Contributors: Keith Boring, Phillip Trezza, RACR and Carl Vickers

Hiring in healthcare is difficult. Finding a person with all the right qualifications plus the professionalism skills that elevate performance is no easy task for employers. However, there’s a large pool of potential candidates who have been trained in a way that instills a strong work ethic, cultural competence, and the leadership experience employers desire. Unfortunately,
this group’s training program is not well-understood, often leaving them overlooked.

Carolyn Mayer worked as a corporate travel agent for most of her professional career, but after leaving the travel industry to be a stay-at-home mom, she learned about a career in pharmacy. At the age of 53, with a college background in math and science, becoming a pharmacy technician appealed to Mayer, who started working for Kinney Drugs just five years ago.

Contributors: Alex Adams, Pharm.D., Brian Hille and Samantha Thompson, CPhT

Idaho was the first state to allow certified
pharmacy technicians to administer
immunizations — an advanced task that had previously only been permitted for licensed pharmacists.

The problem: pharmacists need time to counsel patients
Research continues to show that when pharmacists spend more time with patients, better patient outcomes can be achieved.¹ But if more time with patients leads to better outcomes, why aren’t more pharmacists doing it?

Can you imagine if healthcare professionals didn’t continue to educate themselves throughout their careers? Tenured individuals would be using dated, and potentially dangerous, methods. Just search the internet for “bizarre medical treatments in history,” and prepare to be amazed at what we once thought were legitimate health practices.

In an increasingly diverse population, healthcare providers continue to face unique situations where culture intersects with healthcare delivery and often impacts outcomes. With a new focus on improving providers’ cultural competence, healthcare systems are deploying educational programs to elevate healthcare professionals’ abilities to connect with patients in a meaningful way, regardless of culture.

Contributors: Dr. Rana Awdish, MD

A Case Study for Setting A New Standard For Learners

Contributors: Robert Curran, D.C. and Hannah Weinstock, executive director workforce development, Division of Adult and Continuing Education, LaGuardia Community College

Contributors: Beth Brown, CTE Advisor
Masud Shamsid-Deen, Executive Director of CTE

Contributor: Patricia Shane, Ph.D, M.P.H.

The field of medical assisting is on an upswing. Job postings per medical assistant (MA) completion more than doubled between 2011 and 2014, and the faster-than-average employment growth is likely to continue over the next decade.^1,2

Elizabeth Woodcock is a nationally recognized speaker, trainer and author dedicated to improving the business of medicine. She helps physician practices achieve and sustain patient satisfaction, practice efficiency and profitability. We met with Woodcock to gather experts take on MACRA and what it means for medical practices and medical assistants.