Scribes - Unpaid precharting hours (outpatient)?

[Ahjuka]

I'm a scribe at an outpatient clinic. Every morning, before work, I have to do some preliminary charting for the patients that are coming in that day, at home. This is unpaid and takes around an hour. I was wondering if this was normal in the outpatient setting.

Thankssss

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[smukke]

Will you come scribe for me? Please. I'll provide you a day old sandwich and some cold coffee while you review my charts.

But seriously, if you're being paid hourly they've decided they can exploit you if "have to do" = required. (they = company, docs, etc). Whether you want to potentially burn this bridge is up to you.

 

[Robin-jay]

Scribe exploitation in action.

Do yourself a favor and quit scribing after about 6 months and go retail.

 

[precisiongraphic]

It's not just a scribe problem. It's a violation of Federal Labor Laws (Fair Labor Standards Act to be specific) to not pay for work done or to require unpaid work "off the clock". This is unless one is an "exempt" employee, which is a specific criteria but basically includes management, technical and other higher level employees who routinely work unpaid overtime but are also paid for a whole day if they only work 1-2 hours, such as going home sick or going to the doctor for the afternoon. For example, doctors could be exempt, hospital administrators and office managers. Scribe managers, perhaps, could be exempt. I can pretty much guarantee 99.9% that a scribe is non-exempt. Hourly employees=non-exempt Salaried employees = exempt in most cases.

Companies such as Boeing and Microsoft have paid millions to non-exempt employees who were forced to work unpaid overtime.

It's up to you if you want to make it an issue. You could push back or as Robin-jay says, just quit. You could also pursue a report with the government and get paid for all the back pay that you are owed, even after you quit: Some claims would be made through your state government. www.dol.gov Or here.

 

[VikingWarrior]

Uhh that does not sound legal. I get paid for the 15 minutes I spend preping each day FWIW.

 

[BellaWriterChic]

I worked in outpatient scribing and this was never a thing at our site. If you were precharting, you clocked in. Even our Chief Scribe and doctors would tell us this. You also could not access anything on the EMR more home unless you were one of the doctors, PA or NP. But I had a great group of doctors, medical staff and management that would not try to exploit anyone. They even helped us make sure we were treated fairly. Most the doctors I worked for were nice, but not the most tech savvy.

 

[ADSigMel]

CAVEAT: The FLSA applies if you work for a big scribing company, but NOT necessarily if you’re a direct hire of the medical group, depending on how many people it employs. So who your actual employer is matters a LOT.

But, as @precisiongraphic said, assuming that this law covers your employer, the practice you mentioned violates the FLSA. If you were to sue over it, you’d be entitled to damages of three times the amount of pay they shorted you. Also, the company would not be be allowed to retaliate against you (fire you, demote you, schedule you for fewer hours, etc.) for filing suit.

Still, even if the law covers your employer, filing suit is not necessarily a bridge you want to burn, especially if you’re relying on the doctors for whom you work to write you LORs.

 

[precisiongraphic]

Have you asked why they want you to pre-chart at home instead of coming in to the office early?

 

[Dr. Brightside]

Yeah this is a tough situation. I often had to come in an hour and a half early for my cardiology shifts to prechart. This was not paid as it wasn't technically "required" but it had to be done or else the notes could not get finished to the provider's preferences during the day (and I was one of their fastest scribes). I kept with it since it was really good experience, but it is exploitation. The scribe who I replaced was slower and apparently worked up to three unpaid hours per shift.

 

[mistafab]

If you they want you to work then you must be paid. Don’t accept anything less. “Unpaid hours” are hours not worked. Do not work for no pay. If they expect you to do 10 hours work in 8 hours, you must get paid the extra two hours.

 

[KD6-3.7]

Have you mentioned it to your boss? There's a good chance they'll be embarrassed and agree that you should be clocked in while doing that work. If not, get the hell out fast. They count on your silence/complicity.

 

[DO_hopeful48]

I'm a scribe at an outpatient clinic. Every morning, before work, I have to do some preliminary charting for the patients that are coming in that day, at home. This is unpaid and takes around an hour. I was wondering if this was normal in the outpatient setting.

Thankssss

I'm a scribe in the ED so I'm not really sure about the outpatient clinic world, but I know that charting takes time and you deserve to be paid for it.

 

[Ahjuka]

Have you asked why they want you to pre-chart at home instead of coming in to the office early?

No. I've sort have accepted it as normal. I will bring it up to management.

 

[aethermist]

I'm a scribe at an outpatient clinic. Every morning, before work, I have to do some preliminary charting for the patients that are coming in that day, at home. This is unpaid and takes around an hour. I was wondering if this was normal in the outpatient setting.

Thankssss

I worked outpatient in 2 clinics, and I always clocked in for precharting. I usually got to the clinic about 15-30 minutes before to prep. Can you get to the clinic early, clock in, then start precharting?

 

[KD6-3.7]

No. I've sort have accepted it as normal. I will bring it up to management.

Definitely bring it up. Don't accept it as normal! You're a wage employee. NEVER work without pay.

 

[doc05]

I'm a scribe at an outpatient clinic. Every morning, before work, I have to do some preliminary charting for the patients that are coming in that day, at home. This is unpaid and takes around an hour. I was wondering if this was normal in the outpatient setting.

Thankssss

You should just quit.