Scribematic - AI Automated Medical Documentation

Scribematic's Frequently Asked Questions

 Q1. Why is server-based Scribematic better than an ambient AI processor integrated with my EHR?

• The Scribematic server can remain open throughout the day and be ready to begin dictation on the next patient without having to load the EHR on a portable device.
• EHR downtime and slowdowns during heavy daytime use make the physician note function with integrated systems unusable or less accessible. When the EHR is down, Scribematic allows the physician to continue documenting and not fall behind in their notes.
• Scribematic is EHR agnostic, portable and follows the physician who may see patients at other sites using different EHRs. This is particularly useful for physicians who do locums work or combined outpatient and inpatient practice. Consultants can use the same Scribematic note for entry into the hospital EHR and their private practice system.

Q2. My hospital's EHR already has many areas of the record completed, such as, medications, medical history and others. I don’t need a whole Scribematic note.

• That’s fine. The one button copy function in Scribematic allows you to select the whole note or just a single section to drop into your EHR. All EHRs retain historical data, but few “sweep” expired information (discontinued medications, etc.) and incorrect or redundant entries. Many physicians prefer to copy their whole note into the free-text section of the EHR to confirm the patient’s current status as seen during their examination without having to “declutter” inaccuracies in the EHR. From a medical-legal perspective, this also confirms that the physician actually reviewed this information.

Q3. Another EHR-integrated AI company told me that Scribematic isn’t as HIPAA compliant as theirs.

• Untrue. Scribematic meets all the requirements for HIPAA compliance (see details in our website). The examining physician determines how notes are identified using anything from a room number, chief complaint or single patient initial. In addition, the note and all of its data are deleted and irretrievable from the encrypted server 72 hours after it is completed.

Q4. My CFO wants us to go with a “big name” provider for an ambient AI note system. Isn’t bigger better?

• Larger companies are adding these systems as add-ons to their bigger business. For Scribematic, this is our only business. While most systems use one or two LLMs (Large Language Models – the AI “engine”) to produce a note, Scribematic uses multiple LLMs to optimize each step from voice acquisition and recognition, language translation and final note production. This makes Scribematic more accurate than other systems trying to accomplish the same task.
• Scribematic support is personal. Our team helps our users work through any specific modifications the physicians need and work to incorporate their suggestions into our backend AI. When was the last time a “big name” company listened to your suggestions?

Q5. My hospital wants me to check boxes for quality, billing and other data functions. How does Scribematic deal with that?

• No voice recognition AI note system can currently enter an AI scribed note into a structured field. Integrated systems that claim to do this function, accomplish this by sending your note for a human review (often to another country) and completion. This causes delays in the final note, increases cost and results in an additional risk for PHI breach. 
• Most of the physician work and time that go into crafting a note center around the History of Present Illness (HPI) and the assessment and medical decision-making (MDM). These remain areas of free text description which are accurately captured in Scribematic. 
• Coders and billers are required to review the entire note and code whether it is in a structured field or free text. Many organizations have coding software that digitally/optically scans notes for this information. 

Q6. I have voice recognition and templates with my EHR… Why do I need Scribematic?

• Voice recognition requires that you dictate punctuation and locate the proper place within your note to insert it. Even with templates, the user has to move to the next prompt to insert data. Scribematic allows you to describe your interaction or procedure in a conversational mode without inserting punctuation, and it will find the right place in the template to document your findings. This works for patient H&Ps and procedure notes.

Q7. What if I want to make corrections or add additional information after the Scribematic note has been finalized?

• For simple word changes or minor corrections, each section has its own edit, type and correct function.
• For more extensive changes or multiple additions, use the “Talk To Your Note” feature to scroll through your finished note and address any changes that you want to make...just “talk to your note’ in plain speech. “Process” the note, and it will include all of your corrections and additions. Add sections, change entries or correct formatting...Scribematic will do it for you.

Q8. I bring a tablet into the exam room and do my documentation at the time of the visit and most of my documentation is completed at the end of the visit. How will Scribematic improve that kind of efficiency?

• Pausing your patient interaction to document during the visit takes as much time as documenting after the visit and will extend your encounter time. Instead of focusing on your documentation during the visit, you can focus on the patient and complete your encounter and documentation sooner.

Q9. In my experience, AI documentation misses certain components of the patient interaction. How can I improve this performance?

• AI/voice recognition dictation can only capture what is spoken during the interaction. The more detailed you are in the description of your encounter, the more will be picked up in the note. Restating the patient complaints and your physical findings will improve the note and have the added benefit of improving Patient Experience scores by demonstrating one of the fundamental principles of “active listening” (one of the areas of evaluation for physicians in the HCAHPS Survey).

Q10. Scribematic looks a little pricey. How is this cost-effective for my practice?

• Comparable AI systems and “live scribes” can be 3-16 times higher per physician than Scribematic without many of the conveniences that Scribematic offers. Scribematic will also increase your productivity by reducing documentation time by 10-15 minutes per patient. At 2.2 patients per hour on a 10 hour shift, that’s enough time back to see 8 more patients per shift. For private groups or physicians with a production component to their pay…that’s money in your pocket. That does not even include a decrease in LWBS/LWT/AMA patients because of shorter waiting times.
• Some physicians tell us that their practice asks them to fund a portion of the scribe costs...as much as $12 per hour. A physician who personally pays for their Scribematic subscription without subsidy pays a little more than $2 per hour.
• The time you spend documenting after your shift ends costs somebody money. Either your group is funding overtime (which is reducing your wRVU/hour bonus pay) or your “paying” for it with your free time (what’s your hourly rate?).

Q11. Many of my patients do not speak English which prevents me from using an ambient AI documentation system. Can I still use Scribematic?

• Scribematic is multi-lingual and allows you to conduct your patient interview in almost any language. Just identify the lanuage of the encounter and Scribematic will produce a medical note in English (or the selected language) for placement in your EHR. (Language settings can be accessed in the 'Account' tab.

Q12. What device(s) do I need to use Scribematic?  

• Any recording device (cell phone, laptop, iPad, etc.) and access to the WiFi/internet are all that are needed to be up and running with Scribematic 

Q13. Can I use Scribematic if I am part of a group or employed practice? 

• Scribematic is an individual subscription (although enterprise pricing is available). You just need to make sure that your group or organization does not have a firewall that blocks the Scribematic server and that there are no specific institutional policies against using AI assisted software.

Q14. Can Scribematic return a billing code based on my encounter? 

• No. Scribematic has a function that can identify your level of Medical Decision-Making if you choose to incorporate that in your note, but that calculation is based only on information from your encounter and does not include total time spent in the care of the patient or data in the EHR that is not contained in your note. Code and billing calculations are a complex function that also include calendar day consideration, new vs. established patient, “incident to” documentation, additional services, etc., that may not be captured in your patient encounter.

Q15. How long does it take Scribematic to complete a note? 

• In most cases Scribematic will complete your note within seconds to a couple of minutes. Larger, more complex encounters may require high power AI and take a little longer, but in almost all cases your note will be ready to copy into your EHR before you get back to your workstation.

Q16. Does Scribematic use “human processing” to complete a note?

• No. Unlike some other ambient AI documentation systems, Scribematic does not send the note out for a third-party review and correction. Scribematic uses the most sophisticated versions of AI to craft an accurate note, removing the need for review by anyone but the treating physician. Send-out notes significantly increase the note turnaround time, cost and increase the privacy vulnerability of the physician’s work product.

Q17. How long does it take to get up and running with Scribematic?

• Most users find that they can start using Scribematic as soon as they sign-up. Demos are available and the user interface is intuitively guided. Email and phone support is available for questions getting started and template building assistance. Each completed note has a button that allows the user to give feedback on suggestions for note improvement if your question is not urgent. This suggestion-feed is monitored and used to make continual improvements in the system.

Q18. How does Scribematic handle updates, small and large?

• All changes to Scribematic are prepared on the server’s staging platform and released after appropriate testing. Unlike many other systems and integrated AI documentation services, there is no upgrade downtime with Scribematic to interrupt your workflow.

Q19. How does AI work? I don’t like the idea of a computer writing my note.

• Ambient AI documentation systems use Large Language Models (LLMs), a kind of AI engine, to turn your speech into text and then uses artificial intelligence to put that text into a formatted form…your medical note. AI uses its vast reference resources to convert conversation into medically relevant description, but is not designed to diagnose or prescribe treatment. Scribematic uses multiple LLMs to optimize each phase of this conversion to create the most accurate representation of your patient encounter. It is still YOUR note and only includes the information you have given it.

Q20. I like the templates I am currently using. Can I continue to use them with Scribematic? 

• Scribematic allows users to paste any current templates they have using a “Create Template” function. Usually, we suggest some formatting changes because your current templates undoubtably have a prompt function so that you can search and manually add variable data. Scribematic templates are designed to take the information from your conversation and automatically put the information in the right place without the manual process saving the physician time, typing/dictation and clicks. Scribematic also has sample templates that you can use or adapt to your personal preferences.