Ask the expert: What is the definition of a clinical assistant?
A clinical assistant is a type of allied health professional that does not require privileging through the medical staff but does require competence assessment through The Joint Commission human resources standards. A hospital's governing body periodically determines the categories of individuals eligible to serve as clinical assistants (CA). The definition of a clinical assistant is as follows:
A clinical assistant is an individual qualified by academic education and clinical experience or other training to provide patient care services in a clinical or supportive role. CAs provide services only under the supervision of a member of the medical staff. CAs provide only those clinical services that are consistent with a written scope of care approved by the medical staff and senior management of the hospital. CAs are not members of the medical staff and are not privileged through the medical staff.
The most common CA disciplines are:
- Surgical assistants
- Surgical technicians
- Registered nurse first assistants
- Perfusionists
- Dental technicians
- Certified operating room technicians
Other CA categories are:
- Acupuncturists
- Athletic trainers
- Audiologists
- Cardiovascular technologists
- Cardiovascular perfusionists
- Counselors (alcohol, drug abuse, marital, mental, and behavioral health)
- Diagnostic medical sonographers
- Dialysis nurses or technicians
- Electroneurodiagnostic technicians/technologists
- Lactation consultants
- Licensed clinical social workers
- Massage therapists
- Medical assistants
- Nurse educators
- Nurses who assist physicians on rounds and facilitate or provide care
- Occupational therapists
- Orthopedic technicians
- Orthotists/prosthetists
- Physical therapists
- Polysomnography technologists
To learn more about the role of CAs, please see The Medical Executive Committee Handbook, Third Edition, by Mary J. Hoppa, MD, MBA; Albert L. Fritz, MHA; and Richard A. Sheff, MD.