New York University Grossman School of Medicine

A core strategy of NYHealth’s Primary Care priority area is to elevate the non-clinical workforce—specifically, Medical Assistants (MAs) and CHWs—and integrate them into primary care teams to improve patient health outcomes, reduce clinician strain, and support equitable career advancement.

Previously, NYHealth supported the New York Alliance for Careers in Healthcare to design a statewide scan of the current functions and desired roles of MAs on care teams. Similarly, an understanding of on-the-ground experience is needed to effectively scale models of CHWs’ integration. In 2024, NYHealth awarded New York University (NYU) a grant to conduct focus groups with primary care providers and community health workers regarding CHW integration into care teams across New York State.

Under this grant, NYU will conduct a series of focus groups both upstate and downstate to elicit experiences and information from both CHWs and the clinical and community-based providers that employ and partner with them (e.g., academic medical centers, community hospitals, community health centers, physician practices). NYU will distill the findings into a research brief that summarizes themes and offers recommendations, share related materials with researchers and CHWs in other states, and promote its work through webinars and publications.