Hello everyone,
Our organization is currently reviewing staffing models for our Hospital Outpatient Department (HOD) primary care clinics. One area we're exploring is how other systems approach staffing ratios in these departments, especially since Certified Medical Assistants (CMAs) are not permitted to give injections in HOD settings due to hospital-based regulations.
This raises some questions for us:
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How do you structure your staffing ratios to account for this limitation?
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Do your HODs rely more heavily on RNs or LPNs for tasks like injections?
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Has anyone successfully challenged or re-evaluated this restriction?
I'm also curious about consistency across disciplines. For example, in hospital-based optometry clinics, certified optometry techs are permitted to administer eye drops (which are medications). Why, then, are CMAs not allowed to administer injections in HOD primary care departments?
Would love to hear how your organizations are handling this and if anyone has worked through a similar challenge.
Thank you in advance for sharing your experiences!
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Samantha Judge
Regional Clinical Practice Manager
OSF Healthcare
Peru IL
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