The following randomized controlled trial, published in Annals of Family Medicine, evaluates the effect of medical scribes on physician satisfaction, patient satisfaction, and charting efficiency. For the course of 1 year, physicians in an academic family medicine clinic were randomized to 1 week with a scribe then 1 week without a scribe. Results showed that scribes improved all aspects of physician satisfaction, had no effect on patient satisfaction, and increased the proportion of charts that were closed within 48 hours.