Certified Medical Assistant

POSITION SUMMARY

As a Medical Assistant (MA) at MASS LUNG & ALLERGY (MLA) this position performs a wide variety of duties and responsibilities in a manner that places emphasis on quality of care and customer service. The incumbent must work collaboratively with all Clinical services staff in support of direct patient services, exhibiting flexibility and a "can-do" attitude. Patient services are the key priority in this position requiring the MA to serve as a point of contact with other internal and external departments, all with the goal of fostering an environment which promotes patient comfort and trust.

The position must exemplify the core values and mission of the organization, always exercising utmost discretion, diplomacy and tact in patient/staff interactions.

Each medical assistant will be assigned to a provider and will be responsible for caring for that provider's needs, including rooming, administrative work and traveling to the locations in which that provider may be working. The essential duties and responsibilities included in this are outlined below.

• Prepares for patient appointments by reviewing and updating patient records prior to appointment.
• This includes checking for updates of recent test results, lab results, compliance reports and correspondence.
• Provides initial medical screening:
  Greets patients and directs to appropriate exam room; confirms the patient's identity by asking name and date of birth; checks weight, height, temp, blood pressure, respirations, and heart rate; verifies allergies, and reconciles medication lists; if the patient is a new patient, provide the physician with the disc of imaging if available and ensure imaging was done prior to the appointment;
  
  documents date of last flu and pneumonia accurately in medical chart according to generally accepted medical standards; documents Epworth Scoring in chart as needed.
• Appropriately prepares patient for visit and alerts physician when patient is ready to be seen. When physician is unavailable, the MA keeps the patient updated on the status of their appointment and when necessary assists the patient in re-scheduling or scheduling follow-up. Instructs patient as to general clinic policies, patients' rights and responsibilities as needed.
• Assists physician or nurse upon request during examination of patient and according to generally accepted medical standard; practices universal precautions with respect to established safety protocols; facilitates communication between the provider(s) and patient as needed.
• Clinical duties following the patient evaluation as recommended by the provider include (in addition initial medical screening #4.) teaching patients the proper use of inhalers, nebs, and other durable medical equipment, oximetry trending, alpha 1 testing, dispensing samples, administering immunizations, ordering labs and diagnostic imaging, administering neb treatments, transporting patients, triaging sick calls and walk in patients, performing office spirometry and Feno if available, and administering PPD.
• Maintains exam rooms according to protocols:
  Cleans rooms between patient exams to ensure patients' comfort and compliance with infection control standards; ensures all necessary supplies are stocked.
• Performs routine quality check of equipment and promptly reports damaged or missing equipment from patient rooms.
• Promptly reports when supplies are low and works with Clinical Supervisor to ensure timely reordering is completed.
• Utilizes time in a constructive and efficient manner by assisting in such duties as restocking rooms/shelves/trays, checking supplies and ensuring that all areas, exam rooms are clean and orderly, as well as maintaining their administrative work (as outlined in # 13).
• Maintains work station, according to protocol (keep free from meals and open beverages).
• Complete Clinical Administrative work which includes documents as assigned to MA per Provider needs, this includes but is not limited to: DME CMN's, Recertification prescriptions, medication refill requests, medication prior authorization requests, utility letters, housing letters, jury duty letters, handicap applications, PT 1 forms, FMLA/Disability forms; processes new orders for nebs, O2, CPAP, BIPAP, ASV, NIV, and other durable medical equipment;
  
  schedules referrals to outgoing providers (allergy, oncology, thoracic surgery, ENT etc); schedules procedures in local hospitals (bronchoscopy, CT guided biopsy, thoracentesis, pleurx cath placements etc) in addition to calling the patients to provide instructions to the procedure and processing the paperwork and applying for authorization if needed; call patients as directed by providers to relay results and other information; handle phone calls from patients regarding their concerns and appropriately document information to return to the provider;
  
  assist in hospital admissions.
• Provides support to Clinical Manager as assigned and as necessary for the smooth and efficient…