Medical scribes improve documentation consistency and efficiency in an otolaryngology clinic.

OBJECTIVE: Scribes in medical practice enable more efficient documentation requirements but insufficient analyses have occurred to fully evaluate their efficacy in otolaryngology. We analyzed pre/post metrics of scribe implementation that may aid practitioners in determining feasibility for use in their practices. METHODS: 1808 patient charts were analyzed in The Epic Electronic Medical Record system (EMR) (903 pre and 905 post scribe implementation). We measured: clinic volumes, time saved in documentation, chart billing level, and lag days of chart closure. RESULTS: Patient volumes increased by 3.02% with an 11-17% decrease in time spent in clinic/day and lag days for billing. The distribution of visits for new patients was 17.75% level 2, 51.45% level 3, 29.71% level 4 before the scribe and was 6.83% level 2, 89.21% level 3, 3.96% level 4 after the scribe. For established patients it was 3.97% level 2, 84.92% level 3, 8.93% level 4 before and 0.34% level 2, 91.76% level 3, 7.73% level 4 after. The change in level of documentation for established and new patients pre and post scribe implementation was not statistically significant (p = 0.821, 0.063, respectively). Charts were closed within 0 to 7 days with the implementation of a scribe instead of 7-21 days when awaiting dictations for transcription. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of a scribe in an academic otolaryngology clinic facilitated more rapid completion of documentation while decreasing provider hours/day in clinic. We feel the analysis can be generalized to otolaryngology practitioners in general and the data structures we implemented are usable for others.

THE EFFECTS OF HYPONATREMIA ON BONE DENSITY AND FRACTURES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS.

Objective: Hyponatremia decreases bone mineral density and is a major risk factor for fragility fractures. Objectives of our systematic review and meta-analysis were to analyze the overall effects of hyponatremia on bone fractures, osteoporosis, and mortality. Methods: We extracted data from Medline, Cochrane Central, and EMBASE 1960-2017 and conference abstracts from 2007-2017. We included studies with data on serum sodium, fractures, bone density, or diagnoses of osteoporosis. Studies were independently reviewed by two authors and assessed for bias using the Newcastle-Ottawa scale. Random effect models meta-analysis was used when at least three studies reported the same outcome measures. We reported summary odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Results: We included 26 studies for qualitative analysis. Fifteen studies were included in the meta-analysis to evaluate the effects of hyponatremia on fractures, four studies for bone mineral density changes, and six for mortality. Hyponatremia increased the odds of fractures at all sites (summary OR, 2.34 [95% CI, 1.86, 2.96]. There was an increase in the odds of osteoporosis (summary OR, 2.67 [95% CI, 2.07, 3.43]). Mortality risk among the included studies remained high (summary OR, 1.31 [95% CI, 1.16, 1.47]). Conclusion: Our meta-analysis confirms a statistically significant association of hyponatremia with bone fractures and osteoporosis along with higher mortality. Long-term prospective studies evaluating the impact of correcting hyponatremia on bone health, fractures, and mortality are required. Abbreviations: AVP = arginine vasopressin; CI = confidence interval; CKD = chronic kidney disease; OR = odds ratio; SIADH = syndrome of inappropriate antidiuretic hormone.