Coming to the Clinic - part 1

     As some of you know, I have worked in health care for over thirty years. I’ve been in the same position, working as a certified medical assistant with the same doctor in family practice, for the last seventeen years. I love what I do and I love my patients. 

    But some days – argh – every last one of those patients tests my patience. I wish they had to take a test (and pass it) to be allowed to see their medical professional. If only I could teach a class on how to be the perfect patient.

    Hmm? Why not? So here it is, Chris’s Crash Course on Coming to the Clinic. It’s going to be in several installments. I’m not sure how many, coz I am writing this as it comes to me.

     So last night, I started writing about all the in’s and out’s of your doctor’s appointments, and it dawned on me that I should back up and give you a run-down on who all the people are who you may encounter.      

       
      1)     PSR. I don’t know about other clinics, but I think that this is the trend. The first person you meet when you walk in is called the PSR. Stands for patient service representative and used to be called the receptionist. I don’t know why they changed the name, must be something about being politically correct. This person at the front desk does a lot more than “receive” as the term receptionist would imply, so perhaps the name change was warranted. But I still can’t get used to it. 

      
      2)     PCS. I know, another acronym. This one stands for patient care staff and refers to us people in the back. Most patients call all of us “nurses”, but that is rarely the case. Most clinics that I know of have a few registered nurses (RN) and/or licensed practical nurses (LPN). In general, these professionals went to school to work in hospitals or sometimes nursing homes to deliver direct patient care. The majority of us PCS are medical assistants, either certified or registered, who were trained to work specifically in clinics. A certified MA has gone to school and taken a test offered by the American Association of Medical Assistants, while a registered MA is usually trained on the job and has taken a different test offered by a different certifying board. According to the folks at the AAMA office, these other tests are less intense, but I don’t put a lot of stock in tests or even always in schooling. A person with no formal education can be just as smart and competent as anyone else.

      
      3)     Providers. Here again there is a variety of people you may see. When most patients come to the clinic, they say they are going to the doctor, even though they know they may be seeing someone else. Nurse practitioners and physician assistants have at least six to eight years of education and training and are as capable of seeing the majority of patient complaints as a doctor is. Of course, the doctor, who may be an MD (medical doctor) or DO (doctor of osteopathy), has the most education and training and will see the most complicated cases in the office.

      
      4)     Then there are all the extra staff you may meet on your visit to the clinic, such as the ones who draw your blood (who may also be medical assistants, but more likely will be a trained phlebotomist or medical tech) or the ones who take your xrays (usually a radiology tech). (There are differences in education and training among all these people as well, but I don’t need to further confuse you.) You might even run into billing specialists, medical records clerks, behavioral health specialists or nurse case managers.

Sounds like it takes a lot of people to run the medical clinic you are about to visit. Just know that we are all doing the best job that we can and that we all want to give you the best care possible.

Join me next week to find out what to expect from your visit.

Sometimes our staff is more professional than this.