H.R. 1848 would require the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to establish a two-year pilot program to increase the number of medical scribes (or personal assistants to physicians) employed at the department. The bill also would require VA to report to the Congress every six months and would require the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report, within 90 days of the program’s termination, the results of the pilot program compared to similar programs in the private sector.
Under the bill, CBO estimates that VA would need to hire 40 medical scribes (20 term employees and 20 contractors) in 10 medical centers. CBO expects that the pilot would run from the middle of fiscal year 2018 through the middle of fiscal year 2020 and that the GAO report would be completed in 2020. On the basis of information from VA on the average salary for medical support assistants, CBO estimates that pay and benefits for a medical scribe would be roughly $48,000 in 2018. After incorporating the effects of inflation, CBO estimates that implementing the two-year pilot program and preparing the required reports would cost $5 million over the 2018-2022 period; that spending would be subject to the availability of appropriated funds.
