Medical transcription has evolved quickly in recent years, especially as providers integrate technologies like Natural Language Processing that make real-time transcription a reality. With solutions like Mobius Scribe or Augmedix at their fingertips, physicians can instantly generate clinical notes without touching their keyboard or picking up a pen.

The benefits of live transcription are huge – physicians type less, can spend more time with patients, and they are less likely to experience burnout. In short, outsourced, real-time transcription addresses all of physicians’ major complaints with EHRs.

One live transcription solution that has gained attention recently is Augmedix. As with our Mobius Scribe app, physicians using Augmedix feel that a virtual scribe helps them save time and better connect with patients.

Augmedix is a San Francisco-based startup that uses Google Glass as a hands-free way for physicians to enter patient information into the EHR. Glass records the patient visit and Augmedix takes care of many major administrative tasks using its team of “real-time, quality-controlled, and customized remote scribes.” Notes are added directly into the EHR during the visit while the physician is engaging with the patient.

“Many people talk about technology separating us from the patient. I think technology like Google Glass and Augmedix actually makes us closer.” – Rafael Grossman, MD, FACS at Eastern Maine Medical Center

Hundreds of physicians are already using Augmedix at partner providers, including Dignity Health, Sutter Health, Eastern Maine Medical Center, Catholic Health Initiatives, TriHealth, Christian Care Health System and Mercy Medical Center.

Their experiences with Augmedix are similar to what we hear from physicians using Mobius Scribe. Providers using Augmedix with Glass realize that real-time transcription through a virtual scribe can improve patient care and the physician experience.

Rafael Grossman, MD, FACS, is a trauma surgeon at Eastern Maine Medical Center and one clinician piloting Augmedix. As Grossman says in a video, he decided to try Augmedix because it seemed like a technology that could “improve the patient experience and also put Eastern Maine in the forefront of innovation in regards to using technology to improve patient care.”

While physicians often feel that EHRs distance providers from patients, Grossman says Augmedix can accomplish the opposite. “Many people talk about technology separating us from the patient. I think technology like Google Glass and Augmedix actually makes us closer.”

Dr. Teresa Nauenberg is also using Augmedix via Google Glass as a primary care physician at Sutter Health’s Palo Alto Medical Foundation. She says, “Glass allows us to stay in the moment. If we need information it’s brought to us. We don’t need to go to the computer to get it.”

Similar to other physicians, Dr. Nauenberg has found that Augmedix creates impressive efficiencies. “In the past, almost a third of my day was being spent at my computer,” she explains. “Now I spend only one to two minutes per patient. Glass gives us a little more time to interact and get to know our patients. That’s what makes the job really fun.”

Here at Mobius MD we’ve heard similar stories from physicians using our automated dictation app, Mobius Scribe. As with Augmedix, physicians feel like Scribe improves their ability to interact with the patient while saving time they would have spent adding notes to the EHR during and after the visit.

While Augmedix and Mobius Scribe are solving a similar problem, they do have their differences. Scribe relies primarily on Nuance’s Natural Language Processing technology, meaning transcription is fully automated. Augmedix is considering a move toward NLP technology, but their current model relies on human scribes to do most of the heavy lifting. In both cases, physicians review the final note for accuracy.

The biggest difference between Mobius Scribe and Augmedix is hardware. Augmedix uses Google Glass, which has the benefit of being hands-free and eliminating the screen entirely. Mobius is smartphone-based, leveraging a technology that patients are comfortable with and most physicians and staff already own.

Augmedix and Scribe each have their benefits and they are ultimately both using virtual scribes to achieve the same important outcome – helping physicians get from their EHR what they wanted in the first place.

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