Family Planning Work Team Staff Mix, Staff and Patient Satisfaction

Background and Issues: Factors that affect health care workforce and patient satisfaction have challenged public health employers and staff. Research suggests that effective teamwork and appropriate team composition could have positive effects on the quality and safety of patient care, team cohesiveness and reducing burnout in healthcare professionals. The purpose of this analysis was to evaluate the effect of interdisciplinary family planning (FP) nursing teams staff mix on patient satisfaction and clinic productivity. Description: Of five clinic sites examined for two six-month assessment periods, two were initially staffed with nurse practitioner/medical assistant (MA) teams but modified to become nurse practitioner (NP)/PHN/MA teams. The three remaining sites were staffed with NP/PHN/MA teams for both periods. For all sites the patient encounter model was changed to allow walk-in supply visits and team member responsibilities were clearly defined to reduce staff confusion. Lessons Learned: Effects of staff mix and encounter models varied by clinic site. A 50% increase in productivity level was observed at the 2 FP clinics that were assigned the NP/PHN/MA teams. As a result of increased patient access at all clinics and decreases in appointment wait durations, there were reported improvements in both staff and patient satisfaction rates at all 5 clinics. Recommendations: The task of health system managers, policy makers and clinicians is to find ways of implementing the improved conditions for workers while meeting the expectations of patients. There is a need for further evaluation to determine factors that optimize team efficiency and further improve patient satisfaction.