The Joint Commission this month released an online guide for critical access hospitals (CAHs) that use scribes to help health care providers enter data into electronic health records (EHRs)
- The Clockwork ED: Check out our study assessing the impact of charting scribes and their ability to liberate physicians' time.
The guide is presented as a list of frequently asked questions and is included in the group's comprehensive accreditation manual for CAHs.
Although the group "does not endorse [or] prohibit the use of scribes," it says commission surveyors will expect CAHs to meet the expectations outlined in the guide.
In the guide, the Joint Commission writes that scribes should sign and date all entries that they make in an EHR. A licensed practitioner then should "authenticate the entry" by signing and dating it, as well as adding a time stamp if applicable (Conn, Modern Healthcare, 7/16 [subscription required]).