Medical Assistant

Job Summary

The Medical Assistant at Hardwick Area Health Center supports clinical procedures, rooms patients, assists with documentation, and helps coordinate care. This role offers opportunities to expand skills, learn from experienced providers, and grow within a mission-driven healthcare organization.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position has no direct supervisory responsibilities.

Clinical Functions

• Maintains patient, staff confidentiality according to Northern Counties Health Care policy and state and federal law.
• Reviews charts prior to patient’s scheduled appointment to ensure all requested lab work and diagnostic procedures have been completed and reports are accessible.
• Obtains and records patient vital signs, height, weight, and reason for visit.
• Performs vision screening and test for color blindness, provides patient education materials as necessary.
• Directs patients to exam rooms; assists in preparing patients for examination.
• Affixes to providers with patient examinations and procedures; interacts with patients regarding clinical complaints for effective and immediate response and resolution.
• Refers any patient complaint to Nurse Manager/Practice Manager for resolution.
• Carrries out appointments for patients requiring blood pressure checks, throat cultures as prescribed by the provider.
• Documents care actions and patient responses in the electronic medical record.
• Organizes and prioritizes care with minimal assistance.
• Maintains patient education literature for distribution.
• Collects specimens following successful training, performs venipuncture, capillary stick, collects urine specimens, performs testing for occult blood in stool, handles all specimens using Standard Precautions, infection control and hazardous waste removal practices, may perform PT/INR finger stick, completes lab forms through Computerized Physician Order Entry, processes laboratory samples and ships to reference labs.
• Performs diagnostic testing, including EKGs, pulmonary function tests.

Administrative Functions

• Participates in quality assurance activities and all training seminars.
• Orders all medical supplies, verifies shipments, resolves backorders and initiates returns, as appropriate.
• Ensures adequate supply of clean linens.
• Performs quality checks on all office clinical machines.
• Reports equipment malfunction to the Practice Manager.
• Affixes to nursing in quality control of medications by checking expired medications.

Fundamental Procedures

• Sets up for patient exam, instrument trays for procedures, including sterile procedures.
• Cleans, wraps and sterilizes instruments.
• Takes wrapped instruments to sterile processing as appropriate within the practice.
• Cleans and monitors the sterilization equipment.
• Keeps nursing area, lab area, medical storage area, patient exam rooms stocked, clean and orderly.

Position Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Basic Life Support for Health Care Providers certification required upon employment and must be maintained.
• Minimum one-year experience in a community health center, medical office, or similar setting preferred.
• Certification from an approved course of medical assistant or nursing assistant study preferred.
• Familiarity with public health and community health issues.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills appropriate to diverse patient populations.
• Ability to work collaboratively in a team setting with staff at all organizational levels.
• Skilled in multitasking, handling interruptions, and managing unexpected situations.
• Basic medical office lab test competency required.
• Computer literacy required, including Microsoft Word, internet/intranet, EMR systems, and keyboarding.
• Working knowledge of ICD-9/10 and CPT coding preferred.
• Knowledge of and adherence to Standard Precautions.
• Physically able to lift up to 50 pounds, stand/walk for long periods, and respond to emergency situations.
• Exposure to bodily fluids and communicable diseases possible; must be able to work under stress and irregular hours when needed.