If you’ve been to an ER or hospital and had a doctor see you, you may have seen another person follow the doctor into the room. That person may have been a scribe, whose job it is to write down what is said so that the doctor can go back and create an accurate medical chart note reflecting the encounter.

However, a new model of charting has popped up, one in which the doctors are wearing Google Glasses and the scribes aren’t next to them in the room, but remote.

The company who designed the model, Augmedix, argues that its remote scribe model makes the whole process better. First it cuts down on costs: it’s 25-50% cheaper than the in-person model. Second, it saves a doctor time at the end of the day creating the chart note, since the remote scribe will create the substance of the note, and the doctor needs only review and sign off on it. Third, the scribe can actually provide the doctor information about the patient, including what medications the patient is taking, what recent lab results were, and the like. That information is displayed on the Google Glass instead of the doctor having to turn his or her back on the patient and look at a computer screen in the room. This allows the doctor to remain engaged with the patient.

In person scribes also have the typical problems associated with any worker: they call in sick, they aren’t available during the hours that are needed, and they take up physical space. With this more centralized model, Augmedix argues the scribe service is more consistent.

At least one study has shown that cardiologists who tried the model saw slightly more patients (9.6%) than those who used the traditional in-person scribe model. There have been no studies to see whether the patients’ experience is better, or that patient outcomes improve.

You can read an article on this subject from Medscape here:

[Electronic Record Keeping With Google Glass and Helpers](http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/874206)