Our team has a high bar and a proven process that we use to find the best virtual medical scribes for healthcare providers:
Read more about our vetting process: Why Most Global Hiring Fails, And How the Ataraxis Vetting Process Fixes It
George was professional, responsive and a pleasure to work with throughout the hiring process. He took the time to understand my needs and connected me with an excellent candidate. I truly appreciate his support and would highly recommend his recruiting services.
As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner running a solo telehealth and in-person practice, I needed a virtual medical assistant who could manage patient scheduling, EHR workflows, and front-office coordination with minimal oversight.
My VA through Ataraxis has been exactly that. She handles new patient intake, manages our scheduling and messaging, and keeps everything running while I focus on patient care. What surprised me most is how she’s become a real thought partner. I’ll ask her to review a conversation or an email and she gives me a straight, honest read. That kind of judgment is hard to find. She’s now taking on more responsibilities as we expand our services, and she told me she’s in it for the long haul.
I only wish I had done this sooner. If you’re a mental health provider considering a HIPAA-compliant virtual assistant, don’t wait.
We’ve had an excellent experience working with Ataraxis and are so impressed. Their virtual assistants are professional, reliable, and highly skilled. The onboarding process was smooth, communication is consistent, and they truly understand how to match the right assistant to the right business needs.
They’ve helped us streamline operations and stay organized without the overhead of hiring in-house. I highly recommend them to any business looking for dependable virtual support.
I made a hire through Ataraxis a few months ago.
As it goes in any hiring process, when you meet the right person, you know immediately. I knew when I met the 5th candidate that she’d be the one.
3 weeks into her job she had a fundamental mastery of her own responsibilities. 2 weeks later, she assumed a whole new set of responsibilities on top of that. And now she’s a fully integrated part of my team.
10/10 will work with Ataraxis again.
We’ve had a really good experience working with Ataraxis. They make it easy to find talented healthcare virtual assistants, who have great attention to detail, at affordable rates. The team is very easy to work with and keeps in touch regularly, checking in to make sure everything is running smoothly and that we’re satisfied with our assistants. Overall, it’s been a smooth, professional experience from start to finish.
George has been a great help throughout this process, which was new to us. His team sourced some great candidates for us to choose from, and we are really happy with our hire. George has also conducted regular check-ins and follow-ups. He is happy to share his personal insights and experience around structuring the job description, onboarding, and getting the best out of this recruitment process. I would definitely recommend George and his business for VA solutions.
George and his team did a fantastic job placing a Talent Sourcer on my team. She’s smart, communicates well, works diligently, and is a self-starter. Bonus points, her background (10 years!) is in an industry directly adjacent to ours. As such, she was able to catch on extremely fast and onboarding her was a breeze. My only gripe is that I wish I had taken this on sooner. Thanks Ataraxis!
George reached out to me on LinkedIn, and while I rarely respond to cold outreach offering services, his approach felt thoughtful and genuine, so I decided to explore what his firm had to offer. We’ve been considering offshore talent for several years but hadn’t made the leap, as we hadn’t found the right offshore partner. Recently, we started working with Ataraxis, and it’s been a fantastic experience—they quickly sourced an exceptional contractor for our recruiting team and ran a smooth, efficient process from start to finish.
Highly Recommend!
I had the absolute pleasure of working with George, and I can confidently say that his expertise and guidance have been game-changing for my business. On our first conversation, George provided clear, actionable strategies tailored to my recruitment challenges. His deep industry knowledge, tested outreach methods, and data-driven approach set him apart.
If you’re a recruiter or business owner looking for expert-level guidance on client acquisition, outreach, and recruitment processes, I highly recommend working with George. His advice is practical, results-driven, and delivered with professionalism and genuine care for your success.
Thank you, George, for your time, insights, and the motivation to push forward with confidence!
I was pretty hesitant about hiring people offshore, but had a fantastic experience working with Ataraxis to hire a virtual recruiter for my business. They connected me with Anabel, who’s based in the Philippines and has been incredible—she’s extremely hard-working, quick to learn, and always brings a great attitude to her work. Now I’m thinking about how I can build a team around her.
The entire process with Ataraxis has been seamless, and they regularly check in to make sure I’m happy with the service they’ve provided. It’s clear they truly care about their clients’ success. I highly recommend Ataraxis to anyone looking to grow their team with quality talent!
Between HPI, ROS, exam findings, and treatment plans, a full patient panel means hours of typing before or after every encounter. Many providers end up finishing notes after clinic hours, which cuts into personal time and adds to burnout. Even with a solid EHR, the clicking, dictating, and template management pulls focus away from the person sitting in front of you.
A Virtual Medical Scribe takes documentation off your plate in real time, so notes are complete, accurate, and ready for your review before the next patient walks in.
Ambient AI tools are useful for a first pass. They’re not a substitute for a scribe who understands your patient, your specialty, and your documentation standards.
AI-generated documentation tools like ambient listening software can produce a rough draft of a note in real time, and for straightforward visits, that draft might be close to usable. But AI transcription still misses clinical nuance: it can mishear specialty terminology, miss context that changes how a finding should be documented, and produce notes that read like a transcript rather than a clinically organized chart. Someone still has to review that draft, catch what the AI got wrong, and make sure the note actually supports the coding and billing behind it. In most practices, that review falls back on the provider, which defeats the purpose of offloading documentation in the first place.
A Virtual Medical Scribe closes that gap. Whether they’re using AI tools as part of their own workflow or documenting the encounter directly, a trained scribe understands what belongs in an HPI versus an assessment, catches ambiguity an AI tool would miss, and applies judgment about what a visit actually needs documented. The AI can draft. The scribe is the one who makes sure what lands in your EHR is accurate, complete, and ready to bill against, without you having to double-check it.
You’re not early to this. Most of the industry is already moving this direction.
Documentation is one of the highest-volume, most outsourceable functions in a clinical practice. A trained, HIPAA-aware Virtual Medical Scribe keeps your charting current, your providers unburdened, and your overhead a fraction of what you’re currently paying. The practices making this shift now are ahead of where the rest of the industry is headed.
Want the data behind these numbers? Read our 100+ Outsourcing Statistics, Including Healthcare
No long-term contracts.
Hiring a Virtual Medical Scribe through Ataraxis gets you precise, HIPAA-compliant charting at a fraction of what a U.S.-based hire would cost. Your scribe captures encounters in real time, whether in-room or via Telescribe, preps templates ahead of visits, and closes out notes so your clinicians can stay focused on patients instead of paperwork, all while keeping overhead low.
Offshore staffing through Ataraxis costs a fraction of what a comparable U.S. hire runs once you factor in salary, benefits, payroll tax, and recruiting overhead. There are no upfront fees, no lock-in contracts, and no billing surprises. The numbers below show exactly what you pay and what you save.
174 hrs · $11/hr all-in
87 hrs · $12/hr all-in
vs. $60–97k for a U.S. hire
2–3 vetted candidates
Here’s how virtual medical scribe companies like Upwork, Fiverr, OnlineJobs.PH, and Ataraxis compare on key hiring criteria.
Your scribe has real-time access to PHI, so compliance has to be built in from day one, not bolted on later.
A Virtual Medical Scribe is present for the visit itself, documenting HPI, exam findings, and treatment plans as the encounter happens. That means they’re exposed to PHI live, including sensitive disclosures around behavioral health, substance use, or other protected categories, not just reviewing records after the fact. Any gap in how that access is managed is a direct compliance risk to your practice.
Every scribe placed through Ataraxis signs a Business Associate Agreement and a confidentiality agreement before joining a live encounter, and Ataraxis signs a BAA directly with your practice as well. Access to your EHR runs through secure, encrypted connections that you control and can revoke at any time. Login and documentation activity is logged, so there’s a clear audit trail if you ever need one. Scribes are trained specifically on the privacy demands of real-time documentation, and they stay within clear clinical boundaries: documenting what’s said and observed, not interpreting findings or making judgment calls that belong to the provider.
Registered Nurse, Healthcare VA & Medical Scribe | Philippines
$11/hr for full-time ($1,950/month), $12/hr for part-time ($1,100/month) | US hours | Available now
Maria is a Philippines-based Registered Nurse and Healthcare Virtual Assistant with roughly a decade of clinical and administrative healthcare experience and fluent, native-level professional English, further sharpened by a year spent teaching English. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from a well-regarded Philippine university, passed the Philippine Nursing Licensure Examination, and completed a post-graduate nursing training program. She is HIPAA certified.
Most recently she spent 1.5 years supporting a US-based primary care practice as a combined Administrative Assistant and Medical Scribe, managing patient phone support, appointment scheduling, chart preparation, and real-time encounter documentation across house-call and telehealth visits, while processing medication refills, prior authorizations, referrals, and lab and imaging orders. Her earlier clinical background spans dialysis, med-surg, and newborn care.
EMR/software: eClinicalWorks, CoverMyMeds, Doximity, GoTo, Phlebio, SOL
Reference (10/10 re-hire): Her former Admin/Scribe Supervisor, who personally trained her, confirmed her assessment and described her as trustworthy, dependable, and able to manage both admin and scribing duties with minimal supervision.
Best fit for: Primary care practices, telehealth platforms, and medical teams needing a clinically literate, HIPAA-certified VA and medical scribe.
A Virtual Medical Scribe documents the patient encounter as it happens, capturing the HPI, exam findings, and plan directly into your EHR so the provider can stay focused on the patient instead of the screen. Whether they’re working as a remote scribe or in a Telescribe setup, the goal is the same: complete, accurate documentation that’s ready for provider review without adding to the day’s workload.
(0 to 2 years of experience) A Junior Virtual Medical Scribe works under closer supervision while building speed and consistency. They handle the fundamentals: recording medical histories, exam findings, and treatment plans into the EHR in real time. Their grasp of medical terminology and HIPAA requirements is solid, but they’re still calibrating to individual provider preferences, so expect a short ramp-up period.
Good fit if you want entry-level support to take some of the charting load off your providers without the cost of a more senior scribe.
(2 to 5 years of experience) A Mid-Level Virtual Medical Scribe can run documentation independently, including coding-relevant detail, treatment notes, and provider instructions. They’re comfortable across multiple EHR platforms, understand clinical workflow well enough to anticipate what a note needs before being asked, and rarely require follow-up corrections. Many have specialty-specific documentation experience, which helps keep you aligned with payer and regulatory requirements.
Good fit if you need a scribe who can work with minimal oversight from day one.
(5+ years of experience) A Senior Virtual Medical Scribe handles high-volume or multi-specialty documentation without missing a beat. They’re well versed in advanced coding requirements and quality reporting, and many take on a mentorship role, training junior scribes and standardizing documentation practices across a team. Because their notes directly affect billing and compliance, accuracy at this level carries real weight.
Good fit if you’re building out a scribe team and want someone who can lead it.
Many of our virtual medical scribes have graduate degrees, so you’ll have access to high-level expertise, without the price tag.
These roles overlap in a lot of people’s minds, but they cover distinct parts of practice operations. Here is the short version:
| Role | What They Handle |
|---|---|
|
Broad clinical and administrative support. Insurance verification, prescription refills, patient intake, EHR updates, and care coordination. The role most practices reach for when the administrative load has outgrown front-desk capacity alone. |
|
|
Front-of-house patient contact. Answering calls, scheduling and rescheduling appointments, managing the waitlist, and handling basic intake. Less clinical depth, more volume and responsiveness. |
|
|
Virtual Medical Scribe |
Works alongside the provider in real time. Documents patient encounters directly in the EHR during or immediately after visits, so charting doesn’t pile up after hours. Requires the strongest grasp of clinical terminology and workflow of the three. |
If none of these three is quite the fit, our full breakdown of healthcare VA roles covers everything from billing and coding to prior authorization and care coordination.
A strong Virtual Medical Scribe listens closely, documents accurately, and understands clinical terminology and EHR workflow well enough to keep pace with a real visit. You should feel confident handing off documentation to them, knowing they’re capturing the encounter in real time and handling PHI the way it needs to be handled. They’ll work within your existing EHR templates, use speech-to-text and standardized note formats to build out complete HPIs, ROS, exam findings, assessments, and plans, and they can support in-room, telehealth, or telescribe setups, including orders, referrals, and coding cues along the way.
The payoff of hiring the right scribe shows up quickly: less charting backlog, less after-hours documentation, more accurate coding, and notes that get finished faster. For your providers, that means more time actually spent with patients. For your practice, that means less fatigue on your clinical staff, quicker billing turnaround, and more room to grow.
Accurately chart patient encounters during visits, consultations, or telehealth sessions.
Enter notes, orders, and updates directly into electronic health records.
Provide live scribing services remotely via secure communication systems.
Document patient histories, symptoms, and provider observations.
Record test results, diagnoses, and treatment plans.
Assist with accurate CPT/ICD-10 coding for billing and claims.
Work closely with physicians to ensure completeness of records.
Use and update EHR templates for efficiency and accuracy.
Maintain HIPAA standards in handling patient information.
Document patient instructions, referrals, and follow-up plans.
Ensure records are completed promptly to avoid delays in care.
Provide accurate documentation for compliance and quality audits.
Reduce documentation burden so providers can focus on patient care.
Ensure complete and detailed clinical documentation for billing and compliance.
Gain expert scribing support without the overhead of in-office staff.
Ataraxis does the heavy lifting by thoroughly screening and vetting virtual medical scribes before they’re matched with you. This means you won’t waste time sorting through unqualified candidates.
Ataraxis virtual medical scribes are fluent in English and skilled at communicating professionally, ensuring there’s no miscommunication in your day-to-day tasks.
Unlike many freelancers who may not align with your work hours, Ataraxis virtual medical scribes are willing (and happy) to work in your time zone, making collaboration seamless.
All Ataraxis VAs are college educated and have specialized experience in various fields, so you can trust them to hit the ground running.
Hiring through Ataraxis gives you access to ongoing support. If your team of virtual medical scribes needs adjustments, Ataraxis is there to help, unlike freelancer platforms where you’re on your own.
Freelancer platforms often attract short-term gig workers who juggle multiple client projects at the same time. Ataraxis virtual medical scribes are committed to building lasting partnerships with one employer, becoming a true extension of your team.
When you’re ready to hire a virtual medical scribe, the best location depends on the mix of cost, language skills, time-zone overlap, and talent depth your business needs. Here’s a quick tour of the best regions, each with clear advantages and a few trade-offs, to help you decide where to hire a virtual medical scribe who fits your workflow.
We created the Global Outsourcing Talent Index, a data-backed audit of all 193 UN-recognized countries scored across five variables: labor cost, English proficiency, talent availability, digital infrastructure, and political stability.
The results were eye opening and are frequently cited by major news sites and industry blogs all over the world.
Pros:
It’s no surprise that many business owners choose to hire a Filipino virtual medical receptionist. Candidates from this region have strong English proficiency, familiarity with western business culture, and experience working for U.S. clients. 24/7 support is also easy because night-shift work is common.
This region excels in customer service, lead generation, virtual assistance, data entry, bookkeeping, medical billing, and healthcare administrative support.
Cons:
Increasing demand for Filipino VMRs is slowly pushing wages up and internet outages during typhoon season occasionally interrupt service.
*Ataraxis virtual medical receptionists from this region have power and internet backups to minimize service interruption and are willing to work in your time zone.
Pros:
Near-shore time zones mean you can hire a virtual medical receptionist who works the same hours as your U.S. team, reducing lag on urgent tasks. Businesses with a large Spanish-speaking customer base may also benefit from hiring bilingual virtual assistants.
This region excels in sales development, business development, digital marketing, customer success, and account management.
Cons:
Hourly rates are much higher and the talent pool is much smaller compared to the Philippines and other regions.
Pros:
Highly educated, English-first workforce with a neutral accent, which is a big plus for phone-based support, especially for U.K. and Australian companies. South Africa overlaps with U.S. mornings and U.K. afternoons, which is ideal for trans-Atlantic operations.
This region excels in virtual assistance, healthcare administrative support, sales development, business development, digital marketing, customer success, content moderation, and account management.
Cons:
Cost of talent sits between Latin America and the Philippines, trimming, but not eliminating, cost savings.
Pros:
Rapidly growing BPO sector that is less competitive compared to the Philippines and Latin America. Top candidates from this region have accents that are almost indistinguishable from U.S. based staff.
This region excels in virtual assistance, executive assistance, software engineering, accounting, data entry, social media management, and business development.
Cons:
Infrastructure and internet reliability still improving outside major hubs.
Pros:
Near-shore location for U.S companies delivers real-time collaboration for East-Coast teams and fluent English support. Very competitive operating costs versus onshore hires.
This region excels in customer service, BPO call centers, healthcare claims, technical support, and help desk support.
Cons:
Smaller population means fewer specialised VMRs, so scaling a large team may be harder. Hourly rates trend closer to Latin American levels given limited supply.
Pros:
Countries in this region are well-known for high education levels and strong work ethic. Arguably, the deepest talent pools for technical roles and has an ideal time zone overlap for European companies.
This region excels in software engineering, quality assurance, DevOps, data analytics, and other technical roles.
Cons:
Costs are much higher than the Philippines, East Africa, and time zone differences may be a bigger obstacle for U.S. companies.
Hiring your first virtual medical scribe is perfectly doable on your own, but most business owners underestimate the hours it takes to sift through resumes, schedule calls, and run multiple interview rounds. Research shows that the DIY path typically drags on for weeks (or months), involves several interviews, and can still lead to mis-hires if you rush the vetting stage.
List everything you want your virtual medical scribe to own and create detailed instructions. Clarifying scope upfront helps with long term retention and minimizes confusion.
Having a set schedule helps create structure and consistency.
Write a descriptive JD with required experience, KPIs, schedule expectations, etc.
Post your job description to virtual medical scribe websites and craft a recruitment message you can use to reach out to candidates directly.
Expect to screen 40-100 candidates to find your ideal virtual assistant.
Give 2-3 finalist candidates a short take-home assignment to test their attention-to-detail, responsiveness, and work product.
A bad hire can cost up to 50% of first-year pay, so doing your due diligence is cheap insurance.
Draft an employment or contractor agreement, include an NDA, and grant tool access.
When you hire a virtual medical scribe through Ataraxis, you skip steps 2-7, saving you weeks of lost productivity.
We source top talent globally from regions including the Philippines, Latin America, South Africa, and East Africa, and beyond.
Our team screens over 200 applicants with a 5% acceptance rate. Every candidate goes through:
You’ll only meet the top 3–4 finalists we’ve personally vetted and approved.
Read more about our vetting process here.
For each role, we’ll shortlist 3–4 highly qualified finalists based on your requirements. You’ll have the opportunity to interview each candidate and decide who’s the best fit for your team.
We set up and maintain secure VPN access and use timekeeping and productivity monitoring tools to ensure accountability. All staff are trained in data security best practices to maintain compliance and confidentiality.
Protecting PHI is a top priority. All staff sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) and strict confidentiality agreements, and Ataraxis signs BAAs with all of our customers. Our internal processes and systems are designed to maintain full HIPAA compliance at every level.
Ataraxis has been operating for just under two years, but our roots run deep. Our founder has led a successful recruitment business for nine years, employing global talent within that company as well. (We eat our own cooking.)
Yes. Once hired, your chosen candidate will work exclusively for you on a full-time basis. They’ll act as a dedicated member of your team, fully aligned with your goals and workflow.
We take care of all the back-end work including compliance, paperwork, and payroll. You’ll simply receive a monthly Stripe invoice for each person you hire, making the process seamless and hassle-free.
No. Our agreements are month-to-month, giving you complete flexibility. There are no deposits or lock-in contracts.
By handling documentation, they reduce physician burnout, shorten charting time, and increase patient throughput. Providers spend more time with patients and less time on clerical work.
Onsite scribes are physically present in the exam room, while Virtual Scribes (Telescribes) join remotely via secure audio or video. Virtual support offers the same accuracy without the added cost and space of in-person staff.
They use secure, encrypted connections, follow strict confidentiality protocols, and only access records through approved EHR systems. All documentation is handled within HIPAA-compliant workflows.
Yes. They are trained to adapt to various specialties such as primary care, cardiology, dermatology, orthopedics, mental health, and more, ensuring notes reflect the nuances of each field.
The provider dictates or explains clinical details during or after the encounter. The scribe listens in real time or reviews recordings, then documents in the EHR. Providers can review and approve notes before finalization.
Patients often feel more engaged when providers focus fully on them rather than typing on a computer. This improves patient experience and trust in care delivery.
Yes. Whether you need one scribe for a solo provider or multiple scribes for a group practice, virtual support can expand as your patient volume and documentation needs grow.
Hiring a virtual medical scribe saves money compared to having full-time office staff. This lets you and your team focus more on growing your business and doing what you do best.
Great virtual medical scribes often come from countries and regions like the Philippines, South Africa, Latin America, East Africa, and Eastern Europe. These countries are known for their skilled workers who speak fluent English and have strong work ethics.
Yes! At Ataraxis, your virtual medical scribe will match your local time zone, making teamwork easy and smooth.
US-based virtual medical scribes usually cost $25 to $50 per hour. Ataraxis offers MBA-level, full-time virtual medical scribes starting at just $11 per hour. This means you get great help for up to 70% less.
We keep your information safe by using secure VPN connections, regular monitoring, and privacy agreements signed by every virtual assistant.
Payments are easy and secure with Stripe. We also promise 100% satisfaction – if you’re not happy, we’ll fix it right away.
It depends on your workload. We offer both full-time and part-time virtual assistants, so you can choose the option that fits how much support you actually need. Full-time VAs tend to integrate deeper into your team and build more institutional knowledge over time, while part-time VAs are a good fit if you have a narrower, well-defined set of tasks.
Check out our pricing page to see rates for both options.
Ataraxis uses software to monitor your assistant’s activities, ensuring they are always working efficiently and staying productive.
It’s best to set up clear communication methods right from the start. You can use popular tools like Slack, WhatsApp, Zoom, or email, based on what works best for you.
Your satisfaction is our #1 priority. If you’re not happy, we’ll quickly address the issue and find you a better match, or issue a prorated refund if needed.
Great communication skills, attention to detail, strong work ethics, time zone alignment, work from home readiness, and problem solving skills. We carefully choose assistants based on their skills, experience, availability, and special abilities to make sure they match your business needs.
Yes! Many businesses find virtual medical scribes deliver even better quality work, especially for specialized tasks.
Paying very low rates, like $2-3 per hour, usually means getting less skilled workers and lower quality work. Ataraxis offers affordable assistants who are highly skilled.
It usually takes 1-2 weeks to get your virtual medical scribe fully onboarded and familiar with your business, ensuring you work well together from the very beginning.
If your clinicians are finishing notes after hours or losing time to documentation during the visit itself, it’s time to bring on a Virtual Medical Scribe. You’ll cut down on charting backlog, improve note turnaround, and give your providers back the time and attention that patient care actually requires.
Start Hiring a Virtual Medical Scribe Today
