Description
TITLE: Medical Assistant (back office)
EDUCATION & EXPERIENCE:
Any combination equivalent to the experience and education that are required by Federal, State, and Local guidelines. The minimum requirements for experience and education are:
- Certified as a Medical Assistant in California
- One year of medical assisting experience
- Current First Aid and BLS Certification
REQUIREMENTS:
- Must attend orientation prior to independently providing patient care
- Must possess or be eligible to obtain a current California drivers license
- Must be able to pass all program mandated health screenings
PHYSICAL STANDARDS:
Positions in this class are situated in a standard clinical environment where there is little or no exposure to variations in the weather or other similar elements. Physical agility must be such that the MA is able to stand, walk, or sit for extended periods of time. This position has direct patient contact and calls for the ability to assist frail patients in rising, walking, sitting, and lying down, etc., frequently throughout the course of the shift. The MA should be able to lift up to 25 pounds repeatedly and 65 pounds intermittently. Due to the fact that the work is categorized by OSHA as Bloodborne Pathogen Category I, there is potential exposure to blood, body fluid/tissue, and infectious wastes. There is also potential exposure to chemical and toxicants.
SYNOPSIS:
Under the direction of the Back Office Manager (BOM) or designee, the MA provides medical assisting services to clinical patients based upon physician’s orders. The duties of the MA are varied and complex and involve gathering information about the patient’s physical and psychological condition, interfacing with the BOM, nurses, the patient’s physician, and the patient’s family. The MA performs related responsibilities as required.
REPORTS TO:
This position reports to the BOM or designee and is not a supervising position.
JOB CHARACTERISTICS:
An MA performs in an environment that demands extreme flexibility in dealing with patients, physicians, patient families, and members of the general public with many different cultural backgrounds and needs. The job demands that the MA be able to perform all of the routine duties of a Medical Assistant in a clinical environment. Satisfactory performance at this level requires the full knowledge, ability, and willingness to perform duties at the highest professional levels at all times. The MA must continuously exercise a strong commitment to the organizational goals of the Comprehensive Blood and Cancer Center, while simultaneously exhibiting intelligence and sensitivity to extreme human needs.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
- Receive assignments from the BOM or designee and follows up using established protocols
- Provide treatment and/or medical assisting procedures to the patient in the clinic
- Prepare notes that meet organizational requirements
- Interview patient and inform BOM, physician, nurses, and other appropriate personnel of changes in patient’s condition or needs
- Instruct the patient and the patient’s caregiver as directed by the physician
- Routinely attends and participates in in-service training programs
- Collect data as required to meet legal mandates
- Provide accurate and legible data to the BOM, physician, or nurses
- Maintain confidentiality in all matters related to the patient and the organization
- Maintain personal composure and integrity under stressful conditions
- Submit paper work in a timely fashion
- Performs related duties as required by the BOM, physician, or nurses
- Utilize EMR for patient tracking and documentation
- Maintain a constant flow of patients, including escorting to/from the parking lot and other departments throughout the facility
- Transcribe standing orders and input orders from routing form
- Review patient’s paperwork for completeness and forward to the appropriate personnel
- Administer injections
- Review charts for accuracy and completeness
- Clean exam rooms, changing used pillow cases and table paper after every use
- Stock exam rooms daily
- Complete the referral process for patients requiring outside services (i.e. home health, physical therapy, hospice)
- Record patient’s vital signs and weight
- Administer EKG
- Perform Pulse Oxymetry
- Operate and retrieve medications via Pyxis system
- Assist patients with medications (i.e. obtaining prior authorization for medications, call-in/fax prescription refills as approved by providers, triplicate forms and instruct patients on new meds & orders after office visit)
- Respond to calls from hospital or hospice and relay the question, problem or concern to providers
- Assist with bone marrow biopsies, paracentesis and intrathecal injections as necessary
- May require the clean-up and disposal of chemotherapy, biohazardous sharp supplies, blood/body fluids, in addition to radiation exposure
- Request and/or fax patient records
- Utilize email, Nextel and voice messaging system to communicate with providers and other departments as appropriate
- Coordinate with schedulers
- Print schedules and labels
- Assist Mid-level practitioners as needed
- Respond to emergencies per CBCC policies and protocol
- Provide courteous and personal patient interaction
- Performs related duties as required by the BOM or designee
QUALIFICATIONS:
Knowledge base:
- Principles, practices and procedures of medical assisting in a clinical environment
- Medical assisting record keeping requirements
- Conditions that are symptomatic of neglect or abuse
- Various racial, religious, and ethnic cultures in the organization area
- Medical assisting delivery techniques
Skills:
- Routine medical assisting skills practiced in a clinical environment
- Information gathering and recording
- Providing accurate and timely records of critical events
- Soliciting sensitive information from patients and their caregiver
- ‘Most Current’ medical assisting techniques and procedures
- Cooperating with the BOM, physicians, nurses, and other coworkers
- Remaining calm with patients and their caregivers under stressful conditions
Abilities:
- Communicate on a professional level in both written and verbal formats
- Perform multiple tasks in a timely manner
- Perform efficiently in a high pressure setting
- Deal effectively and professionally with various personalities on a routine basis
- Develop and maintain professional relationships with coworkers
- Follow written and verbal directions while retaining the ability to tactfully question directions that seem unclear, unsafe, or illegal
- Identify and solve routine problems encountered in the clinic
- Collect data at a level sufficient to meet program mandated needs
- Meet deadlines and remain on timelines
- Work without supervision when necessary
- Explain basic ideas and procedures so patients and their caregivers can understand the issues related to their personal care
EVALUATIONS:
Performance, wage, and disciplinary evaluations for the MA are conducted by the BOM. To gain better insight into an issue, the BOM may seek appropriate input of other executives, managers, or supervisors as deemed necessary.
AT-WILL EMPLOYMENT:
All employment with CBCC is At-Will Employment. While we strive to provide fulltime employment to all of our employees who so desire, we make no guarantees, expressed or implied, to provide any guaranteed number of hours of employment in a given week. Changing conditions in the healthcare field make it impossible to predict the demand for our services and as a result all of our offers of employment are offers of At-Will employment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:
I have read and fully understand this job description and any verbal explanations that I have requested during the course of my pre-employment interview or job description update. My signature below indicates that I am signing this acknowledgement of my own free will and without duress of any sort.
