Unit Secretary, Medicine/Renal/Diabetes Unit (5 East), Night Shift

With over 150 years of caring for our community and each other in the Washington DC area, Howard University Hospital has a world-renowned reputation for high-quality, patient-centric care. Howard University Hospital is the nation’s only teaching hospital located on the campus of a Historically Black University and has created a superior learning environment, with groundbreaking research and positive patient outcomes.
 

Howard University Hospital seeks to hire a Unit Secretary who will embrace our reach and historic tradition of excellence. If you want to make a difference in someone’s life every day, consider a position with a team of professionals who are doing just that, making a difference. 

The Unit Secretary:
 

• Provides and assures patient centered, cost efficient, safe, culturally competent, linguistically sensitive and quality services and adheres to accrediting and regulatory agency regulations
• Professionally and courteously communicates with patient/family, physicians and staff, and collaborates with patient/family and health care team
• Communicates all relevant information to the patient and appropriate health care team members.  Interacts with physicians and other staff members for timely flow of information
• Answers the telephone and intercom system in a timely, pleasant and courteous manner.  Directs callers; accepts, records and delivers messages; makes calls to all other departments, as required and/or directed; receives and directs visitors, patients, and staff; monitors and controls the flow of traffic
• Functions as a team member and offers assistance when needed in order to organize and prioritize responsibilities in completing daily work requirements
• Maintains patient charts and unit records in accordance with established procedures and applicable laws and regulations
• Prepares, maintains and produces patient records for hospital billing, patient communications, diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, surgery and other patient care needs from admission through discharge
• Adapts accordingly to new technology and new equipment as needed to perform duties or tasks
• Maintains an adequate stock of supplies and functioning equipment and confirms availability of required unit-based equipment, to include utilizing applicable hospital information system
• Maintains work station and bulletin board (including currency of information) in a neat and orderly manner; files and replaces charts, forms, books, etc. to their proper location
• Utilizes the logbook and computer for order entry purposes, data entry, and to retrieve and update patient data, including all aspects of unit-level admitting, transferring and discharge process
• Transcribes all practitioner’s orders from admission through discharge
• Requests and performs transportation services including supplies, specimens and patients in wheelchairs on demand
• Prompt response to call lights and notification to patient care staff of patient care needs
• Conducts rounds at the beginning and end of every shift and as directed to ensure room readiness, accuracy of patient census, patient identification, and bed identification
• Reconciles unit-level patient census in accordance with hospital policy and procedure
• Accurately captures unit-specific telemetry charges
• Receives dietary requests and timely transmits requests to o Dietary before cut-off time for next meal
• Promotes adherence to the Health Sciences Compliance Program, the Howard University Code of Ethics and the Health Sciences Standards of Conduct
• Attends annual and periodic mandatory Compliance Program training including the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy training
• Adheres to the requirements of the HIPAA Privacy Policies and Procedures
• Establishes and maintains effective and harmonious work relationships with patients, visitors,  staff, physicians, Hospital and University officials, and the general public
• Assumes other duties and responsibilities that are related and appropriate to the position and area.  The above responsibilities are a general description of the level and nature of the work assigned to this classification and are not to be considered as all-inclusive

Qualified candidates will possess:

• High school graduate or General Equivalency Diploma (G.E.D.)
• One year of secretarial experience preferred.
• Knowledge of Medical Terminology
• Current American Heart Association BLS Certificate
• Basic computer skills

At Howard University Hospital our job is to care for you. We do this by offering:

Work life balance
Recognition and rewards for professional expertise
Competitive, comprehensive benefit plans offered (including health, disability, vacation, sick leave, and 403B retirement plan)