Medical Lab Scientist III - Point of Care Operations

What We Offer

About the Role

This role serves as a Point of Care (POC) Laboratory specialist supporting assigned South Carolina region facilities, with a strong focus on quality, compliance, operational oversight, and laboratory support functions.

A significant portion of this role centers around Point of Care testing oversight, ensuring diagnostic testing performed outside of the central laboratory (such as bedside glucose testing, pregnancy testing, and procedural area testing) is compliant with organizational and regulatory standards. This includes monitoring middleware exception reporting, reviewing quality control documentation, validating user competencies, conducting site audits, troubleshooting issues, and partnering with nursing and clinical departments to ensure compliance with CLIA, TJC, and CAP requirements.

In addition to Point of Care oversight, this role also supports broader laboratory operations, including quality control processes, procedure documentation, training support, document control, inventory oversight, equipment troubleshooting, vendor coordination, and operational process improvement activities.

While this is not primarily a direct patient testing role, candidates should bring a strong clinical laboratory foundation, as the position requires laboratory expertise, regulatory knowledge, troubleshooting ability, and the confidence to serve as the subject matter expert for Point of Care testing across the region.

What You'll Do

Testing

• Performs and evaluates waived, moderately complex, and highly complex laboratory analysis on blood and body fluids, to include sample preparation
• Performs equipment maintenance, calibration, and troubleshooting
• Performs and evaluates quality control to assure accuracy of patient testing
• Performs competency and proficiency testing to assure maintenance of skills
• Investigates and resolves problems and unusual situations
• Ensures patient test results are not reported until all corrective actions have been taken and the test system is properly functioning
• Assigned as a Key Operator, has high competency in maintenance and troubleshooting, and helps to maintain a close vendor relationship

Transfusion Medicine

• Scientists also help shape the development and evolution of the Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (TCT) Program, serving to enhance its overall effectiveness, productivity, and quality
• These scientists serve as the link for facilitating an organized and comprehensive approach to the management of patients undergoing bone marrow transplants and / or receiving cellular therapy

Documentation & Education

• Maintains required documentation for all lab procedures
• Processes requisitions for testing
• Prepares and distributes reports
• Assists in writing new procedures and revising current ones
• Successfully completes educational activities to continually improve skills and assist consultants
• Performs all duties to satisfy regulations and maintain a constant state of regulatory readiness
• Participates in the education and training of students from accredited programs and new team members
• Assigned to develop training plans for new instrument implementations

Operations & Support

• Provides information, assistance, and consultation to requestors
• Recognizes and promotes interdependencies with other areas
• Practices efficient use of supplies and materials
• Responsible for inventory management of supplies and materials
• Participates in improvement of methods and processes
• Evaluates and implements new methodologies and procedures, as assigned
• Work within a team to achieve patient and team goals
• Share and initiate regular and professional communication with co-workers
• Participate in regular staff meetings
• May be assigned to oversee a shift

Safety & Human Experience

• Team member must possess sufficient motor skill and manual dexterity to obtain and manipulate specimens in a manner that does not endanger themselves
• Practices safety policies to maintain a safe work environment
• Follows and complies with all safety functions and guidelines including personal protective equipment, eyewash, fire extinguisher, and other safety equipment
• Gain customer confidence through competence, effective communication, and trust building behaviors
• Show courage through creating and sharing innovative ideas to improve the experience for both patients and peers
• Model the service standards through consistently engaging in Always Event behaviors and view feedback through the patient lens
• Recognize and value the unique differences and similarities in both our team members and patients to create an inclusive environment where diversity is celebrated
• Know and model the mission, vision, and values and how they relate to role-specific responsibilities
• Model our People Credo through a passion to care for each other, our patients, and our communities

Document Control

• Team member is responsible for providing support for the coordination and consolidation of laboratory policies and procedures involving all aspects and departments involved in the process
• Identifies ways to structure or classify multiple pieces of information and is able to assimilate/condense similar procedures
• Identifies appropriate key individuals and stakeholders with whom to communicate information regarding the specific policy at hand
• Responsible for all laboratory policies and procedures
• Maintains and updates organized record keeping and filing system
• Organizes, collates, and files documents in a timely and accurate manner
• Monitors for changes to new Novant Health administrative policies to ensure administrative policies are consistent and up to date
• Schedules meetings, prepares agendas and processes paperwork for committee and meetings as needed
• Types correspondence, minutes, roadmaps and reports as needed
• Performs various administrative duties and completes special projects as needed
• Analyzes data to compile administrative reports using statistically sound principles and tools
• Acts as Novant Document Manager System Process Owner for NH Laboratory Services policies, procedures, and forms
• Edits, standardizes, and/or revises procedures or policies prepared by other personnel
• Organizes and posts documents to the Novant intranet accurately
• Follows up to assure all documents are completed in a timely and accurate manner
• Coordinates design of intranet structure for laboratory medical/clinical documents as needed
• Successfully completes educational activities to continually improve skills and assists consultants
• Practices safety policies to maintain a safe working environment
• Performs all duties to satisfy regulations in preparation for inspections
• Provides information and consultation to requestors
• Recognizes and promotes interdependencies with other areas
• Participates in improvement of methods and processes
• Work within a team to achieve patient and team goals
• Share and initiate regular and professional communication with co-workers
• Participate in regular staff meetings

Point of Care

Compliance & Oversight

• Team member serves as the point-of-care (POC) testing compliance expert for assigned sites
• Establishes, coordinates, instructs, trains, troubleshoots, oversees, and coordinates all POC activities
• Inspects, prepares, and communicates monthly audits for all assigned locations to keep them abreast of their on-going regulatory compliance
• Serves as liaison and responsible party for applicable regulatory inspections (i.e., the College of American Pathologists and Joint Commission POC inspections)
• Assess competency for waived and non-waived POC testing personnel, including but not limited to nursing at required frequency

Equipment / Quality Management

• Serves as key troubleshooter and repair person for all POC instrumentation
• Ensures all POC instrumentation is always available and in good working order
• Ensures set-up and initial validation studies on all POC method/equipment
• Ensures correlation and confirms testing tolerance ranges for all POC method/equipment at designated intervals as required by regulatory standards
• Establishes or confirms the linearity, tolerance, and normal population ranges for all POC test methods
• Ensures the normal ranges appear on the chart with the patients' results
• Ensures new lots of reagents and controls are valid prior to testing
• Ensures monthly audits are completed to assure compliance with regulatory requirements, based on the procedure/method utilized

Documentation / Reporting / Support

• Maintains required documentation for all lab procedures
• Prepares and distributes reports
• Assists in writing new procedures and revising current ones
• Acts as the POC expert for assigned nursing units and designated off-sites
• Demonstrates a complete understanding of the TJC waived testing and CAP regulatory standards; and incorporates them into the ongoing activities of the testing sites
• Monitors quality of core processes in the department
• Identifies opportunities to improve processes based on feedback from the team and customers
• Organizes and provides appropriate logs to capture daily POC quality assurance activities so that deadlines and schedules are met
• Ensures proficiency test completion and reporting are completed before deadlines at all sites
• Ensures appropriate documentation of corrective actions when indicated
• Ensures that POC testing team members get appropriate feedback and mentoring to decrease "fail rates"

General Responsibilities

• Successfully completes educational activities to continually improve skills and assists consultants
• Practices safety policies to maintain a safe working environment
• Provides information and consultation to requestors
• Recognizes and promotes interdependencies with other areas
• Ensures the critical needs of the testing sites are being met in order to provide them with the best methods and most current technologies for POC testing
• Practices efficient use of supplies and materials
• Responsible for inventory of supplies and materials
• Work within a team to achieve patient and team goals
• Share and initiate regular and professional communication with team members
• Possess sufficient motor skill and manual dexterity to obtain and manipulate specimens in a manner that does not endanger themselves and others

What We're Looking For

• Education: 4 Year / Bachelors Degree, required. Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university in medical technology, clinical laboratory science, or chemical, physicalor biological science or equivalent. Successful completion of a NAACLS accredited Medical Technology or MT program preferred. If graduated before 1987, two-year certification is recognized as MT.

• Experience:

• Three years Specialty Areas (BB, Flow, and Micro): Three years of experience as a laboratory scientist, preferred.

• Three years Document Control: Minimum three years of experience as laboratory scientist, required.

• Point of Care: Minimum three years of experience as laboratory scientist including two years with moderate complexity testing, required.

• Licensure/Certification: Scientist Cert from ASCP or AMT (BB, C, H, MT/MLS, M, MB), required. Flow Cytometry only Required (if team member holds no other scientist certification): MDT(AMT) or SCYM(ASCP), required.

• Additional Skills (required):

• Clinical Laboratory:

• All individuals who are newly certified ASCP beginning January 1, 2004, must participate and maintain ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) through the Certification Maintenance Program (CMP). All individuals who are newly certified AMT beginning January 1, 2006, must participate and maintain AMT Certification Continuation Program (CCP).

• Knowledge of current medical terminology to perform full range of laboratory tests and communicate with medical staff regarding laboratory procedures and results.

• Knowledge of laboratory equipment and testing to perform quality control checks and troubleshooting of instrumentation. Skill in performing a full range of laboratory tests. Skill in anticipating and reacting calmly to emergency situations. Skill in developing and maintaining department quality assurance. Skill in establishing and maintaining effective working relationships with patients, medical staff, hospital staff and the public. Ability to read and understand information about instrumentation in laboratory field. Ability to follow written protocols. Ability to work independently. Ability to communicate clearly.

• Document Control:

• Skills listed above in Clinical Laboratory. Proficient in Microsoft Word, Outlook, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as Adobe. Possesses knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.

• Point of Care:

• All individuals who are newly certified ASCP beginning January 1, 2004, must participate and maintain ASCP Board of Certification (BOC) through the Certification Maintenance Program (CMP). All individuals who are newly certified AMT beginning January 1, 2006, must participate and maintain AMT Certification Continuation Program (CCP). The ability to work and make decisions independently. Ability to prioritize and manage several job functions at one time. Ability to work efficiently and accurately. Detail-oriented and strong organizational skills. Excellent customer service skills with the ability to communicate effectively and professionally through listening, writing, talking, and reading. Ability to operate equipment at both sitting levels and/or standing levels. Ability to communicate via telephone, Lab Information System and verbally. Computer knowledge with emphasis on using Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Outlook). Capable of working directly with nursing personnel or other point-of-care testing team members and patients. Experienced in writing policies, procedures, and criterion checklists for all new POC instruments and kit tests. Flexibility and adaptability to work additional hours or shifts. Work effectively under stress. Must possess knowledge of the regulatory and accreditation agencies' standards. Must possess knowledge and skills necessary to modify care according to patient(s)' age and acuity.

• Additional Skills (preferred): Specialist certifications from accreditation agencies.

Why Choose Novant Health?

At Novant Health, we believe remarkable care starts with compassion for our patients, our communities, and each other. We value belonging, courage, personal growth, and teamwork, creating a space where everyone is respected, supported, and safe to show up as their full selves.

Job Opening ID

166164