Medical Assistant-Virtual Care Team

Job Description

Job Description

The Virtual Care Team (VCT) is a new grant funded initiative at Unity Health Care dedicated to changing healthcare delivery by using technology to meet the needs of our patients. This position offers the benefit a flexible/hybrid schedule but requires that the VCT Medical Assistant remains highly accountable to the VCT priorities and patient outcomes, and requires the ability to successfully communicate with team members in a remote and asynchronous setting. Training will be on-site for up to 90-days. Therefore, the VCT Medical Assistant will need to reside within commuting distance into Washington, D.C.

The VCT consists of:

• VCT Provider
• VCT Clinical Nurse, RN
• VCT Medical Assistant
• Population Health Team

The VCT Medical Assistant, under the supervision of Director of Nursing for Clinical Services, the VCT Medical Assistant provides basic patient care in a community health center setting. Working with health care providers and other health center employees, the Medical Assistant is an integral part of the patient care team. The Medical Assistant is directly responsible for, but not limited to, initiating medical history, vital signs, height, weight, preparing patients for examination, reporting special problems or complaints to providers, assist in making appropriate health center/referral appointments for patients, and assist with follow up of missed appointments.

MAJOR DUTIES/ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Essential and other important responsibilities and duties may include, but are not limited to the following:

• Utilizes strength-based patient-centered motivational interviewing techniques to build rapport and help patients improve their health.
• Participates in the development, maintenance, and adjustment of individualized care plans for high-risk patients that address both medical and social barriers to accessing care.
• Refills routine medications
• Maintains patient and Electronic Health Record (EHR) confidentiality.
• Prepares patient and EHR for provider visit, reports special problems or complaints to the provider, and assists during exam as needed.
• Accurately documents basic vital signs, height, weight, chief complaint, and initiates appropriate medical and social history for adult and pediatric patients.
• Executes Pre-Visit Planning for Primary Provider and Patient -Centered Medical Home (PCMH) team.
• Regularly provides basic chronic disease health education to patients as necessary.
• Assists with processing appropriate referrals and appointments for patients, obtaining authorizations as needed, and follows up to determine if appointments were kept as scheduled.
• Communicates and assists in effective discharge of the patient.
• Acts as a professional liaison between hospitals, primary care providers, specialists, community resources and Managed Care Organizations on behalf of patients to ensure patient-centered care coordination.
• Identifies and tracks special populations, including high-risk patients and other populations due for preventive or chronic care services.
• Helps patients obtain the care they want and need, when they need it, which may include: assistance with financial/insurance options, solutions for transportation and translation services, and removal or resolution of other barriers to care.
• Identifies and tracks patients discharged from the inpatient service or the emergency department.
• Uses team-based communication strategies to close the loop on referrals, hospital follow-ups and any outstanding items identified in the patient’s care plan.
• Supports the virtual care team by providing panel management to decrease the number of patients lost to care, non-compliant in follow up care or disconnected from primary care.
• Identifies opportunities to close gaps in care.
• Works with inter-professional team members to identify barriers to care, with the goal of finding solutions and resources to remove the barriers to care.
• Assists patients with navigating the healthcare system, including but not limited to working with pharmacies, social service agencies, and insurance agencies as well as internal services such as the lab and other discharge processes.
• Participates in interdisciplinary case conferences and team meetings.
• Provides culturally appropriate health education.
• Communicates patient-related needs to appropriate clinical staff, including those on the patient’s care team as well as those providing care coordination and care management services.
• Completes activities that help inform the patient-centered care plan, with Support from nursing and social service staff.
• Adheres to Unity’s HIPAA guidelines and ensures the appropriate handling of sensitive information.
• Demonstrates appropriate customer service with internal and external customers.
• Follows Universal Precautions and Unity Health Care policies and procedures.
• Performs other duties as assigned within the scope of position expectations.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

• High school diploma or GED.
• Graduate of accredited Medical Assistant program with diploma.
• Certification as a Clinical Medical Assistant to be obtained within 9 months of hire.
• Current BLS + AED CPR certification.
• Must have reliable Wi-fi service/coverage
• Must have a dedicated work area to conduct telemedicine visits

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Effective and professional communication and interpersonal skills with internal and external customers.
• Willingness to articulate Unity’s mission through his/her work.

#UHCHP