Outpatient Specialty Clinic Unit Clerk/Medical Assistant

Description

The Outpatient Clinic Unit Clerk/Medical Assistant provides both administrative and clinical support to promote safe, efficient, patient-centered operations within a hospital-based outpatient clinic. This position supports patients, providers, nursing staff, and other members of the interdisciplinary healthcare team through scheduling and clerical coordination, medical record preparation, patient intake and rooming, clinical assistance within scope, referral coordination, and maintenance of an organized clinic environment.

The Unit Clerk/MA serves as an important point of contact for patients and departments throughout the organization and is expected to demonstrate professionalism, accuracy, confidentiality, effective communication, and exceptional customer service.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

Patient Reception & Clinic Coordination

• Greets and assists patients, families, visitors, providers, and staff in a professional and courteous manner.
• Answers incoming telephone calls and routes messages appropriately.
• Verifies that demographic, contact, and other required patient information is complete and communicates discrepancies to the appropriate staff.
• Provides patients with clinic instructions, forms, and other approved information.
• Coordinates communication between patients, clinical staff, providers, and other hospital departments.
• Maintains patient confidentiality and protects private health information in accordance with HIPAA, hospital policy, and applicable regulations

Scheduling & Referral Coordination

• Schedules, reschedules, and cancels outpatient appointments in accordance with established clinic scheduling guidelines.
• Reviews orders and referrals for required information and routes incomplete or unclear requests to the appropriate clinical staff or provider for clarification.
• Coordinates appointments with other departments when multiple services, diagnostic studies, procedures, or follow-up visits are required.
• Communicates scheduling requirements, appointment information, and approved patient preparation instructions clearly and accurately.
• Assists with authorization-related workflow by ensuring required information is available and appropriately routed to staff responsible for prior authorization.
• Identifies scheduling conflicts or barriers to timely patient access and escalates concerns appropriately.

Patient Intake & Rooming

When functioning within the Medical Assistant role and permitted by organizational policy and applicable scope-of-practice requirements:

• Escorts and rooms patients in a timely, professional manner.
• Obtains and documents vital signs, height, weight, pain score, and other required information.
• Reviews and updates medication lists, allergies, pharmacy information, and relevant health history according to clinic workflow.
• Documents patient-reported information accurately in the electronic health record.
• Identifies abnormal findings or patient concerns and promptly communicates them to the appropriate licensed clinical staff.
• Prepares patients for examinations, treatments, and procedures according to provider and clinic protocols.
• Assists providers and licensed clinical staff during examinations and procedures as appropriate.
• Performs approved point-of-care testing or other clinical tasks when properly trained, competency validated and permitted by organizational policy.
• Cleans and prepares examination/procedure rooms between patients in accordance with infection-prevention requirements.

Requirements

Education

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Completion of an accredited or recognized Medical Assistant program preferred.
• Equivalent healthcare experience may be considered.

Experience

• Previous medical office, outpatient clinic, hospital, registration, scheduling, or patient-care experience preferred.
• Experience working in a multi-specialty or hospital-based outpatient clinic preferred.

Certification 

• Medical Assistant certification or registration, such as CMA (AAMA), RMA (AMT), CCMA (NHA), or other organization-approved credential, preferred 
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required.