Medical History Specialist - Medication Administration

About the Role

Penn Medicine is dedicated to our tripartite mission of providing the highest level of care to patients, conducting innovative research, and educating future leaders in the field of medicine. Working for this leading academic medical center means collaboration with top clinical, technical, and business professionals across all disciplines.

Responsibilities

• Collects a list of the patient’s current home medications in anticipation of hospital admission.
• Gathers information from various resources (physician offices, community pharmacy, historical encounter, extended care facility, another acute care facility) to ensure a complete and accurate entry into the hospital’s computer system.
• Effectively communicates with other health care professionals to maintain appropriate patient flow and identify patient-specific needs (language barriers, educational, financial, etc.).
• Accurately enters the home medication list into the hospital’s information system for utilization by the Provider responsible for admitting the patient.
• Completes the computer entry of the home medication list in a timely manner so it can be used as the foundation for the patient’s admission medication orders.
• Directs any unresolved issues to the Pharmacist.
• Administers defined medications (vaccinations).
• Demonstrates competency and accountability in the use of medication safety technology (Pyxis and barcode scanning for patient and medication identification).
• Performs screening assessments for drug and alcohol, suicide, Hep C, pneumococcal, and influenza.
• Places orders (medication, lab, and support services) as a result of the screening tool.
• Serves as a primary training resource for new employee training.
• Performs data analysis with data entry into hospital-defined databases.
• Provides educational opportunities to the health system.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• High school diploma or successful completion of General Educational Development (GED) exam is required.
• LPN or RN licensure; or Pharmacist with vaccine licensure such as an immunization certification through an accredited organization (American Pharmacists Association - APhA).
• Must obtain 80% or higher on department-administered exam on key elements of the medication history process (administered post-employment).
• General computer skills.
• Considerable knowledge of medication names (both trade and generic), their uses, doses, and routes of administration.
• Ability to identify medications based on markings.
• Excellent patient interview skills.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with patients and other health care professionals.
• Two (2) years of previous hospital health care experience.

Qualifications

• Licensed Practical Nurse (Required)
• Registered Nurse - PA (Required)
• Immunization Approval (Required)
• H.S. Diploma/GED (Required)
• Vocational/Trade Diploma (Required)

Benefits

We offer a comprehensive compensation and benefits program that includes one of the finest prepaid tuition assistance programs in the region.