When the topic is the ongoing shortages of necessary personnel at hospitals, clinics, and physicians offices, the professionals that come immediately to mind are physicians and nurses. However, athletic trainers and other healthcare professionals are qualified to fill the role of physician extender.
Many clinics are now hiring physician extenders in their practices in order to save time and improve patient satisfaction, increase revenue, enhance physician productivity and efficiency, and educate patients about treatment plans.
Far from the athletic fields, athletic trainers and other physician extenders help improve productivity, patient outcomes, and satisfaction at clinics and hospitals nationwide. That's why they are so often employed in physician offices and specialty practices, including by specialists in orthopedics, osteopathy, family practice, pediatrics, and sports medicine.
In 2006, nearly 34% of athletic trainers worked in hospitals, clinics, and physician offices, according to National Athletic Trainers' Association. The Bureau of Labor Statistics expects athletic trainers' employment to grow 24% between 2006 and 2016—much faster than the average for other occupations.
Because athletic trainers tend to be less rushed than surgeons and other physicians, they have more time to spend with patients, providing them with post-injury or post-surgical rehab programs.
Athletic trainers' vital role in hospitals, clinics, and physician offices
In their growing role as physician extenders athletic trainers help physicians increase their productivity and efficiency. "Athletic trainers are a committed, essential component to physicians delivering the highest standard of team medical care to the patients of the Andrews Institute," says James Andrews, MD. "They know how to relate to the patient so his or her recovery is as quick as safely allowable, whether that person is a professional or youth athlete or just an average mom or dad."
According to NATA, a 1998 time-to-task study showed that athletic trainers working as physician extenders increased clinic production by 12 patients per day. The athletic trainer serves a vital role in the clinical setting by reducing re-injury rates through patient instruction, reducing recovery time from non-surgical injuries, and rehabilitating musculoskeletal injures.
"My patients experience excellent outcomes as a result of therapy provided by athletic trainers," said Thomas D. Kohl, MD, director of sports medicine at the Comprehensive Athletic Treatment Center in Pennsylvania. "My patients love working with them. Athletic trainers are a value-added service to my practice. I could not do without them."
Professional training leads to better healthcare coordination
Athletic trainers earn a bachelor's education and national certification that enables them to work closely with physicians and other medical professionals to develop better-coordinated, efficient, and responsive healthcare in a team environment. And their training equips them with the expertise needed to perform immediate and emergency injury management, injury assessment, and rehabilitation.
"I believe that athletic trainers provide a critical service as physician extenders in the doctor's office, and I work with them daily in that role," said John Xerogeanes, MD, at Emory Sports Medicine Center in Atlanta.
Athletic trainers' professional preparation is based on the development of specified educational competencies and clinical proficiencies. Through a combination of formal classroom and clinical instruction complemented by clinical experience, athletic trainers are prepared to provide healthcare within each of the following content areas:
- Risk management and injury prevention
- Pathology of injuries and illnesses
- Orthopaedic clinical examination and diagnosis
- Medical conditions and disabilities
- Acute care of injury and illnesses
- Therapeutic modalities
- Conditioning, rehabilitative exercise and referral
- Pharmacology
- Psychosocial intervention and referral
- Nutritional aspects of injury and illnesses
- Healthcare administration
Until recently the relationship between physicians and athletic trainers has been on the sports playing field, where for years they have partnered in delivering healthcare to athletes. However, the increased need for providers during this shortage, means increased number of athletic trainers moving into the physician clinical setting, too.
Case Study: Emory Sports Medicine Center
In an effort to evaluate the benefit of employing certified athletic trainers, Emory Sports Medicine Center implemented a study to determine the financial and clinical effectiveness of using them as the primary clinical assistant in the orthopedic office.
"Athletic trainers help enhance a physician's communication with patients by serving as another source of expert information that patients can absorb," says Xerogeanes. "Athletic trainers are a key part of our sports medicine service delivery model."
By comparing the number of patient encounters and bill charges of two primary care physician practices—both before and during the introduction of a certified athletic trainer—it was shown that certified athletic trainers had a positive effect on patient throughput and revenue. Results showed that certified athletic trainers can increase a physician's productivity up to 23% and increase revenue by up to 42%.
"The use of certified athletic trainers has allowed us to better leverage our non-operative physicians, thus increasing productivity and professional billings," says Mark Miller, senior clinical administrator at Emory. "Over a six-month study period, we have seen improvements in provider productivity, as measured by encounters, on the order of 22%."
Athletic Trainers: Education, National Certification
Athletic trainers must have a minimum of a bachelor's degree (and seven in 10 have a master's degree or higher), and in most states, they must maintain certification through the Board of Certification, an organization independent of NATA. Certified athletic trainers differ from "personal trainers" who focus solely on fitness and conditioning and whose training does not require a college degree.
Before being certified, those hoping to become athletic trainers must complete an academic major or graduate-equivalent program that is accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE).
Athletic training programs use a medical-based education model in both classroom and clinical settings that teaches students to provide comprehensive preventive services and care in six domains of clinical practice: prevention, clinical evaluation and diagnosis, immediate care, organization and administration, professional responsibility, and treatment, rehabilitation, and reconditioning.
Program graduates then take the Board of Certification (BOC) exam in order to be credentialed as a certified athletic trainer. The ATC credential is recognized and required by all but one state that regulate or license the practice of athletic trainers. They are licensed or recognized in 46 states.
Marjorie J. Albohm, MS, ATC, is president of the National Athletic Trainers' Association. To learn more about athletic trainers, contact the National Athletic Trainers' Association at 800-879-6282, or visit the NATA Career Center directly at www.NATA.org/careercenter.
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