ArticleCroatian medical journal2026
Can medical assistants help improve family medicine practices in Croatia?
Article in Croatian medical journal, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Contacts with Patients in Croatian Family Medicine Practices-What Has Changed from 2019 to 2025?Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimTo evaluate whether adding a medical assistant (MA) during team substitutions improves workload, access to care, preventive activities, and staff-reported working conditions in Zagreb family medicine practices.
methodsThis case-control study involved 60 family medicine practices: 30 with an integrated MA during summer vacation team substitutions and 30 controls. Patient contacts, task distribution, and health care professionals' feedback were assessed. The MAs involved were medical or nursing students in their final years, who undertook non-medical tasks under supervision by health care staff.
resultsTeams with an MA demonstrated a significant 10.55% increase in total patient contacts, responded to significantly more patient emails and phone calls, and performed significantly more preventive and chronic disease panels. Furthermore, MAs in these teams resolved up to 39% of consultations without the need for patients to directly contact health personnel. Healthcare professionals in these teams reported improved job satisfaction, reduced work-related stress, and better overall working conditions than the control group.
conclusionIntegrating an MA during team substitutions is a promising strategy for enhancing operational efficiency and improving health care standards in family medicine practices. MAs have the potential to address administrative challenges and promote patient-centered care.
Indexed as
Identifiers
41520204PMC12835998What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.