Signal Cleveland Clinic freed 430 FTE of capacity by shifting 37 of 40 medical assistant tasks

Summary

Cleveland Clinic responded to health care talent shortages by redesigning roles, breaking work into tasks and asking whether each could be dropped, automated, done remotely, reassigned or rescheduled. For medical assistants, the review moved 37 of 40 tasks to lower credentialed or non-clinical staff, while others were automated or augmented with technology. Deloitte reports that this created capacity equivalent to 430 full-time employees and more than $2 million in cost savings. Staff engagement also rose because people could spend more time on patient care and less on paperwork. The case illustrates the break approach, in which redesigning work itself unlocks capacity.