An Expanded Role for the Medical Assistant in Primary Care: Evaluating a Training Pilot

The patient-centered medical home model stresses the importance of team-based care as a foundation to improving care, costs, and patient experience. Medical assistants (MAs) are being used as key care team members even as traditional educational programs may not equip them for this new way of working.

This paper describes an on-the-job, predominantly virtual training program aimed at building care teams by redefining the role of the MA and fostering team-based functioning. Participating MAs, clinic managers, and clinicians in 11 primary care clinics completed 18-item pre- and post-training surveys to assess confidence in MA skills and performance. In-depth 1-hour qualitative interviews were conducted with selected participating MAs, managers, and clinicians to assess MA self-efficacy and to understand their use of new skills.

MAs, clinicians, and managers agreed that MAs improved skills in planned care and population management, self-management support and health coaching, and interdisciplinary communication and collaboration. MAs reported a positive training experience, that they shared their knowledge with other MAs in their clinic, and that their job satisfaction increased.

A predominantly virtual 12-week program built the skills and confidence of MAs in proactive population management, health coaching, and collaboration and communication. This program shows the promise of a virtual approach to training that identifies, trains, and recognizes high-potential MAs.