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.
Medical scribe responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real medical scribe resumes:
- 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.
- Develop PowerPoint presentations to educate patients about health and nutrition.
- Experience how different physician assistants and physicians interact with patients and gain understanding of physician assistant and physician relationship.
- Participate in assisting surgical operations, physician-patient clinical communication, patient diagnosis, emergency room patient interaction, and patient dictation.
- Record ROS, re-eval, f/u.
- Uphold all confidentiality of patient encounters and comply with HIPPA regulations.
- Apply integrity, compassion, excellence, and respect every day towards others.
- Conduct cash and credit card sales transactions of wine, food, and merchandise.
- Greet customers and promote special events, private terrace tastings and wine club opportunities.
- Enter patient medical history via (EMR) on a daily basis for physician reference.
Medical scribe skills and personality traits
We calculated that 18% of Medical Scribes are proficient in Patients, Medical Terminology, and Excellent Organizational. They’re also known for soft skills such as Analytical skills, Detail oriented, and Interpersonal skills.
We break down the percentage of Medical Scribes that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Patients, 18%
Experienced how different physician assistants and physicians interact with patients and gained understanding of physician assistant and physician relationship.
- Medical Terminology, 17%
Established a greater understanding of medical terminology, anatomy and physiology, diagnostic procedures, pharmacology, and treatment assessments.
- Excellent Organizational, 10%
Provided patient assistance and performed excellent organizational skills.
- Physician Assistants, 8%
Communicated with physicians and physician assistants concerning charting of patient encounters and alerted them to incoming laboratory and imaging results.
- Emergency Medicine, 6%
Aided Emergency Medicine physicians in their medical charting for electronic records and assisted in managing their work flow with proactive decision making
- HIPAA, 4%
Maintained confidentiality of electronic medical records, and patient confidentiality in compliance with the Privacy Act and HIPAA regulations.
Most medical scribes use their skills in "patients," "medical terminology," and "excellent organizational" to do their jobs. You can find more detail on essential medical scribe responsibilities here:
Analytical skills. The most essential soft skill for a medical scribe to carry out their responsibilities is analytical skills. This skill is important for the role because "medical assistants must be able to understand and follow medical charts and diagnoses." Additionally, a medical scribe resume shows how their duties depend on analytical skills: "assisted the physicians in non-clinical work such as organization and presentation of data, laboratory, and radiology results. "
Detail oriented. Many medical scribe duties rely on detail oriented. "medical assistants need to be precise when taking vital signs or recording patient information," so a medical scribe will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways medical scribe responsibilities rely on detail oriented: "prepared and sent all documentation to physician for review and approval via authentication of detailed data entry and facility-specific procedures. "
Interpersonal skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of medical scribes is interpersonal skills. This skill is critical to many everyday medical scribe duties, as "medical assistants need to be able to discuss patient information with other medical personnel, such as physicians." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "assisted with patients in examination rooms practiced interpersonal skills and became familiar with medical terminology"
Technical skills. For certain medical scribe responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "technical skills." The day-to-day duties of a medical scribe rely on this skill, as "medical assistants should be able to use basic clinical instruments so they can take a patient’s vital signs, such as heart rate and blood pressure." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what medical scribes do: "provide sonogram, ekg and oral or written summary of technical findings to physician for use in medical diagnosis. "
The three companies that hire the most medical scribes are:
- RWJBarnabas Health55 medical scribes jobs
- Envision Healthcare54 medical scribes jobs
- Augmedix32 medical scribes jobs
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Compare different medical scribes
Medical scribe vs. Phlebotomist
Phlebotomists are workers in the medical field who specialize in drawing blood from patients. They ensure that patients are prepared by explaining the procedure to them, showing them tools they will use and where their blood will be stored, and answering any questions the patients may have. Phlebotomists then draw blood from the patient, patch up the area where the blood was drawn, and store the blood samples in properly labeled vials or blood bags. After the procedure, they send the blood samples to the laboratory for testing, transfusion, or any other use that there may be.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a medical scribe are more likely to require skills like "medical terminology," "excellent organizational," "physician assistants," and "strong work ethic." On the other hand, a job as a phlebotomist requires skills like "customer service," "blood samples," "blood specimens," and "osha." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Phlebotomists tend to make the most money working in the health care industry, where they earn an average salary of $34,086. In contrast, medical scribes make the biggest average salary, $29,968, in the health care industry.phlebotomists tend to reach similar levels of education than medical scribes. In fact, phlebotomists are 2.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Medical scribe vs. Certified phlebotomist
A certified phlebotomist is a medical professional who specializes in drawing blood through venipuncture or finger and heel pricks, preparing the samples for laboratory procedures. Besides collecting blood, a phlebotomist is also responsible for gathering patient information, verifying identification, reviewing medical histories, labeling vials, and maintaining records, including diagnostic findings. They are also in charge of keeping laboratory equipment clean, discarding trash appropriately, and organizing supplies according to policies, ordering new supplies when necessary. Above all, a certified phlebotomist maintains an open and transparent communication line with nurses and physicians for an efficient workflow.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that medical scribe responsibilities requires skills like "medical terminology," "excellent organizational," "physician assistants," and "strong work ethic." But a certified phlebotomist might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "blood specimens," "phlebotomy procedures," "specimen collection," and "laboratory specimens."
Certified phlebotomists earn similar levels of education than medical scribes in general. They're 2.8% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.9% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.What technology do you think will become more important and prevalent for medical scribes in the next 3-5 years?
Michael Williams Ph.D.
Director and Associate Professor, Eastern Michigan University
The electronic health record (EHR) integration continues to build in decision aids and artificial intelligence for making better decisions. The EHR has made accessing patient information more available to other practitioners and patients themselves. Another technology that will continue to expand in use is a point of care testing (POC). POC allows for greater flexibility to meet the patient wherever they are, and will see continued expansion. And perhaps, the technology that has indeed expanded, out of necessity during the pandemic, is telehealth.
While telehealth has been available for many years, particularly in rural areas, it wasn't nearly as common in high population areas--patients were expected to go to the provider. Telehealth can eliminate many unnecessary "non-emergency" visits to emergency rooms and can be available, quite easily, in off-hours.
Medical scribe vs. Mobile phlebotomist
A mobile phlebotomist mostly travels to various places such as patients' homes and nursing facilities to draw blood samples for laboratory analysis and medical condition diagnosis. Their responsibilities revolve around gathering information to verify the patient's identification, coordinating with nurses or facility officials, labeling and organizing samples according to a set of protocols, delivering samples to designated areas, and maintaining patient records. Furthermore, as a mobile phlebotomist, it is essential to monitor the quantity and cleanliness of supply, properly discarding used items such as syringes and cotton.
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, medical scribes are more likely to have skills like "medical terminology," "excellent organizational," "physician assistants," and "strong work ethic." But a mobile phlebotomist is more likely to have skills like "customer service," "blood specimens," "blood pressure," and "phlebotomy training."
Mobile phlebotomists earn the best pay in the health care industry, where they command an average salary of $33,452. Medical scribes earn the highest pay from the health care industry, with an average salary of $29,968.Most mobile phlebotomists achieve a similar degree level compared to medical scribes. For example, they're 2.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.6% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Medical scribe vs. Geriatric nursing assistant
A geriatric nursing assistant is responsible for assisting elderly patients with their daily activities in a health care institution or private household setting. Geriatric nursing assistants monitor the patients' conditions, maintain an organized record of medical charts, administer medications, and update the attending physician for any health concerns. They also guide the patients with their doctor appointments, process medical documents, and coordinate with medical staff for medical procedures and payments. A geriatric nursing assistant must have excellent communication and organizational skills to ensure high-quality care services for the patients and help them improve their lifestyle.
Even though a few skill sets overlap between medical scribes and geriatric nursing assistants, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a medical scribe might have more use for skills like "medical terminology," "excellent organizational," "physician assistants," and "strong work ethic." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of geriatric nursing assistants require skills like "rehabilitation," "home health," "cpr," and "medical equipment. "
In general, geriatric nursing assistants earn the most working in the health care industry, with an average salary of $33,104. The highest-paying industry for a medical scribe is the health care industry.In general, geriatric nursing assistants hold similar degree levels compared to medical scribes. Geriatric nursing assistants are 0.4% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.6% less likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Types of medical scribe
Updated January 8, 2025
