Virtual Medical Assistants

A medical school graduate on your team, without a desk in your clinic.

Your SharpScribe Virtual Medical Assistant (VMA) is an English-speaking M.D. based in North America. They document your encounters, clear your in-basket, prepare your prior authorizations and keep your schedule full — everything a great in-house clinician does, working under your direction.

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Clinician documenting on a laptop beside a stethoscope

Four ways your VMA works

Your Virtual Medical Assistant (VMA) does the work. You make the call.

Whatever the task, your VMA prepares and pends. Only you sign.

The evidence

Why practices bring in a Virtual Medical Assistant.

49.2%1
of the physician office day goes to EHR and desk work — against 27.0% with patients
1.4 hrs2
of EHR work after clinic each weekday, on top of an 11.4-hour day
68%2
of daily EHR time is clerical work and inbox management
13 hrs3
per week of physician and staff time spent on prior authorizations

Your VMA is an M.D. Every one of these is work they can take.

1Sinsky, C., Colligan, L., Li, L., Prgomet, M., Reynolds, S., Goeders, L., Westbrook, J., Tutty, M., & Blike, G. (2016). Allocation of physician time in ambulatory practice: A time and motion study in 4 specialties. Annals of Internal Medicine, 165(11), 753–760. https://doi.org/10.7326/M16-0961

2Arndt, B. G., Beasley, J. W., Watkinson, M. D., Temte, J. L., Tuan, W.-J., Sinsky, C. A., & Gilchrist, V. J. (2017). Tethered to the EHR: Primary care physician workload assessment using EHR event log data and time-motion observations. Annals of Family Medicine, 15(5), 419–426. https://doi.org/10.1370/afm.2121

3American Medical Association. (2026). 2025 AMA prior authorization physician survey. https://www.ama-assn.org/system/files/prior-authorization-survey.pdf

Four ways they work

More than documentation.

Scribing is where we started. It is now one of four things your VMA handles.

Clinical documentation

Real-time charting, note preparation and EHR data entry during or straight after the visit.

Clinical admin

In-basket triage, refill requests, prior authorizations, referral letters, lab and imaging routing.

Front office

Scheduling and reminders, inbound and outbound patient calls, intake, insurance verification.

Revenue cycle

Charge entry, drafted E/M and CPT/ICD coding, claim follow-up and denial work — all for your review.

Scope of work

What your VMA does — and what stays with you.

Your VMA holds a medical degree, not your license. That line is bright, and we keep it that way on purpose.

Your VMA does

  • Drafts and pends refill requests for your signature
  • Prepares prior authorization packets end to end
  • Drafts referral letters and routes them for approval
  • Triages the in-basket and flags what needs you
  • Routes lab and imaging results into the chart
  • Enters charges and drafts coding for your review

Only you do

  • Sign and submit prescriptions and orders
  • Make every clinical judgment
  • Anything that requires an NPI

Virtual Medical Assistants work under the direction of the provider. They prepare and pend — you review and sign.

Clinical team reviewing notes together

Built for your specialty, your EHR, your templates.

One VMA, dedicated to you — not a rotating pool. They learn your workflow the way a new hire would, then keep it.

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