Parent Experience During Pediatric Medical Visits With Virtual, In-Person, or No Scribes: A National Cross-Sectional Study

This study evaluated parent perceptions during outpatient pediatric medical visits with presence of medical scribes (virtual or in-person) or no scribe. A national, cross-sectional online survey was completed by 2148 parents of children 0 to 17 years. Parents reported higher visit satisfaction if they were informed of scribe presence ( P = .002) and, independently, if asked permission for the provider to work with a scribe ( P = .008). Parents reported higher comfort with virtual scribe over in-person scribe presence ( P < .001). Parents reported higher visit satisfaction with virtual scribe presence compared with in-person and no scribe ( P < .001). Perception of provider communication was not significantly different between virtual, in-person and no scribe presence ( P = .615). Findings support increased parent visit satisfaction at pediatric medical visits with virtual scribe presence. Future qualitative studies could explore elements to support positive parent experience for current virtual scribe and future Artificial Intelligence (AI) scribe use.