The experience of scribing is good; the company is not.
Pros
I worked with some great providers who made my job as a scribe very enjoyable. Being proactive, I was able to learn a lot (about medicine and working in healthcare) and the experience of working so closely with physicians and the medical record definitely gives you a leg up once you start medical school. I also made some very valuable connections and the job opened a lot of doors for me, so I do not regret it.
Cons
I was a chief scribe (on-site manager) and often wondered how the company manages/plans to to stay afloat. The processes they have in place for recruiting and hiring are ridiculous - not straightforward and not organized. There is no way they will be able to keep up with the rate they are accepting new contracts - the quality of the scribes will diminish unless they make their starting wage competitive with other starting level healthcare positions (ie CNA, MA... this is common sense). Lowering their hiring standards will eventually backfire big time. They place unrealistic expectations upon the sites (which ultimately falls to the CS) without much “real” support from upper management. I basically had to teach myself how to do everything. Then you are reprimanded for working overtime and clocking too many management hours, when you have no other choice, in order to meet the demands they are asking of you in the first place. This is because your direct manager’s compensation is directly tied to how well each site follows the “rules.” This is unfortunate and I know the middle-management also falls victim to the policies upper-management bestows upon them, so they have no choice. AND as if the scribes and lower management (especially) weren’t already EXTREMELY underpaid, SA is constantly coming up with new ways to save the company more money and selling it as yet another “policy” that chief scribes have to follow. They are RIDICULOUSLY stingy and making requesting reimbursement (and receiving it) a process in and of itself. Everyone I have talked to who has worked for this company (ESPECIALLY lower management) has expressed similar sentiments or stories of their own regarding their negative experiences. I’m guessing other Scribe companies may be dealing with the same issues, so I would recommend a prospective scribe look for private opportunities before signing on with SA. You can end up having a great experience as a scribe with SA (if you don’t mind the pay), but it is very site-dependent and mostly luck of the draw. Clients could start their own scribe program in-hospital and pay their scribes $15/hr (what they deserve) and not have to deal with the bureaucracy of SA.
