Hiring Patterns of Athletic Trainers in Ambulatory Care Settings

Abstract

Ambulatory care settings are interested in hiring athletic trainers to deliver health care. Athletic trainers play complementary and substitutive roles to other providers in ambulatory care settings. Ambulatory care practice administrators place high value on athletic trainers' knowledge and skills.

Athletic Trainers' Knowledge Regarding Health Care Delivery Systems and Administration in the American Health Care System

“…20 As the population continues to age and live longer, access to qualified health care providers may be limited, placing additional demands on the economy and increasing the need for specialized medical services. 7 Previous researchers 21 have identified that athletic trainers could be used to help mitigate the growing shortage of health care providers in the primary care settings, which has been expected to worsen under the Affordable Care Act. An athletic trainer on staff in a primary care setting has been shown to improve the patient experience, system productivity, and cost.…”

“…An athletic trainer on staff in a primary care setting has been shown to improve the patient experience, system productivity, and cost. 21 Furthermore, athletic trainers serve as specialized allied health care providers and could expand medical services to meet the growing needs of physically active individuals in the general population. To better help and prepare athletic trainers for treating physically active people, an expanding number of professional position, consensus, and official statements that address posttraumatic osteoarthritis, 22 exertional heat illnesses, 23 fluid replacement, 24 and managing acute skin traumas 25 have been created.…”

“…58 To combat the increasing number of patients seeking out health care without increasing providers, physician offices may employ athletic trainers; those that did noted improvement in physician practice productivity 59 and an increased number of patient encounters from 10% to 30%. 59,60 Employing athletic trainers in the physician-practice setting also had a significant impact on both the time before scheduling an appointment 21,61 as well as for the in-clinic wait time for patients. 21,62,63 Unfortunately, no similar data are available for traditional athletic-training settings.…”

“…59,60 Employing athletic trainers in the physician-practice setting also had a significant impact on both the time before scheduling an appointment 21,61 as well as for the in-clinic wait time for patients. 21,62,63 Unfortunately, no similar data are available for traditional athletic-training settings. The lack of data on patient encounters, patient satisfaction, and the benefits of employing an athletic trainer in various settings serves as a challenge in athletic training and in our attempts to demonstrate our value to employers.…”

Athletic trainers’ unique clinical and teamwork skills contribute on the frontlines during the COVID-19 pandemic: A discussion paper

“…They serve a primary care coordination role in these settings often providing holistic-managed care for hundreds of athletes in their organization (Mazerolle & Eason, 2018). In both these traditional and emerging settings, such as medical practices, industrial/occupational settings, military/tactical and the performing arts, the ATs skills regarding stakeholder communication; operational efficiency; innovation with limited resources; collaboration and teamwork; work ethic and conscientiousness are highly valued (Eason, Mazerolle, Monsma et al, 2015;Eason, Mazerolle, Pitney et al, 2015;Hazelbaker, 2013;Nolton et al, 2019;Pecha, 2020;Prentice, 2013;Westerman et al, 2015).…”