Clerical burdens have impacted primary care providers that are already facing changes to the healthcare landscape and workforce shortages. These pressures have negative implications for patient care and result in burnout and job dissatisfaction. Medical scribes have emerged as a solution to reduce clerical tasks and negative perceptions of patient/provider interactions associated with the use of electronic health records (EHRs).

This article evaluates published research on medical scribe utilization in primary care and safety net settings.