The demand is growing for Medical Scribes. If you are looking for a new career and love the mix of medical language and technology, and want a challenging career with a bright future, this is for you!

1. The Medical Scribe’s
Role

2.  The medical record is an important part of
the patient’s care in the clinic or
emergency room.
 The information a scribe records on the
chart could affect how the patient is
managed currently or in the future.

3.  To communicate relevant information to
other medical personnel.
 It is a legal document that can be
presented in a court of law.

4. A physician may be asked to testify in
cases of:
◦ Rape
◦ Homicide
◦ Assault
◦ Child abuse
◦ Civil procedures involving personal injury

5.  The method used in charting the patient’s
stay through the clinic/ED must follow a
logical progression.
 The most common method is to consider
the chart to have four generalized
sections:
◦ Subjective
◦ Objective
◦ Assessment
◦ Plan

6.  The Subjective portion includes:
◦ Chief Complaint (CC)
◦ History of Present Illness (HPI)
◦ Review of Systems (ROS)
◦ Past Medical History (PMHx)
◦ Family History (FHx)
◦ Social History (SHx)

7.  The Subjective section pertains to any
information that the patient and/or family
states.
 This information is dependent upon the
patient’s condition, beliefs, personality, etc.
 This section will contain the patient’s story
in his/her own words.

8.  Chief Complaint
◦ The main reason the patient has come to
the clinic/ED.
◦ Every chart must have a Chief
Complaint.
◦ A short statement in the first sentence of
the HPI identifying why the patient has
come to the clinic/ED.
◦ Should be in the patient’s own words (if
possible).

9.  History of Present Illness (HPI)
◦ Explains the Chief Complaint.
◦ Describes why the patient is in the
clinic/ED and lists any pertinent positives
and negatives.
◦ This should be in a narrative paragraph
consisting of 4-5 sentences depending
on the severity of the patient’s condition.
◦ The HPI is a chronological description of
the development of the patient’s present
illness from the first sign/symptom or
from the previous encounter to the

10.  8 dimensions of HPI - directly related to
Chief Complaint
◦ Location
◦ Quality
◦ Severity
◦ Duration
◦ Timing
◦ Context
◦ Modifying factors
◦ Associated signs and symptoms

11.  Location
◦ A place on the body
 Examples: R flank, midsternal chest, etc.
 Quality
◦ Description of the complaint
 Constant, dull, crampy, intermittent, etc.
 Severity
◦ How bad is it?
◦ Usually on a scale of 1 to 10
 Examples: Acute, mild/moderate/severe, 7/10, 3
pads in the last hour, etc.

12.  Duration
◦ How long do the episodes last?
 Examples: 30 seconds each, 5 years, etc.
 Timing
◦ When did it start?
 Examples: 3:00 AM, this afternoon, etc.
 Context
◦ What were you doing when it happened?
 Examples: Running laps, just ate 7
doughnuts, awoken from sleep, etc.

13.  Modifying factors
◦ What makes it better or worse?
 Examples: Worse with activity, improve
with nitroglycerin, increased pain with
movement.
 Associated signs and symptoms
◦ Any other symptoms
 Examples: If CC is chest
pain, associated with diaphoresis and
N/V.

14.  A review of the patient’s past medical,
social history, and family medical history.
 Depending on the circumstances or
encounter, the patient’s Chief Complaint
could be an indication of a complication of,
or a result of, a preexisting condition or the
patient’s past medical history.

15.  Past Medical History (PMHx)
◦ Includes injuries, chronic illnesses, and
surgeries.
 Social History (SHx)
◦ Identifies behavioral risks such as
tobacco alcohol, or drug use.
 Family History (FHx)
◦ Includes relevant past family medical
information.

16.  Past Medical History (PMHx)
◦ Hypertension (HTN), coronary artery disease
(CAD), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD), diabetes (DM), coronary artery bypass graft
(CABG), cancer (Ca).
 Past Surgical History
◦ A subcategory under PMHx.
 Social History (SHx)
◦ Tobacco use (Tob), alcohol use (EtOH), intravenous
drug use (IVDA), living situation (lives alone, lives with
others, nursing home, or lives at home with parents).
 Family History (FHx)
◦ Includes genetic traits, DM, Ca, cardiac disease, etc.

17. Common ROS:
◦ General
◦ Eyes
◦ ENT
◦ CVS
◦ Resp
◦ GI
◦ GU
Review of Systems
(ROS)
Identifies any recent
symptoms the
patient may have
other than the
current illness.

18. A Review of Systems is an inventory of
body systems obtained through a series of
questions seeking to identify signs and/or
symptoms which the patient may be
experiencing or has experienced.

19.  General Symptoms
◦ e.g. diaphoresis, cold symptoms, fever, chills.
 Eyes
◦ e.g. Visual changes, blindness, ophthalmoplegia, blurry, eye
pain, discharge.
 Ear, Nose, Throat, Mouth
◦ e.g. dysphagia, tinnitus, epistaxis, rhinorrhea.
 Cardiovascular
◦ e.g. palpitations, edema, cyanosis, dyspnea on exertion, CP.
 Respiratory
◦ e.g. SOB/dyspnea, wheezing, cough.
 Gastrointestinal
◦ e.g. dysmenorrhea, dyspareunia, dysuria, vaginal bleeding.
 Musculoskeletal
◦ e.g. arthralgia, myalgia.

20.  Skin/Breast
◦ e.g. rashes, hives, discoloration, pallor,
mastectomy.
 Neurological
◦ e.g. H/A, dizziness, LOC, numbness,
paresthesia.
 Psychiatric
◦ e.g. suicidal, depressed.
 Endocrine
◦ e.g. cold intolerance, heat intolerance,
polydipsia, polyuria.

21.  EXCEPTIONS:
◦ If a patient is unable to provide any information
due to severity of illness, inebriation, intubation,
unconscious, etc., you may check the “Unable to
obtain HPI/ROS/PMFHSH secondary to pt’s
condition.
◦ Be careful when using this caveat, and only use it
if it really applies (HPI, Past Medical/Social/Family
History, and ROS only).
◦ Ask the physician for clarification when needed.
◦ Speaking another language is not an exception.
◦ Physical exam must be documented.

22.  The Objective portion includes:
◦Physical Exam
◦Medical Decision-Making
Elements

23. The Objective section contains
information that is obtained through
observation and testing and is
independent of an individual’s
interpretation.

24.  Physical Examination (PEx)
◦ Information is more medically-oriented
◦ Information elicited through observation,
palpitation, percussion, and auscultation.
 Medical Decision Making (MDM)
◦ Documented under “Progress Notes” and
contains Differential Diagnosis, Progress
notes, attending note.

25.  Differential Diagnosis (DDx)
◦ Lists the different conditions that testing
will rule out.
 Progress Notes
◦ Any new subjective information provided
by the patient and any new or changed
findings upon reexamination of the
patient.

26.  Example:
Re-eval at 1532 – Pt states she is improved. Nausea resolved. PEx: Abd
soft, NT/ND, nl active BS. Pt will be discharged and f/u with PMD advised
within 24 hours.

27.  Attending Note
◦ Recorded when a physician oversees a
resident case.
◦ This will follow the SOAP format.
◦ Example:
A) Attending Note: Reviewed and agree c Hx.
B) PEx – GI: abd soft, NT, CVS: RRR s MGR. RESP: Lungs CTA.
C) A: UTI vs. Kidney stone
D) P: Labs, CT abd/pelvis r/o stone

28.  The Assessment
portion includes:
◦ Diagnosis:
 The physician’s
impression of
the patient after
combining the
information in
both the
Subjective &

29.  The Plan consists of:
◦ How the physician manages the patient’s
care after the final diagnosis has been
identified and can include:
 Admission
◦ Ensure that the chart has been coded to
the appropriate level and enter
admission information.
 Discharge Instructions
◦ Lists the various treatments, medications

30.  Level 1: Visits requiring very minor care.
This level is seldom used in the ED but
would be used in a clinic setting.
◦ Removal of sutures from a well-healed, uncomplicated laceration.
◦ Tetanus toxoid immunization; Depo-Provera injection; hormone
injections.
◦ Several uncomplicated insect bites.
 Level 2: Diagnosis reached without the aid
of any labs or x-rays.
◦ Painful sunburn with blister formation on the back in an otherwise
healthy patient.
◦ Child presenting with impetigo localized to the face.
◦ Minor traumatic injury of an extremity with localized pain, swelling,
and bruising.
◦ Red, swollen cystic lesion on patient’s back in an otherwise
healthy patient.

31.  Level 3: Visits requiring minor lab work such as
CBC, U/A, or a few x-rays.
◦ Well-appearing child who has a fever, diarrhea, and
abdominal cramps and is tolerating oral fluid.
◦ Inversion ankle injury, patient is unable to bear weight on
the injured foot and ankle.
◦ Acute pain associated with a suspected foreign body in the
painful eye.
◦ Blunt head injury with local swelling and bruising without
subsequent confusion, loss of consciousness, or memory
deficit in an otherwise young and healthy adult.
 Level 4: Visits requiring extensive lab workup or CT
scan.
◦ Child sustaining a head injury (falling off bicycle) with brief
loss of consciousness.

32.  Level 5: Visits requiring admission into the
hospital, critical care patients.
◦ Complicated overdose requiring aggressive management to
prevent side effects from the ingested materials.
◦ New onset of palpitations/tachycardia requiring IV drugs.
◦ Active upper gastrointestinal bleeding.
◦ Motor vehicle accident with intraabdominal injuries or
multiple extremity injuries.
◦ Acute onset of chest pain compatible with symptoms of
cardiac ischemia and/or pulmonary embolus.
◦ Sudden onset of “the worst headache of my life” with
associated meningismus, nausea, and vomiting.
◦ New onset of a cerebral vascular accident.
◦ Acute febrile illness in an adult, associated with shortness of
breath and an altered level of alertness.

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