We have two openings for this position.
Position Summary:
- The Administrative Laboratory Technician reports to the Supervisor.
- Responsible for facilitating the exchange of information between customers: patients, families, healthcare teams, other departments, vendors, billing, or outside agencies.
- Serves as an initial point of contact for customers either in person or by phone and handles all administrative (non-technical) aspects of the patient encounter and maintains accurate information on each patient to facilitate encounter.
- Receives specimens, verifies proper patient identification on specimens, requisition and associated documentation.
- Reviews documentation to ensure for adequate and accurate information.
- Enters patient and specimen information into the Epic Beaker and generates a unique accession number, for the specimen/requisition labels, and tissue cassettes.
- Assigns each specimen to the correct fellow and Attending Pathologist. Is responsible for ensuring each specimen is given to the correct fellow in a timely manner.
- Investigates, corrects, and documents discrepant/problem specimens to ensure the highest quality and patient safety as described in departmental procedures.
- Responsible for the accurate and timely transcription and billing of Pathology diagnostic work.
- Has a knowledge of Pathology CPT coding to apply correct billing of basic procedure codes.
- Demonstrates a clear understanding of the billing rules to correctly code/bill routine technical and professional fee work.
- Responsible for quality assurance by verification of patient demographics.
- Responsible for the cataloguing and maintaining an extensive archival collection of materials, including microscopic slides, paraffin blocks, and permanent save wet tissue.
- Ensures a clean, orderly laboratory and archival area.
- Responsible for delivering materials to specified location as requested.
- Maybe required to perform other clerical support duties as assigned.
- Assigned duties involve strong customer service including but not limited to: calls for reports, specimens, interface with patients, clinicians, internal contacts and outside institutions.
- Required to interact with house and support staff, attending pathologists, physicians/surgeons and other service users.
- Accountable for standards of service excellence including patient and or interpersonal relations, teamwork, communication, continuous performance improvement and self management and accountability.
- Understand HIPAA and departmental specific policies related to medical records, including any discussion, faxing and handling of patient medical records.
- Responsible for facilitating information exchange.
Competencies:
Education:
- High School Diploma or GED required. Successful completion of a Medical Terminology Training course, highly desired.
Knowledge:
- Knowledge of laboratory techniques relating to qualitative and quantitative testing procedures and equipment maintenance.
Skills:
- Ability to prioritize work and handle detailed information under tight deadlines.
- Must have good reasoning ability.
- Ability to work independently.
- Responsible for performing competency testing (biennially for new employees employed less than one year) when scheduled.
- Adapts to changes in processes, accepting approved changes and learning new tasks.
- Knowledge of computers, data entry, fax machine, photo-copy machine and other general office equipment.
- Analytical ability to work with numbers and accuracy is essential.
- Communication and interpersonal skills to interact with patients, clinicians and other staff.
- Understand implications of incorrect entries and effects on patient diagnoses and billing.
- Organized, knowledge of record keeping and filing.
- Familiar with web based applications and can easily develop skills on new systems, such as Federal Express or UPS tracking software.
- Maintain cooperative working relationships within a confined area.
- Position requires frequent use of the telephone, while multi-tasking to retrieve or review information from the computer in order to assist callers quickly and confidentially.
- Must be able to communicate confidential information in a clear, concise, and professional manner to a diverse audience.
- Staff may be required to complete annual competency review, and must insure compliance with Hospital Policy, Laboratory Policy & Procedure, Health, Safety & Environment regulations, and all applicable privacy & confidentiality laws/practices.
Required Licensure Certification, etc.
- No certification required.
Work Experience:
- Two years customer service or administrative or outside experience as Laboratory Technician required, and successful demonstration of the required skills.
Machines, Tools, Equipment:
- Computer, Copier, Fax, Telephone, and all general office equipment.
- Typing 40-50 wpm.
Dimensions:
- Budget Responsibility: Effectively utilizes resources within their control.
- Authority/Decision Making Level: Makes decisions based on laboratory protocol and experience and communicates actions taken with the Supervisor or Manager.
- Supervisory Responsibility: May assist in training peer level or lower level lab employees, volunteers, and students and provide feedback to leadership.
Problem Solving:
- Ability to detect and resolve or refer problems appropriately.
Information Management:
- Reads and understands laboratory procedures.
- Enters patient information, test requests and test results into the computer consistently and accurately.
- Participates in the management and maintenance of laboratory logs, including communication and specimen logs and/or hand off communication.
Working Conditions:
- While performing the duties of this job, the employee may remain in a stationary position (sitting or standing) up to 70% of the time.
- Required to traverse throughout the work area or to retrieve/deliver equipment, supplies, or specimens from other locations on campus throughout the day (see below regarding transport duties).
- Individual will crouch or bend frequently during the day to retrieve or work with materials and during package processing.
- The employee is required to operate computer keyboard and mouse 75% of the day and must have dexterity for handling small glass slides and other specimens.
- Constantly repositions self to perform duties at work stations, gathering specimens.
- Other repetitive hand motions may be required for completing administrative tasks.
- Prolonged vision requirements including viewing computer screen, paper reports/documents and charts.
- The employee will be handling bodily fluids and tissue samples.
- While this position works primarily in an office environment, there is activity in Laboratory environments - Exposure to toxins and infectious agents exist, but potential for personal injury or harm is minimized if established safety and health precautions are followed.
- Working in laboratory where there may be discomforts due to odors, noise, temperature fluctuations, and working around lab equipment.
- Transports materials usually less than 40 pounds from one area to another; this includes when assigned walking multiple times per day to other locations on campus (up to 1 hour of walking at a time). When needed, staff uses a cart to transport items, which would require pushing or pulling.
- While walking surface is often inside on tiled floors, it also includes walking outside between buildings on uneven pavement on occasion.
- May be required to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds with proper training, or precautions/lifting aides (example: file boxes, specimen deliveries). In some areas, work space is confined.
- This is a Required Attendance position - in the event of unexpected university closings including inclement weather or declared emergency, the employee in this position is required to report to work and/or remain at work and may be required to work additional hours.