Organization

The Stephen M. Shortell Center for Organizational Research in the Health Sector Publications

Primary Care Practice Characteristics Associated With Medical Assistant Staffing Ratios

Hector P Rodriguez
Alena Berube
Dorothy Hung
Stephen Shortell
Elliott Fisher
2024

This study characterized adult primary care medical assistant (MA) staffing. National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (n=1,252) data were analyzed to examine primary care practice characteristics associated with MA per primary care clinician (PCC) staffing ratios. In 2021, few practices (11.4%) had ratios of 2 or more MAs per PCCs. Compared with system-owned practices, independent (odds ratio [OR]=1.76, P <0.05) and medical group-owned (OR=2.09, P <0.05) practices were more likely to have ratios of 2 or more MAs per PCCs, as were practices with organizational cultures...

Telehealth Use, Care Continuity, and Quality: Diabetes and Hypertension Care in Community Health Centers Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Aaron Tierney
Denise Payan
Timothy Brown
Adrian Aguilera
Stephen Shortell
Hector P Rodriguez
2024
Background:

Community health centers (CHCs) pivoted to using telehealth to deliver chronic care during the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. While care continuity can improve care quality and patients’ experiences, it is unclear whether telehealth supported this relationship.

Objective:

We examine the association of care continuity with diabetes and hypertension care quality in CHCs before and during COVID-19 and the mediating effect of telehealth.

Research Design:

This was a cohort study.

Participants:

Electronic health record data from 166 CHCs with n=20,792 patients...

Patient Time Spent With Professional Medical Interpreters and the Care Experiences of Patients With Limited English Proficiency

Pamela Torresday
Jacob Chen
Hector P Rodriguez
2024

Introduction/objectives: More time spent with interpreters may support clinician-patient communication for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP), especially when interpreter support before and after clinical encounters is considered. We assessed whether more time spent with interpreters is associated with better patient-reported experiences of clinician-patient communication and interpreter support among patients with LEP.

Methods: Patients with LEP (n = 338) were surveyed about their experiences with both the clinician and interpreter....