Medical assistants create projects to improve care
For the project, each medical assistant came up with ways to improve the department.
Medical assistants at USA Health’s Mastin Internal Medicine physician offices and the Stanton Road Clinic have been promoted for the completion of quality projects that have helped improve patient care and clinical efficiency in their departments.
Sharica (Janee) Brown, Kimla Jackson, Jessica Martin, Kayla Harrison and Kenya Brown Turner of the Mastin Internal Medicine physician offices and Tammi Milton, Tomeca Seals, and Tiffany Boykin of the Stanton Road Clinic all created quality projects that were shown to provide worthwhile improvement in their respective departments.
“It’s a lot of work,” said Angela Shuey, a clinical nurse supervisor who oversaw the quality projects of employees in the Department of Internal Medicine. “These ladies have really invested in patient care.”
Each medical assistant came up with a quality project on ways to improve the department. After pitching the project ideas to supervisors and collaborating on the projects’ potential effectiveness, each had a trial run to test the projects’ efficiency. For months, the medical assistants tracked the projects and compiled data to document the progress.
Shuey said every project completed by a medical assistant at Mastin was determined worthwhile and is being kept in place. The projects ranged from creating quick order slips and expediting patient visits to requiring patients to bring their medications to reconcile at each visit. The new practices help Mastin run more smoothly and efficiently, and help to address patient safety concerns and increased provider satisfaction.
Each of the medical assistants was promoted to Medical Assistant III for working on the quality projects. Earning Level 3 status requires playing an active role in improving patient outcomes. “They have to demonstrate expertise in clinical skills and be a recognized leader,” Shuey said.
