Patients before paperwork: a feasibility study evaluating digital and human scribes in psychiatric clinical settings – a randomised controlled trial protocol

Introduction There are national calls for reducing physician administrative burden. While interest in digital scribes (DS) is growing, there is limited evidence evaluating their safety and effectiveness. In contrast, human scribes (HS) have demonstrated significant benefits in multiple controlled studies. To our knowledge, no prior study has compared the utility of HS versus DS in improving clinical efficiency in psychiatric clinical settings. We hypothesise that HS and DS will reduce administrative burden for psychiatrists compared with no scribes. Methods and analysis Following institutional ethics board approvals, we will conduct a randomised controlled crossover study with 10 Manitoba psychiatrists. Study phases will include 1 month periods for baseline, HS and DS for a total of 3 months. Measures will include physician characteristics, practice patterns, administrative hours and patient satisfaction. Depending on distributional characteristics, data will be analysed using parametric or non-parametric tests to compare scribed and non-scribed periods as well as HS versus DS. Ethics and dissemination Ethics approval has been obtained from the Committee for Harmonized Health Impact, Privacy, and Ethics Review (CHIPER) Health Research Ethics Board, which is the ethics board for medical research at the University of Manitoba (HS26944 (H2025:154)). The results of this trial will be disseminated through a peer-reviewed journal and provincial and national conference presentations. Integrated knowledge translation will be conducted throughout the duration of the research process with key stakeholders including medical organisations, such as the provincial health organisation. Protocol version 1.2, 9 April 2026