Posted on 07/28/2017 1:09:09 AM PDT by gattaca
ACMSS Applauds Senate Bill for VA Medical Scribe Project; Urges Scribe Certification
CONTACT: Kristin Hagen President/CEO, American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (657) 888-2158
ORANGE, Calif., June 29, 2016. The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS) applauds the introduction of a bill in the U.S. Senate to create a pilot study in Veteran’s Administration hospitals to determine whether using Certified Medical Scribes to assist physicians will help shorten the VA’s notoriously long wait times and ease other patient service problems.
The purpose of Senate Bill 3035, introduced by Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV), is to “…require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program to increase the use of medical scribes to maximize the efficiency of physicians at medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs.” The proponents hope that the use of medical scribes in the program will reduce the amount of time physicians spend on daily documentation so that they may increase the number of patients physicians can see and the amount of time physicians are spending with each patient. Patient satisfaction and physician satisfaction and retention issues will also be measured.
“If this bill is approved and the program goes forward, employing Certified Medical Scribes to assist physicians at the VA will undoubtedly improve efficiencies and have the positive effect the bill proponents desire, and more,” said ACMSS Executive Director Kristin Hagen. “However, in approving the language, ACMSS urges the Senate to insist that only Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS) be used in the program. Medical scribes provide real-time documentation and increase practice efficiencies in a great number of areas outside of clinical documentation, but they must be certified.”
ACMSS is an independent certifying organization and works in compliance with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to meet national goals and initiatives of Meaningful Use of electronic health records, Merit-Based Payment Incentive System (MIPS) and Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). Only Certified Medical Scribe Specialists meet current CMS requirements for Meaningful Use of electronic entry up to full scope of the credential, from basic EMR entry to a myriad of advanced clinical workflow improvement tasks, that include up to CPOE. Certified medical scribes also meet the “qualified people” standard in Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT) and assist with the design and infrastructure to support ongoing transformative care and change.
As a healthcare professional who suffered debilitating injuries from a first-generation airbag accident, and through 19 years of ongoing research to later work with her healthcare provider to create a wellness plan to bring her back to full recovery, Hagen knows the value of having a physician with the time available to provide meaningful, one-on-one care. Through two decades of trying to recover from her injuries in a healthcare system that was based on volume rather than value to patients, Hagen can relate to the frustrations being expressed recently by patients in the VA system.
“Employing appropriately credentialed and Certified Medical Scribe Specialists (CMSS), in regulatory compliance with CMS, is the best way that care providers can ensure they get back the time and attention they need to join the evolution of the outpatient healthcare industry into a patient-centered, integrative system that focuses on prevention, disease reversal and wellness,” Hagen said.
The ACMSS certification program meets current and proposed CMS certification requirements toward use of EHRs through its Medical Scribe Certification & Aptitude Test (MSCAT). In addition to the overall certification exam, ACMSS provides specialty certifications in vascular medicine, dermatology, oncology, primary care, internal medicine, emergency medicine and general patient care, enabling access to all across the specialities. ACMSS enables same-day certification for practices to meet Meaningful Use attestations and offers ongoing webinars to assist prospective individuals with key information about ACMSS, regulations, and innovations to meet healthcare goals through Volume Certification Packages.
Please contact ACMSS directly at info@theacmss.org or 657-888-2158 if you have any questions regarding the ACMSS program and/or materials.
About ACMSS
The American College of Medical Scribe Specialists is the nation’s only nonprofit professional society representing more than 17,000 Medical Scribes in over 1,700 medical institutions. ACMSS partners with academic institutions, non-profit partners, and medical scribe corporations to offer both education-to-certification and employment-to-certification pathways. ACMSS advances the needs of the medical scribe industry through certification, public advocacy, and continuing education. To learn more about ACMSS, please visit: theacmss.org
The VA’s problems will not be solved by throwing more people and more money at the situation. The root cause of delayed/poor care is one of culture. Too many VA employees from clerks to doctors feel entitled to their benefits and paychecks, the patient be damned. There is only one way to fix that, clean house.
The scribe program can be very helpful if run robustly.
This is just another throw money at it jobs program for more federal workers to muck up what is already mucked up!!!
More union members maybe mean more votes for Democrats.
I worked in the V.A., as well as being a patient of the V.A.,
This is not what needs doing! No!
As a physician who has practiced paper dictation and now computer documentation the latter is horrible , I am a physician only 15 min of each hour a scribe the other 45 min.
When I complain the suits say, “you’ll get used to it!”
Scribes will help.
Part of the VA’s problem is their OP primary care physicians only see 12-15 patients a day. I would be bored. There is no incentive ti be productive. Pay is the same no matter how hard you work.
The problem with the VA is that it has become an affirmative action hiring program.
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