
  • EMS, 7%
  • Customer Service, 6%
  • Life Support, 5%
  • EMT-B, 3%

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