- Indirect Patient Care Activities (IPCAs) include documentation, updating electronic medical records, managing orders, reviewing results, prescribing medications, and completing paperwork, i.e. all the work done outside of a face-to-face visit.
- The workload of IPCAs has been increasing and is a major source of trainee and physician burnout.
- IPCAs have not traditionally been given significant focus in residency training, even though this is a major part of a physician’s career. Explicitly and intentionally teaching on IPCAs demonstrates their value.
Key Message
Recognizing, structuring, teaching, and integrating IPC explicitly into office workflow improves patient outcomes, learner development, and physician sustainability.
Practical Strategies for Preceptors
References & Further Reading
- O’Toole D. Indirect Patient Care in Primary Care Practice. Discussed on The Curbsiders Podcast. https://tinyurl.com/t53nm55y
- O’Toole D, Sadik M, Inglis G, Weresch J, Vanstone M. Optimising the educational value of indirect patient care. Med Educ. 2022 Dec;56(12):1214-1222. doi: 10.1111/medu.14921. Epub 2022 Aug 29. PMID: 35972822.
- https://fmf.cfpc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/T214_Postgraduate-Curriuclum-Development_Contextualizing-curricula-across-distributed-sites_handout2.pdf