Gray Caroline P, Harrison Michael I, Hung Dorothy
J Healthc Manag. 2016 May-Jun;61(3):181-91.
As healthcare organizations look for ways to reduce costs and improve quality, many rely increasingly on allied healthcare professionals and, in particular, medical assistants (MAs) to supplement the work of physicians and other health professionals. MAs usually work in primary care, where they often play important roles on healthcare teams. Drawing on an empirical study of a large, multispecialty delivery system engaged in reconfiguration of primary care, we found that using MAs as flow managers required overcoming several challenges. These included entrenched social and occupational hierarchies between physicians and MAs, a lack of adequate training and mentorship, and difficulty attracting and retaining talented MAs. We offer several recommendations for healthcare organizations interested in using MAs as flow managers in their practices.
随着医疗保健机构寻求降低成本和提高质量的方法，许多机构越来越依赖专职医疗保健专业人员，尤其是医疗助理来补充医生和其他医疗专业人员的工作。医疗助理通常在初级保健领域工作，他们在医疗团队中常常发挥重要作用。通过对一个参与初级保健重新配置的大型多专科医疗服务系统的实证研究，我们发现将医疗助理用作流程管理人员需要克服几个挑战。这些挑战包括医生和医疗助理之间根深蒂固的社会和职业等级制度、缺乏足够的培训和指导，以及难以吸引和留住有才华的医疗助理。我们为有兴趣在其业务中将医疗助理用作流程管理人员的医疗保健机构提供了几项建议。
