Hiring scribes to input data into electronic health records in the inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) clinic not only frees up physicians to spend more time with their patients, it increases the number of clinic visits and revenue, according to a study conducted by the division of gastroenterology, hepatology, and nutrition at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Some highlights:

• Researchers compared pre- to post-scribe data from fiscal years 2015 and 2016, analyzing patient satisfaction scores, clinic appointment length, and several other parameters.
• Patient satisfaction scores increased from 6.8/10 to 9.2/10.
• Clinic visits increased by 76.
• Work RVUs increased by 332.55.
• Total charges increased by >$71,000 and total charges collected increased by > $27,000 from first quarter of 2015 to first quarter of 2016.
• The extra revenue more than compensated for the additional salary of the hired scribe.