THE ROLE OF MEDICAL SECRETARIES IN HOSPITAL WORKFLOW, COMMUNICATION, AND HEALTH INFORMATION MANAGEMENT: A QUALITATIVE...

Hospital administrative coordination and health information management are under increasing pressure as healthcare systems grow more complex. Medical secretaries are essential to clinical and administrative departments, but their value is still underappreciated, especially in rural healthcare environments.

To investigate and characterize the function of medical secretaries in assisting Al-Hait General Hospital's administrative and health departments, as well as to assess their impact on communication, workflow effectiveness, documentation accuracy, and the use of digital health systems from the viewpoint of hospital employees.

At the Al-Hait General Hospital in Hail, Saudi Arabia, a qualitative descriptive study was carried out. 29 participants who represented clinical staff, administrative staff, department heads, and senior management were chosen through the use of purposeful sampling. Semi-structured interviews with closed-ended questions were used to gather data. Thematic analysis was used to examine interview data, and descriptive analysis of structured responses was used to bolster qualitative conclusions.

Six interrelated themes were identified: (1) medical secretaries as structural pillars of hospital workflow; (2) documentation and records management as a core quality function; (3) communication and coordination brokerage; (4) expansion of the role in digital systems and health informatics; (5) skill intensity and emotional demands; and (6) structural constraints and opportunities for role enhancement. These findings were supported by questionnaire results, with the majority of participants reporting strong agreement on key role functions, including communication facilitation (96.6%), documentation accuracy (93.1%), and workflow support (89.7%). Participants highlighted significant contributions to appointment coordination, interdepartmental communication, and electronic health record management. However, workload pressures (75.9%), limited training, and role ambiguity (72.4%) were identified as key barriers to optimal performance.

Beyond their clerical responsibilities, medical secretaries play an integrated and strategically significant role in hospital operations that includes digital system support, workflow coordination, information governance, and communication facilitation. In hospital settings, improving staffing, organizational recognition, and training may improve operational effectiveness and service quality.