Medical Assistant, Practice Operations

St. Lukes is proud of the skills, experience and compassion of its employees. The employees of St. Lukes are our most valuable asset! Individually and together, our employees are dedicated to satisfying the mission of our organization which is an unwavering commitment to excellence as we care for the sick and injured; educate physicians, nurses and other health care providers; and improve access to care in the communities we serve, regardless of a patients ability to pay for health care.

The Medical Assistants primary responsibility is to assist in the delivery of health care management for the practice. This will include actively participating and supporting primary clinical teams. The Medical Assistant is a professional member of the interdisciplinary team and consistently demonstrates and promotes the values of the organization. The Medical Assistant will work with and receive supervision from the practice manager, physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants.

Job Duties and Responsibilities:

• Actively participates in maintaining and/or improving quality improvement initiatives.
• Effectively manages the scheduling of appointments and tracking of referrals.
• Opens and closes office as required.
• Assists in capturing patient demographic information.
• Actively participates in department activities to include:
• Attends departmental meetings;
• Actively participates as a team member in resolution of problems as they are identified;
• Analyzes current procedures, bringing suggestions for improvement to the attention of team members and supervisors for consideration.
• Conducts pre-visit planning by reviewing and updating the patients medical record prior to the appointment with recent test results and correspondence and determines needed services by conferring with physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.
• Completes pre-charting of all value-based pieces up to 5 days prior to patients appointment. Send messages to the Care Team, when warranted.
• Responsible for prepping patients for their examination and escorting them into the exam room. Preparation includes:
• Height, weight and vital signs;
• Update medication list;
• Update allergies in record;
• Update personal, family and social history;
• Inquire about smoking status;
• Obtains the reason for the visit.
• Provides other patient care services as needed/directed:
• Keeps exam rooms clean;
• Maintaining clinical supplies in exam rooms;
• Cleans and autoclaves contaminated instruments;
• Gives injections or immunizations; within State approved scope of practice;
• Phlebotomy;
• Pulmonary functions/nebulizer;
• EKG;
• OB/GYN exams assist as needed.
• Responsible to dispose Bio-Hazardous waste and regular waste per practice protocol.
• Maintains vaccine temp logs, inventory and ordering of medical supplies (i.e.: vaccines, medications), disposing of expired sample medication, and stocking rooms to set par levels.
• As appropriate assists with scheduling outpatient testing, pre-certifying patients for procedures and referral processing, responds to patient communications within practice guidelines, refill medications per practice protocol, provides patients with information relating to their visit (info packets, vaccine advisory sheets, etc).
• Communicates and coordinates with providers or Care Coordinators regarding hospital discharge, ED visits, consulting physicians, community resources, disease management, patient self-management, patient and/or family education on chronic conditions, individualized patient care plan, and follow-up contact with patient as indicated to ensure compliance with recommendations, medications, labs or other testing as well as specialist visits.
• Reviews in-basket clinical pool messages and complete necessary information in order to clear the message.
• Maintains referral work queue and update notes in order to communicate with other departments.

Physical and Sensory Requirements:

• Requires sitting, standing and walking for extended periods of time (up to 8 hours at time).
• Requires continual use of fingers for patient care, writing and computer entry.
• Routinely uses upper extremities; occasional requirement to lift up to 25 pounds.
• Occasionally push cart with supplies up to 30 pounds.
• Occasionally push wheelchair with patient weighing up to 325 pounds.
• Regularly requires ability to stoop, bend and reach above shoulder level.
• Requires ability to hear normal conversation and good general, near and peripheral vision.

Education:

• HS diploma or equivalent required.
• Graduate of accredited Medical Assistant program is strongly preferred.

Training and Experience:

• Two years experience in a similar healthcare setting is preferred; customer service experience is strongly preferred;
• BLS/CPR: current or within 60 days of hire; through the American Red Cross or American Heart Association.
• Where applicable, a 30/60/90 day on-boarding checklist will be completed during the on-boarding process for new or transferred employees to confirm mastery of skills relevant to the service line. This on-boarding checklist will be acknowledged by practice leadership or a provider when appropriate; records will be retained at the practice location.

Application Instructions:

• Please complete your application using your full legal name and current home address.
• Be sure to include employment history for the past seven (7) years, including your present employer.
• Additionally, you are encouraged to upload a current resume, including all work history, education, and/or certifications and licenses, if applicable.
• It is highly recommended that you create a profile at the conclusion of submitting your first application.
• Thank you for your interest in St. Lukes!!

Equal Opportunity Employer:

St. Lukes University Health Network is an Equal Opportunity Employer.