The Article in Brief
The Critical Role of Clerks in the Patient-Centered Medical Home
Samantha L. Solimeo , and colleagues
Background Interdisciplinary teams are a key element of healthcare delivery in patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs). Little attention has been given, however, to the role and training of primary care clerks. This essay describes the important but largely underutilized contributions of clerical staff to patient-centered medical home outcomes.
What This Study Found Based on a prior study of PCMH implementation in a large integrated delivery system, the authors suggest that PCMHs can be strengthened by enabling clerks to use administrative tasks to establish long-term personalized relationships with patients. Such relationships, which can develop trust in the PCMH and the broader health care organization, are engendered through care coordination activities clerks perform and may be bolstered by organizational investment in clerks as skilled health care team members.
Implications
- The authors conclude that the integration and support of clerks will make it possible for team-based initiatives, such as medical homes, to optimize their true potential of transforming how patient care is delivered.