PhysAssist Scribe questions...

[mental1]

I'm looking into applying to be a scribe this summer, but I have a few questions.
Here's my situation:

• I'm a senior, but graduating late (this coming December rather than May)
• I want to take a gap year to obtain [OOS] residency before applying to medical school, so this means a break of at least 1.5 years after graduation
• also planning on taking the MCAT late summer, so wont have time to work full-time

So my questions are:

1. I know PhysAssist expects a commitment of 2 years part-time.. Would it be problematic to move before two years are up? Is it easy to transfer to hospitals out of state but within the PhysAssist program? Has anyone had any luck transferring between scribing companies(i.e. to ScribeAmerica)?
2. I've heard the pay is poor - but how poor? Minimum wage? How large are the raises and how often are they earned?
3. What is a better experience - scribing or other clinical work? I've also considered applying for a Psych Tech position..

Thanks!

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[Rainbow Zebra]

I scribe, have been with the company for one year, and will stay in my current town for the next year. Pay is very low during training (near minimum wage), but the hours are very flexible (I took a week off right before the MCAT last November). I was able to study for the MCAT over 3 months and work 30-35/week. The hardest part is learning to schedule time, as scribing is like the ER, some shifts are overnight (11PM to 7am). They are good about not scheduling you day then nights, then days again. Usually a day or so off after an overnight shift. It really helped me understand my capacity of operate at all days/times.

Seems like we get a raise every 3-6 months or at a milestone (when I became a trainer), but it is only $.50 to $1.00 / hour. I think I average about $10.50/hour now in the midwest, which is pretty typical for this area. I've taken numerous 2-3 week vacations, with no problem, just need to be available for a certain number of holidays (not all of them). I'm technically fulltime, but I usually keep my hours to 30-35 hours/week without a lot of difficulty.

Note that different health systems use different computer programs, so it isn't just going from one state to another, or one health system to another.

I've learned a lot in my past year, and really enjoy it (I now do some training for the newbies, which I do get paid extra). You really get a sense of what goes on in an ER. I think it is much better than a desk job, pushing paper. Psych Tech may be interesting, but that is a pretty high stress environment (if you are on the IP side). I did shadowing on an Child IP unit, and it is an interesting environment, but can be totally chaotic at times. Good Luck to you.

 

[swolebrah]

1.I left PhysAssit for a different scribe company after working for them for about 1.5 years. No problem, there turn around employee rate is huge.

2. Minimum wage for the first 300 hours, you get paid training, and if your out of state they pay to fly you out, train you, hotel room paid for, and other misc things.

3. Scribing was the best clinical experience I had, relative to shadowing, volunteering, etc. Also your getting paid for it, granted not much.

Be ready to work your ass of during training. They give you all this useless medical term/jargon **** to memorize in very little time, all while your preclinical training. I unfortunately did training while I was in school, but with no other obligations it still does require you taking it seriously.

Our training class had 3 people fail and sent home, rest (about 15 or so) got the jobs in their respective areas.

Best of luck man, also pm if you have any other questions.

 

[MDporfavor8888]

the two posts above me have covered everything...ive been working for about a year and 3 months

you don't get much "direct" patient contact since we are legally not allowed to talk to the patients but you'll learn a lot about what doctors do and how they think. you'll get to see all kinds of patient cases especially if you work at a bigger hospital.

all in all, its a good experience but obviously you don't do it for the money because there are other things premeds can do for better pay with less work (tutoring) but you will get great clinical experience.

 

[CanEh?dianBacon]

Second everything that's been said so far.

1. I know PhysAssist expects a commitment of 2 years part-time.. Would it be problematic to move before two years are up? Is it easy to transfer to hospitals out of state but within the PhysAssist program? Has anyone had any luck transferring between scribing companies(i.e. to ScribeAmerica)?
2. I've heard the pay is poor - but how poor? Minimum wage? How large are the raises and how often are they earned?
3. What is a better experience - scribing or other clinical work? I've also considered applying for a Psych Tech position..

Thanks!

I know someone that transferred from Tennessee to Georgia without any issues. Transferring would be mostly dependent on openings on the team where you'd transfer to, so I'd suggest transferring around May, June, or July when there's lots of turnover due to people leaving for medical school, PA school, etc.

 

[SweetCaroline7]

1.I left PhysAssit for a different scribe company after working for them for about 1.5 years. No problem, there turn around employee rate is huge.

2. Minimum wage for the first 300 hours, you get paid training, and if your out of state they pay to fly you out, train you, hotel room paid for, and other misc things.

3. Scribing was the best clinical experience I had, relative to shadowing, volunteering, etc. Also your getting paid for it, granted not much.

Be ready to work your ass of during training. They give you all this useless medical term/jargon **** to memorize in very little time, all while your preclinical training. I unfortunately did training while I was in school, but with no other obligations it still does require you taking it seriously.

Our training class had 3 people fail and sent home, rest (about 15 or so) got the jobs in their respective areas.

Best of luck man, also pm if you have any other questions.

Just an FYI about #1 above. Not sure if they changed their policy since I signed with them, but when I started working for them, PhysAssist made all new employees sign a non-compete agreement along with their contract. It stipulated that if you left PhysAssist for any reason, whether you fulfilled your full contract time or not, you could not work for another scribe company for 1 full year. When I was in training, someone refused to sign this part of the contract, and he was asked to go home that day. To answer your question, they made it easy to transfer to another hospital/city if they had sites there. But if they still use a non-compete agreement, you technically can't (or shouldn't) work for another company for a year. I doubt they'd go after you, but just putting it out there.

 

[Salt Salt]

I did PhysAssist. Four words: Fantastic experience, terrible pay.

If money is not an issue, I say go for it!

 

[zzxxzz]

So my questions are:

1. I know PhysAssist expects a commitment of 2 years part-time.. Would it be problematic to move before two years are up? Is it easy to transfer to hospitals out of state but within the PhysAssist program? Has anyone had any luck transferring between scribing companies(i.e. to ScribeAmerica)?
2. I've heard the pay is poor - but how poor? Minimum wage? How large are the raises and how often are they earned?
3. What is a better experience - scribing or other clinical work? I've also considered applying for a Psych Tech position..

Thanks!

1. No idea, but to answer a different question, most scribe companies won't hold you to any kind of commitment as long as you'll work for "awhile."
2. Minimum wage for first few months, $2-$3 raise after that.
3. Scribing can be a good experience, but the job itself sucks. This entirely depends on the hospital/practice for which you work, but some scribes are treated like absolute crap.

 

[Salt Salt]

1. No idea, but to answer a different question, most scribe companies won't hold you to any kind of commitment as long as you'll work for "awhile."
2. Minimum wage for first few months, $2-$3 raise after that.
3. Scribing can be a good experience, but the job itself sucks. This entirely depends on the hospital/practice for which you work, but some scribes are treated like absolute crap.

I think this was a good assessment. The clinical experience was unmatched; on a day-to-day basis my enjoyment of the job fluctuated around average-to-good, depending on if I got out at the hour I was supposed to and if the doctor I worked with treated me with respect.

 

[zzxxzz]

depending on if I got out at the hour I was supposed to

This. Some clinics can run hours over, so be aware when setting your schedule. Our general rule was to expect a clinic to go 15-20 minutes over for every hour scheduled. Also, every practice has a provider who shows up an hour late, every time.

and if the doctor I worked with treated me with respect.

Also, this. Unfortunately, this can be hard to predict ahead of time until you start working, but some providers resent having scribes (as opposed to dictaphones, etc) and can be very difficult to work with, especially when you're just beginning. If you can survive your first few weeks, you'll be fine.

Where you choose to work depends on your interests, but if you want to see a bunch of interesting, in-depth cases, do ER, but be ready for long, late hours. If you're interested in a surgical subspecialty, be prepared to deal with a big ego or two and a provider who believes you can write a complete note in under a minute...

 

[swolebrah]

This. Some clinics can run hours over, so be aware when setting your schedule. Our general rule was to expect a clinic to go 15-20 minutes over for every hour scheduled. Also, every practice has a provider who shows up an hour late, every time.




Also, this. Unfortunately, this can be hard to predict ahead of time until you start working, but some providers resent having scribes (as opposed to dictaphones, etc) and can be very difficult to work with, especially when you're just beginning. If you can survive your first few weeks, you'll be fine.

Where you choose to work depends on your interests, but if you want to see a bunch of interesting, in-depth cases, do ER, but be ready for long, late hours. If you're interested in a surgical subspecialty, be prepared to deal with a big ego or two and a provider who believes you can write a complete note in under a minute...

I once worked with an awesome ED doc who was also a scribe in his pre-med years, and he told me basically your always going to have those doosh bag doctors who treat scribes like ****. It's all part of the wonderful power hierarchy of medicine. He also said that if I was planning on doing surgery, consider it as a little taste of how its like. I always noticed where ever I went there were these types of doctors, just learned to shrug it off and not let them get to me.

 

[MDporfavor8888]

personally, i've never worked with a doc who treats scribes like ****. i also think the health system i work for has the easiest workload considering i've gone to Scribe U (where you go train before working at your actual sites) and talked to other trainers from various regions. i've heard scribes do 20-50 charts per shift and where i work we do on average 10-15 charts per shift and doctors pretty much dictate everything with dragon. i really think it all depends on where you end up working but i consider myself pretty lucky to be working with awesome doctors in a relatively relaxed environment

 

[swolebrah]

personally, i've never worked with a doc who treats scribes like ****. i also think the health system i work for has the easiest workload considering i've gone to Scribe U (where you go train before working at your actual sites) and talked to other trainers from various regions. i've heard scribes do 20-50 charts per shift and where i work we do on average 10-15 charts per shift and doctors pretty much dictate everything with dragon. i really think it all depends on where you end up working but i consider myself pretty lucky to be working with awesome doctors in a relatively relaxed environment

Yeah I agree on that, it does depend on where you work.

 

[zzxxzz]

i've heard scribes do 20-50 charts per shift and where i work we do on average 10-15 charts per shift

Wow. How long are your shifts? We do 3-4 hour shifts (generally 2 shifts a day) and I've never worked a shift with fewer than 20 patients. Saw 48 patients yesterday. All depends on where you work, I guess...then again, that may be why my attitude about scribing is a little less positive than others on this site.

We also occasionally do specialized clinics where physicians often see 10+ patients an hour. Really helps improve your typing speed...

 

[JimmyB123]

Wow. How long are your shifts? We do 3-4 hour shifts (generally 2 shifts a day) and I've never worked a shift with fewer than 20 patients. Saw 48 patients yesterday. All depends on where you work, I guess...then again, that may be why my attitude about scribing is a little less positive than others on this site.

We also occasionally do specialized clinics where physicians often see 10+ patients an hour. Really helps improve your typing speed...

EDs are going to be very different around the country. That's what I love about emergency medicine. It can be practiced in different ways. You can be scribing at a county hospital where you get 100k+ ER visits or you can be scribing at a tertiary referral hospital where you get 40-50k ER visits. The cases and admit rates, on average, are different between these settings. I've worked as a ER scribe in both settings and would rather do 40 charts where the majority of medicine being practiced is "treat and street" as opposed seeing 15-20 patients with a 50-60% admit rate and charts that need to be more detailed with more in-depth management plans.

From what you describe, it sounds like you work in a pretty large ED. But even then, a 10+ patient load per provider per hour is ridiculous. Is that just triage? Because I've never seen that before.

 

[zzxxzz]

From what you describe, it sounds like you work in a pretty large ED. But even then, a 10+ patient load per provider per hour is ridiculous. Is that just triage? Because I've never seen that before.

Work in both ED and surgical outpatient. The ridiculous shifts are in surgery; was working in surgery when I saw the 48 patients. However, the charts aren't necessarily shorter, and in surgery I have seen more than fifteen patients in an hour more than once. ED is closer to what you described, but we do see a lot of patients some days.

But yea, I work in an enormous ED with many scribes working at once. In general, it seems ED = fewer patients with more time/patient, while surgery = many quick charts. Working in surgery can be tough as we are often expected to get most of the exam/radiology results ourselves without having to ask the provider. For simple cases the surgeon does not give any of the note to us; we simply go on to the next patient. So if you don't know your stuff cold, you'll be in big trouble. Upside is I now know a TON about a certain subspecialty. Downside is even after tons of experience, I still have stressful, challenging clinics. Also, as previously mentioned, some surgeons are total *****s. EM providers almost never are.

Another downside of surgery, as previously mentioned, is a 4 hour clinic can go 6+ hours, so on a long day you can work 11-12 hours without overtime or meal breaks. Unless you're quite interested in surgery, I'd recommend being an ER scribe - you see more interesting/varied cases, and it's typically less stressful.

 

[takeurmeds02]

Like everyone before me, the pay isn't great but the experience is amazing. You do work with some doctors who are straight pricks but in general, they're easy-going. My general rule is if you give me static, I can give it right back and they generally chill out lol. On my slowest days I see about 12-15 patients and on my busier ones 25-35. I work in a level two trauma center ED so there's always cool stuff to see. I would definitely recommend it.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Just an FYI about #1 above. Not sure if they changed their policy since I signed with them, but when I started working for them, PhysAssist made all new employees sign a non-compete agreement along with their contract. It stipulated that if you left PhysAssist for any reason, whether you fulfilled your full contract time or not, you could not work for another scribe company for 1 full year. When I was in training, someone refused to sign this part of the contract, and he was asked to go home that day. To answer your question, they made it easy to transfer to another hospital/city if they had sites there. But if they still use a non-compete agreement, you technically can't (or shouldn't) work for another company for a year. I doubt they'd go after you, but just putting it out there.

Do you really think they will keep track and go after you?? Non competes are rarely enforced, and probably won't stand up in court, per my lawyer family members. Don't stress about it.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Like everyone before me, the pay isn't great but the experience is amazing. You do work with some doctors who are straight pricks but in general, they're easy-going. My general rule is if you give me static, I can give it right back and they generally chill out lol. On my slowest days I see about 12-15 patients and on my busier ones 25-35. I work in a level five trauma center ED so there's always cool stuff to see. I would definitely recommend it.

The ER Levels are with the Level 1 is the highest, most acute, with all the specialities, including pediatric on 24/7. I think you may have your level's backwards. Level 5 would be like an urgent care, without 24 hour access.

 

[SweetCaroline7]

Do you really think they will keep track and go after you?? Non competes are rarely enforced, and probably won't stand up in court, per my lawyer family members. Don't stress about it.

I did end my post saying that I doubt they would go after you...so I'm not sure why you're asking that question. Non competes may be rarely enforced and I am not a lawyer, so maybe I don't need to give them any weight, but I tend to err on the side of caution when it comes to legal documents I sign. I'm not sure how you perceived that to be a bad thing.

 

[takeurmeds02]

@Rainbow Zebra I'm actually facing a potential challenge with the non-compete now. Not sure if you've heard but scribes are being moved out of some of the ED's in the St. Louis area and will be potentially placed elswhere. Physassist will be replaced by Scribe America in these depts. The issue is that, I really love scribing but if the other ED's are too far then that's obviously not a viable option for me.

 

[takeurmeds02]

The ER Levels are with the Level 1 is the highest, most acute, with all the specialities, including pediatric on 24/7. I think you may have your level's backwards. Level 5 would be like an urgent care, without 24 hour access.

You're right that was my mistake. Thanks

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

@Rainbow Zebra I'm actually facing a potential challenge with the non-compete now. Not sure if you've heard but scribes are being moved out of some of the ED's in the St. Louis area and will be potentially placed elswhere. Physassist will be replaced by Scribe America in these depts. The issue is that, I really love scribing but if the other ED's are too far then that's obviously not a viable option for me.

I thought Phyassist was just bought out by Team Health. Did you sign a new non compete with Team Health?? If not, no worries, as the noncompete probably no longer applies, as the company changed, even if they still use the Physassist as a DBA (doing business as), per my Mom (not like I could come up with that on my own). They can't make it so you can't work.

 

[takeurmeds02]

@Rainbow Zebra Yea, I'm sure I probably did when we had to resign our personal contracts last year. Schumacher Group has canceled out contract with their docs at various hospitals in the city since we're Team Health now.

 

[4-cyclohexene]

Hello! I have worked as a scribe/trainer with PhysAssist for a year now in the city where my university is located. However, I am graduating in a week and moving back home. I interviewed and was offered a job with ScribeAmerica at an outpatient facility in my hometown. However, ScribeAmerica wants me to provide them with a noncompete waiver from PhysAssist. I resign as a PhysAssist scribe on April 30th at the hospital I am working at. The hospital I am currently working at ends their contract with PhysAssist on June 1st and is transitioning over to Scribe America. PhysAssist has offered to waive this noncompete agreement effective June 1st but I am not sure they will allow me to do it earlier so that I can go back to my hometown and work starting mid May. What do you guys think? Is this noncompete contract set in stone? What are my options to navigate around this? I don't want to be denied the job in my hometown because of my inability to have PhysAssist waive their noncompete agreement. Thanks.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Hello! I have worked as a scribe/trainer with PhysAssist for a year now in the city where my university is located. However, I am graduating in a week and moving back home. I interviewed and was offered a job with ScribeAmerica at an outpatient facility in my hometown. However, ScribeAmerica wants me to provide them with a noncompete waiver from PhysAssist. I resign as a PhysAssist scribe on April 30th at the hospital I am working at. The hospital I am currently working at ends their contract with PhysAssist on June 1st and is transitioning over to Scribe America. PhysAssist has offered to waive this noncompete agreement effective June 1st but I am not sure they will allow me to do it earlier so that I can go back to my hometown and work starting mid May. What do you guys think? Is this noncompete contract set in stone? What are my options to navigate around this? I don't want to be denied the job in my hometown because of my inability to have PhysAssist waive their noncompete agreement. Thanks.

Give them a call, I hope they will be reasonable. Keep us posted on what they say. Thanks

 

[mehc012]

Give them a call, I hope they will be reasonable. Keep us posted on what they say. Thanks

Depending on where they are, there's a decent chance the noncompete clause isn't even valid. Mine sure wasn't.

 

[cjcarter]

I'm a current scribe with PhysAssist and I kind of hate it. First 300 hours I was paid 7.25 an hour, now up to 9.25 or so. 80% of the docs I work with suck, not friendly at all and can be just plain rude. There are some cool ones who actually acknowledge my existence and take an interest in getting to know me which is refreshing.

They are super flexible about taking time off to study for the MCAT or any other commitments which is a huge plus.

I guess I hate it because I have to drive over an hour to both hospitals I work at and the patient population is absolutely terrible. I dread going to work each day because of the type of patients I know I will be dealing with all day. Sure, it's good experience and I definitely learned I will not be practicing emergency medicine in the future. But if you have another job opportunity that pays more and you won't get sh** on each day, I'd say choose that over scribing.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I slightly disagree with @cjcarter. I think scribing is a really dope opportunity short of maybe EMT or the like but even those don't allow you the opportunity to get a front row seat in the the medical decision making of a physician. Unless you really need a job to pay the bills, I would definitely suggest

Also, you're not forced to stay for the two years like they say. People come and go all the time and they understand that.

 

[takeurmeds02]

Hello! I have worked as a scribe/trainer with PhysAssist for a year now in the city where my university is located. However, I am graduating in a week and moving back home. I interviewed and was offered a job with ScribeAmerica at an outpatient facility in my hometown. However, ScribeAmerica wants me to provide them with a noncompete waiver from PhysAssist. I resign as a PhysAssist scribe on April 30th at the hospital I am working at. The hospital I am currently working at ends their contract with PhysAssist on June 1st and is transitioning over to Scribe America. PhysAssist has offered to waive this noncompete agreement effective June 1st but I am not sure they will allow me to do it earlier so that I can go back to my hometown and work starting mid May. What do you guys think? Is this noncompete contract set in stone? What are my options to navigate around this? I don't want to be denied the job in my hometown because of my inability to have PhysAssist waive their noncompete agreement. Thanks.

*waves* hey team-member. I'm as over this situation as you are haha. But yea just give them a call.

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

I'm a current scribe with PhysAssist and I kind of hate it. First 300 hours I was paid 7.25 an hour, now up to 9.25 or so. 80% of the docs I work with suck, not friendly at all and can be just plain rude. There are some cool ones who actually acknowledge my existence and take an interest in getting to know me which is refreshing.

They are super flexible about taking time off to study for the MCAT or any other commitments which is a huge plus.

I guess I hate it because I have to drive over an hour to both hospitals I work at and the patient population is absolutely terrible. I dread going to work each day because of the type of patients I know I will be dealing with all day. Sure, it's good experience and I definitely learned I will not be practicing emergency medicine in the future. But if you have another job opportunity that pays more and you won't get sh** on each day, I'd say choose that over scribing.

You are definitely not doing this job for the pay (I could make more being a server/bartender). This is all about the experience and all the great exposure to "the system". Yeah, sometimes the patients and/or doctors suck, but sometimes it is great fun. It is about trying to be useful to the team, and not really all about me and what I'm getting out of it.

 

[cjcarter]

I can't think of one time over the past year when scribing has been "dope" or "great fun." I think a lot of it is location/physician dependent. I've had maybe one super interesting patient that was really critical while all the rest are level 4s looking for a work note.

 

[takeurmeds02]

I can't think of one time over the past year when scribing has been "dope" or "great fun." I think a lot of it is location/physician dependent. I've had maybe one super interesting patient that was really critical while all the rest are level 4s looking for a work note.

Well, I mean, at the end of the day, it's still a job so it won't be your favorite past-time lol but I'd rather be doing this than folding clothes in retail or serving food. It's kind of hard to pick up a research gig if you know you won't be staying long. Other things in healthcare, you pretty much need some type of certification that you first have to pay for before you can make any money.

 

[2ndchancecharm]

Hey for those who worked for PhysAssist, how long did it take for them to get back to y'all after you applied? Thanks!

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

Hey for those who worked for PhysAssist, how long did it take for them to get back to y'all after you applied? Thanks!

My initial phone interview was about 2 weeks after I applied online (but this was in Dec, during the holidays, so may have been a bit longer).

 

[eyesfeeltired]

My initial phone interview was about 2 weeks after I applied online (but this was in Dec, during the holidays, so may have been a bit longer).

hey, how long was your training. I recently interviewed for a scribe position and wass told that I would get paid min wage during training. I was wondering how long does the training take, from previous comments it seems about 300 hours. how many times a week did you guys meet for training and how many hours per each day

 

[eyesfeeltired]

recently interviewed for a scribe position. how many words per min should I reach in order to be a successful scribe?

 

[Rainbow Zebra]

hey, how long was your training. I recently interviewed for a scribe position and wass told that I would get paid min wage during training. I was wondering how long does the training take, from previous comments it seems about 300 hours. how many times a week did you guys meet for training and how many hours per each day

300 hours it is. Goes by fast.