I took in a retired DO from our local medical group who said he would retire instead of learning their EMR, and he did. However, he still wants to practice since he is 'young' and bored. After trying many other things, including dragon through digital dictation, we settled on having a scribe for him (actually two who share other office duties). They print the last encounter and whatever other paper work for him such as labs and reports prior to the visit. The scribes do the intake, vitals, CC, HPI, updates allergies, med list, demographics, etc. Then he comes in and chats a little, while the scribe expands on the HPI and perhaps ROS. If he moves onto other things (such as OMT), the scribe may leave the room. Whatever the scribe misses, he would fill her in when she re-enters. Most of the the time the scribe would be there for PE and he would verbalize findings. Finally, the scribe writes down his agreed-to plan and puts in the eRx. Since the scribe is there in the room, they can also answer and clarify with the patient afterward. A lot of his patients have been with him through 5 offices and 40 years, and do not mind the scribe at all.
Wayne, how much do you get for a 99051, and what is your time criteria? I routinely see patients until 8pm.
