Job Responsibilities
My responsibilities are a variety and I need to be flexible to
help the Surgical Department. I am responsible for registering
patients for surgery when needed. This involves asking them
nicely private and personal information, such as, insurance,
birth date, social security number, telephone contact
information, place of work, complete name with spelling, and
contact persons in case of an emergency. Speed is important in
registration, so I must register a person in 5 minutes, even if
it calls for completing the whole Meditech account. Meditech is
a software program that most hospitals use across the country.
There is special training in order to use this program. It
allows a clerk, nurse, etc. to get private medical information
on each patient. I am responsible for placing orders for lab
work, x-rays, MRI, physical and respiratory therapy, spiritual
care, social work consultation, and other services needed.
Depending on the needs in one evening and if the patient is on
Medicare (requiring a LMRP) I may spend one to two hours on
order entry and verifying the order on the chart. I'm also
responsible for putting together charts for patients for the
next day. This involves 1-2 hours an evening, depending on how
many add on patients for the next day. There are many different
forms for each physician and the correct forms must be on the
charts. I must look up the Health and Physical H&P)for each
patient to be sure it is relevant to the procedure and it's
updated within 24 hours by the physician. All of this is
documented in a notebook, which I must keep accurate for future
reference in case an H&P is missing prior to surgery. I'm also
responsible for running reports for anesthesia and doctors,
which varies in the time spent. The room call lights are very
important in case the patient or nurse needs something. I answer
the call system. The patient recovery room depends on me for all
their orders from the physician. I also print and copy documents
and orders for nurses, etc. This can interfere with other
duties. I call patients if times are changed, so that they are
in day surgery on time. This can take up to 45 minutes to one
hour, depending on how many times changes there are for the next
day. I check the times and run a new schedule at 5:30 p.m. every
day to make sure the charts are accurate and patients were
notified of the times. In between all of the clerk task, I'm
responsible for notifying the families of their loved ones
conditions and when the doctor wants to talk with them I place
them in the conference room. I take families to patients rooms
when they are admitted. I also serve them drinks, snacks, and
whatever is needed. The family liaison position can take a few
hours of my time in the evening also. The nurses often need
assistance with wheeling patients down to their cars and I'm
also responsible for this task. This can take a long time if the
person driving is elderly and walks slow to the car, if the
weather is bad, and especially if the patient is waiting for a
taxi. Most evenings I work between 5 to 6 hours, but some
evenings as noted, the repsonsibilities make me work longer. I
don't leave until the nurses only have two patients left. That's
my rule. The nurses really depend upon the evening clerk to help
when needed.
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Job Requirements
Most clerks take a medical terminology class, a required
Meditech course, LMRP course, and must understand order entry
without any glitches due to the urgency of the orders. Clerks
need to be very fast typist even though only 50 words per minute
is required this is not what is needed to be helpful and
succeed. I think a clerk should type at least 80 words per
minute and maybe faster. A high school or two year secretarial
school should be required and is definately needed for the
position. Psychology and public relations is also helpful.
Learning all of the task takes experience no matter if the clerk
has an education. Most clerks also are Certified Nursing
Assistants (CNA) or a Licensed Practioned Nurse (LPN) because of
the need to understand the medical field and how the hospital
works.
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Uppers
I have really helped people when they needed help. The job can be emotional when
a person doesn't do well in surgery or the familiy is freaking out. I have played
a key role in helping the families deal with difficult situations and this is the
most rewarding for me. Most of the people I work with are friendly, and caring
people. I have been a part of numerous emergency situations and part of the team
to help save the life of these people. Until I experienced this life threatening
situation did I know truly what being humble is all about. This job has changed
the way I look at life and my compassion for those who are not lovable.
Unconditional love or caring is a must in an EXCEL company like Great River
Health Systems. Working in this environment helps in personal growth and self
esteem. I get paid good to learn about how to live not die.
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Downers
Sometimes it can be depressing when people are so ill and can't
be helped. The job is a go-getter job-doer position. The clerk
holds together the entire unit by keeping communicating and
helping each part of the systems come together smoothly. This
can also be too commanding. Many people will ask for a task at
the same time and prioritizing is a must. Some people are not
nice and in emergency situations they yell commands. This job is
not for the overly sensitive person. A person must be flexible
and sometimes this is difficult. Pleasing all people is not
always possible for a variety of reasons. There is a lot of
stress involved with the health systems paper work and this can
become overwhelming.
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Lifestyle
This position is not for the person who wants to dress up for work. Clerks,
nurses, doctors, etc. must wear scrubs. The work hours can vary, but the rule is
to work as long as is need to complete the job. There is no business travel
involved. The hospital has all kinds of social events, fundraisers, groups, and
educational classes to attend. People become very close due to the nature of the
environment. Even though the clerk does his/her own work and mostly by
himself/herself, the rest of the department chat and click when they have time.
Social life can be fun and meeting new close friends is inevitable. The health
industry is boom and there will be plenty of jobs available.
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Compensation
My compensation is based on a day shift base of $10.18 per hour,
evening an increase of $1.25 per hour, night is $1.75, and
weekend is $1 per hour for each shift. The pay can be good,
especially if you go into overtime on weekends! Bonuses are free
logo clothing for X-mas, a yearly gainsharing program bonus, 2%
match for pension and stock options, and full time medical
benefits for 60 per pay (based on a two week period). PTO hours
are available for reimbursement when employees go on vacations
or need Family Leave of Absence FMLA. The hours accumulate with
how many hours are worked.
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Advice to Jobseekers
Being a clerk or liaison is really a great job as far as I'm
concerned. I know these positions are available and will be in
the future with the predictions of the health care industry
booming with the baby boomers coming up. Matter a fact it is
known that the health care industry may not have enough workers
to take care of baby boomers. The field will be in demand. Any
persons with secretarial, public relations, etc. should consider
this field.
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