The National Medical Scribe Association board of directors has unanimously approved the criteria listed below for individual scribes and trainees to obtain certification from the National Medical Scribe Association as a medical scribe.   These standards also apply to training programs and medical scribe companies that seek National Medical Scribe Association certification.   There are three steps to the NMSA medical scribe certification training.  

1) Pre-Clinical Training:

• Medical Terminology and Anatomy
• Basic Pathophysiology for Common Diseases 
• CMS Core Measures
• Basics of Coding/Billing
• Medical Legal Liability Training
• HIPAA Compliance
• Comprehensive Medical Note Training
• Clinical Scenarios
• Site-Specific EMR training
• The Joint Commission
• MU EMR training

2) Passing the Medical Scribe Aptitude Test (MSAT):
 
Following the completion of the pre-clinical training the medical scribe trainee must pass the Medical Scribe Aptitude Test (MSAT) or an equivalent exam.  The passing score on the Medical Scribe Aptitude Test is 90%.  One the trainee has completed this test, they are considered certified to perform clinical training and duties.  

Clinical instruction is defined as training as a medical scribe in a patient care area. 

3) Clinical Training:

• Use of a particular electronic medical record (EMR) and essential navigation for the medical scribe
  
• Ability to produce a comprehensive history of present illness and other subjective sections based on the provider-patient interactions
• Ability to document examinations performed during the physical exam and copy abnormal findings verbatim.
• Proper use of outpatient procedural documentation according to facility templates
• Proper use of attestation phrases on all documents to identify which notes were created using medical scribes.