Dec 27, 2024 Behind the Scenes of Exceptional Care: RWJBarnabas Health’s Medical Scribe Program

Scribes

In New Jersey’s evolving healthcare landscape, RWJBarnabas Health’s Medical Scribe Program has become an invaluable asset for clinicians and aspiring healthcare professionals.

ScribesScribes are highly visible in the emergency department and on the inpatient floors with our hospitalist medicine groups, where they are responsible for observing and documenting doctor-patient interactions. This includes taking dictations from providers and completely and accurately documenting patient encounters, including the history of why they are in the hospital, why the provider ordered specific diagnostics, and any conversations with the patient, including shared decision making, review of diagnostics and incidental findings, and follow-up information. Scribes also document in real-time when critical patients are brought in by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) or during code situations.

The ED physicians at RWJBarnabas Health began using scribes in the early 2000s, making the health system an early adopter of this practice. In early 2021, the Department of Practice Enhancement, the first official scribe department within the system, was created to formalize and expand the program. The RWJBarnabas Health Medical Scribe Program employs close to 550 scribes across RWJBarnabas Health’s 12 hospitals, where they support physicians, physician assistants, and nurse practitioners.

“Our scribes are integral to our patient-care team, supporting the flow of documentation and enhancing efficiency throughout our emergency and hospitalist medicine departments,” said Matt Viguerie, MBA, Director of Practice Enhancement, Emergency and Hospitalist Services, RWJBarnabas Health.

The responsibilities of a medical scribe extend beyond simply recording patient interactions. As lab results or imaging scans become available, scribes play a crucial role in relaying this information to clinicians, ensuring that physicians stay updated without interruptions to their patient care routines. “The goal of a scribe is to allow the clinician to focus on patient care while the scribe focuses on documentation,” said Viguerie.

“Participating in the scribe program was one of the most influential experiences in my path to becoming an emergency medicine physician,” said Melissa Yu Dang, DO, a former RWJBarnabas Health scribe who now practices emergency medicine. “Working closely with physicians gave me the unique opportunity to witness the practice of medicine firsthand and grasp the dynamics of provider interactions with patients and staff, giving me invaluable insights that helped me immensely throughout my medical training. Best of all, this program allowed me to form lasting relationships with providers and ED staff who have, 10 years later, become my coworkers in the same department I scribed”.

A Springboard to Healthcare Careers

RWJBarnabas Health’s Medical Scribe Program is designed to benefit the healthcare system and the future medical professionals who join as undergraduates or recent graduates, aiming to gain firsthand clinical experience before continuing their education in medicine, nursing, or other health-related fields.

At RWJBarnabas Health, 39 physician assistants (PAs), 7 attending physicians, and 6 ED resident physicians trained as RWJBarnabas scribes practice within the system’s ED.

“The fact that so many of our scribes return to RWJBarnabas Health in advanced roles speaks to the program's impact on their career development," said Viguerie.

Maeve Maloney, PA-C, is one of the returning scribes Viguerie is referring to, who now works in the ED at Newark Beth Israel Medical Center and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Somerset.

“I planned to go to medical school or PA school, and this seemed like the best way to get firsthand experience of what it would be like to work in the ED and learn from people in the professions I was hoping to join,” said Maloney. “When I started PA school, I definitely think having worked as a scribe gave me a leg up on my classmates who had different experiences. I had a basic understanding of many disease processes, diagnostics, and initial management in the ED. I also knew or had heard medical terminology that was completely new to my classmates by being immersed in it while working as a scribe,” she continued. Maloney was a full-time scribe for two and a half years when she became lead scribe.

The Future of RWJBarnabas Health’s Medical Scribe Program

RWJBarnabas Health’s Medical Scribe Program is constantly evolving, with efforts currently being made to offer new workshop and mentorship opportunities and to encourage scribes to continue their careers at RWJBarnabas Health.

“Our scribes are incredible assets,” said Christopher Freer, DO, Senior Vice President of Emergency and Hospitalist Medicine at RWJBarnabas Health. “The support they provide to our physicians is invaluable and doesn’t go unnoticed, given the high level of patient care we provide.”

Please visit our webpage for more information on the RWJBarnabas Health Scribe Program and career opportunities.