Impact of medical secretarial and administrative support on workflow efficiency and patient outcomes in endoscopy services: a systematic review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65759/mytv3r34Keywords:
Endoscopy, medical secretarial support, administrative support, workflow efficiency, patient navigationAbstract
Background: Endoscopy services depend on accurate scheduling, timely communication, reliable documentation, and patient preparation. Administrative failures disrupt these processes and leave diagnostic pathways incomplete. This review examines the relationship between secretarial and administrative support, service efficiency, and patient outcomes. Method: A qualitative synthesis summarized ten original intervention studies published before 31 May 2026. Interventions comprised centralized scheduling, documentation assistance, workflow redesign, human navigation, and automated reminders. Findings were grouped by intervention mechanism, with clinical outcomes distinguished from operational measures and screening completion. Result: Centralized scheduling reduced telephone answering time from over 100 seconds to 38 seconds. Scribing reduced documentation time. Navigation improved colonoscopy completion in several randomized trials, including increases from 53.2% to 61.1% and from 42.1% to 55.1%. A smaller navigation trial reported an uncertain incremental benefit. Text reminders reduced nonattendance in two trials, whereas another trial found no improvement in attendance with satisfactory preparation. Preparation benefits were inconsistent, and clinical benefits were not established by these intervention studies. Conclusion: Administrative support has its strongest demonstrated effects on workflow and access to completed colonoscopy. Data about medical secretaries specifically is limited because most interventions involved broader teams or digital systems.
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