In pursuit of helping our healthcare providers in their documentation, aspirants must know the minimum medical scribing qualification as of 2024. The first prerequisite to applying for any medical scribe job starts with actually knowing what the standard medical scribe job entails.
Day-day roles of a medical scribe
Writers at the Medical Scribes Training Institute call medical scribing similar to “shadowing a doctor”. Indeed, medical scribe professionals are full-time, all-accessible assistants to healthcare providers.
Yet, beyond just performing documentation in the EHR, a medical scribe’s day-to-day task further entails: –
- Retrieving patient records for physicians before appointments and procedures.
- Accompanying doctors on their rounds of appointments
- Accurately transcribing notes, observations, and other vital information.
- Compiling orders for tests, procedures, and other treatments.
The importance of medical scribes is unquestionable. But the bigger query is; how qualified do you have to be to get hired as a medical scribe?
Medical Scribing Qualification – A Competitive Race?
We looked at the current job market analysis and found glaring data from the Data Bridge Market Research analysis: the medical scribe market which was USD 1.50 billion in 2021, would rocket up to USD 3.79 billion by 2029, and is expected to undergo a CAGR of 12.30% during the forecast period 2022 to 2029
Why the growth?
The industry, comprising of Healthcare facilities, and providers, sees the instrumentality of these scribes in drastically increasing their operational effectiveness, all the while reducing their capital investments in documentation.
Although this signals a higher demand for medical scribes jobs in healthcare, it still calls for high competition among aspiring medical students.
Combining advanced technologies and medical industry expertise, we looked at over 50 different job postings and provider blogs to procure the most crucial medical scribing qualification requirements to have:
Prerequisites
- High school diploma
- a relevant college degree like Biology, Nursing, or Health Informatics(optional but preferred)
- Registration in any Training Program (certification – optional)
However, medical scribes who do not have a relevant degree (life science or biology) to qualify, are highly recommended to go for certification programs. Some legible proof of certification, according to today’s healthcare trends, are becoming increasingly more compulsory than optional due to competition.
Hard skills –
- Knowledge of medical terminology.
- Typing proficiency and knowledge of shorthand: Indeed‘s analysis claims that medical scribes are often required to increase their typing speed by at least 15 words per minute (WPM) with high accuracy.
- Familiarity with speech recognition software.
- Familiarity with HIPAA regulations
- Communicative understanding or fluency in multiple languages.
- Familiarity with electronic health records.
- Experience in Medical coding technology
- proficiency in EHR systems like Epic, Cerner, or Allscripts is highly valued by employers.
The New Preferred skill: Digital adaptability to AI and telemedicine
The rising tide of AI and remote working in medical scribe and transcription services is not new to anyone in healthcare. With huge data overload and technological advancements, doctors and healthcare facilities are implementing various AI technologies like AI-powered diagnostic tools, Virtual health assistants and chatbots, EHR with AI integration, and AI in drug detection.
A study by Medscape already shows how 25% of the medical students surveyed, have AI already impacting their choice of speciality. 72% of medical students want to gain AI competencies in the future.
Similarly, medical scribes will enhance their chances of employability when they procure adaptability to AI tools and telemedicine.
Medical Scribe Training and Education
The advent of technology has widened the scope of data, bringing massive changes to medical scribe training. Today, most institutes offer programs that are structured in various ways. We analysed these structures for over 10 prestigious programs offered by institutions and boiled down the following primary topics covered by these programs:
Topics
- General medical knowledge.
- Anatomy and physiology.
- medico-legal policies and medical documentation Guidelines and Standards
- Medical Coding, Medical billing, and compliance policies
- Introduction to Medical Scribing
- Medical Terminology Fundamentals
- Electronic Health Records (EHR) Navigation
- HIPAA Compliance and Patient Privacy
- Clinical Procedures and Protocols
- Professionalism and Ethics in Medical Scribing
- Bloodborne pathogens.
- Radiology, EKG, MRI and other results.
- Pharmacology.
- Discharge procedures.
Hand-On Practical Experience
Medical scribes’ training program must adopt a confluence of technical proficiency and practical experience, to:
- Enhance their medical scribing qualification by working alongside healthcare providers
- furthers the medical scribe training by understanding the clinical environment.
Some of the well-practised hands-on training procedures include:
- Internships and volunteering opportunities at hospitals, clinics, and medical practices to apply medical terminology and coding knowledge in real-world settings
- Data handling experience in data entry roles, even outside of healthcare demonstrates the ability to carry out real-time documentation in fast-paced settings efficiently.
- Recognize the different classifications and uses of prescription and OTC medications
- Applying HIPAA knowledge during internships or volunteer work helps reinforce the importance of data security and increases the ability to maintain integrity and patient privacy.
- Working in teams in interdisciplinary healthcare settings helps build the ability to collaborate effectively with healthcare providers and other staff.
- Involvement in direct patient communication helps medical scribe training to be adept in spontaneous communication with provider patients
The most lucrative institutions that offer training are:-
- Medical Scribe Specialist Training: Allegany College of Maryland( 80-hour practicum for clinical experience).
- Medical Scribe Certification – Online: William Paterson University( 6-month online scribe certificate program)
- Medical Scribe Program, organised by the Global Institute of Health Science
- PMT Scribe Academy, Accredited & Online, Pacific Medical Training (medical scribe courses as well as a clinical EHR course for $359)
Medical Scribing License and Certifications
Where a medical scribe carries out her training affects whether she gets a certification or not. A scribe company will get you hands-on training and rapid employment benefits but without any certifications or licenses under your training. A certification is only possible through taking a traditional medical scribe course.
While a license helps demonstrate medical scribing qualifications, it is not strictly compulsory to get one. That being said, licensed medical scribes have a higher scope of demonstrating their knowledge of medical terminology, anatomy, components of the medical record, and requirements of documentation to support services, than an unlicensed one.
Understanding the potential earnings is also crucial; the average medical scribe salary varies based on location and experience, reflecting the importance of certification and training in this field.
The following licenses are the most recognised certifications by healthcare officials to gain credibility under recognised organisations:
- Certified Medical Scribe Professional (CMSP) by American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group (AHDPG)
- Exhibits medical scribing qualification including knowledge of medical terminology, EHR systems, and HIPAA compliance. It requires passing the Medical Scribe Certification Exam (MSCE).
- Apprentice Medical Scribe Professional (AMSP) by American Healthcare Documentation Professionals Group (AHDPG)
- Beginner medical scribe certification which requires passing the MSCE and completing 200 hours of official medical scribe work.
- Certified Medical Scribe (CMS) by the American College of Medical Scribe Specialists (ACMSS)
- Certified Clinical Medical Assistant (CCMA) by National Healthcareer Association (NHA)
- Focuses on clinical skills and patient care, along with administrative tasks such as EHR management and medical documentation.
Final Thoughts
There is a bonus to gaining Medical scribe certification: licenced or experienced medical scribes will be able to transition into more advanced roles in healthcare and clinical settings, including careers in healthcare management, medicine, or other related fields.
A medical scribe job is also the best stepping stone to getting into prestigious medical schools for nurses and providers. Because medical schools are highly competitive, medical scribing qualifications are also a necessary feat for every medical student.