Clinical Support Assistant

Department Overview

The Clinical Support Assistant (CSA) provides a wide range of clinical and non-clinical support duties as part of the medical care team. The team includes various providers, residents, fellows, technicians, as well as additional learners and professionals within the practice. Primary duties of this position are; rooming of patients (excluding any mediation related activities such as reconciliation, preparation, administration, allergy documentation or reconciliation), collecting patient vital signs, documentation in IHR, maintaining clinic flow, cleaning and stocking exam rooms, and providing clerical support as required to maintain clinic flow and operations including, but not limited to; incoming/outgoing faxes, patient paper work(questionnaires, FMLA, provider signatures, no show letters, etc.), scanning, Epic In Basket management (not triage related). Work may take place in-person in clinic or using telecommunications or telehealth equipment. Requires strong written and verbal communication with efficiency and diplomacy. Service excellence, kindness, and compassion to all customers, including patients and other OHSU team members is an absolute requirement. Participates in ongoing professional development and competency assessment, and participates in ongoing quality assurance and quality improvement initiatives. The Clinical Support Assistant must have a commitment to continuous, ongoing improvement of processes and clinical operations. This includes participating in OHSU Performance Excellence (OPEx) training, sharing knowledge and learnings with others, participating in regular and ongoing process improvement reporting mechanisms (huddles, improvement rounds, abnormality trackers), as well as completing process improvement projects as assigned and appropriate for scope of work and classification. Performs requirements for staff members as outlined in OHSU Core Competencies, policies, and procedures. The Clinicial Support Assistant works under the clinical direction of the physician, and has a direct reporting relationship to Practice Management.

Function/Duties of Position

Key Responsibilities & Performance Standards

 

Patient Care

• Assists in admission process by recording patient’s name, address, phone number, age, and other personal information; takes and records vital signs such as blood pressure, pulse rate, respiration rate, and temperature; makes appointment for patient or refers patient to medical staff for immediate examination or treatment; transports patient to examination or treatment room with use of wheelchair or gurney or assists patient to walk. May assist in workflow coordination of daily operations between front desk and back office to ensure patient and provider flow is efficient, such as by continuous monitoring of providers schedules to assure timeliness, identifying barriers to patient flow; communicating with front and back office throughout the day regarding patient and provider continuous flow, participating with patient scheduling, room turnover, and other clinical tasks as required to maintain patient and provider flow.

Facility Maintenance

• Removes used and un-sterile supplies and instruments from examination or treatment rooms; stocks rooms with sterile supplies and instruments; washes and sterilizes instruments or sends to central supply for sterilization; takes inventory of supplies, equipment, and instruments; orders supplies or requisitions them through unit superior.
• MiscellaneousAnswers phones, and responds to non-medical questions; files and retrieves patient’s records; runs errands such as delivering specimens to labs, picking up x-rays or lab reports; transports equipment such as oxygen tanks to other locations within facility.

Training

• Complete various trainings including training on the OHSU Performance Excellence (OPEx) systemOngoing Quality ImprovementSupport ongoing improvement efforts, such as abnormality tracking, scheduled improvement rounds, improvement meetings, and timely completion of assigned of improvement projects.

Required Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent, ANDOne year of experience with high volume contact with the public;
• OR 6 months of medical office experience, with high volume contact with patientsFluency in written and spoken English.
• Must be able to communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
• Excellent telephone communication skills.
• BLS/CPR within six weeks of hire and then maintained without interruption.

Preferred Qualifications

• Associates Degree
• Intermediate computer proficiency
• Ability to successfully serve a variety of diverse customers in difficult situations
• Ability to pro