Shift: Days

Job Summary:

Responsible for planning, supervising and evaluating the day-to-day operations of the lab outreach services function to facilitate the highest quality of services provided in accordance with policies, standards and applicable regulatory requirements. Work includes: 1) oversight of all CHI Mercy Health (CHI-MH) Patient Service Centers (PSC) and lab staff working in provider offices (e.g. IOP [in-office phlebotomists]); 2) establishing/cultivating relationships with new/existing customers/clients of the CHI-MH Laboratory; 3) coordinating/overseeing the set-up/start-up of new clients, including logistics, phlebotomy services, information system connectivity, billing, supplies, etc; 4) working in collaboration with clinic management to address lab-related issues and provide support/educational resources to ensure specimen collection/handling procedures are followed; 5) recommending/implementing administrative procedures, and addressing quality assurance issues and staff training needs; and 6) supervising/evaluating the work of PSC and IOP staff.

Work requires knowledge of outpatient laboratory service operations and a variety of applicable regulatory requirements sufficient to ensure quality and compliant patient care and to exercise judgment and critical thinking in resolving moderately complex issues. Also requires expertise in supervising/evaluating the work of assigned staff, and in identifying/implementing process improvements.

Essential Duties:

Operations:

• Supervises daily operations of the assigned clinical area/work unit to facilitate the safe and appropriate delivery of diagnostic and/or therapeutic patient care, facilitate achievement of clinical core measurement scores and to ensure that all activities are conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner and in compliance with organizational values, professional standards, internal policies/standards/procedures and/or applicable regulatory requirements; works, in conjunction with other CHI-MH Lab management staff, to support the needs of clinics; oversees the resolution of daily clinical, administrative and operational issues, and monitors/troubleshoots service recovery and other escalated concerns, resolving within defined scope of responsibility; implements and enforces quality control/quality assurance and productivity standards; ensures that applicable standards, systems and procedures are understood and followed; monitors and audits related documentation to ensure conformance with established standards relating to timeliness, and accuracy; prepares periodic productivity reports and program updates for review of higher-level authority.
• Participates in the development of, and implements new clinical systems/programs to enhance existing services and raise the standard of care for the patient population served; produces and presents reports on key performance indicators and other significant benchmarking metrics.

Staff Supervision and Development:

• Schedules, supervises and evaluates the work of staff who perform lab support activities (e.g. collecting/ preparing/processing lab specimens for testing/analysis, collecting patient demographic/insurance/billing data, patient registration, etc), ensuring that staff are qualified and properly trained to perform assigned job duties; assists in identifying adequate staffing levels for appropriate coverage to meet budgetary and operational objectives; in conjunction with Director/Manager, interviews job candidates and makes employment and other personnel decisions in accordance with established guidelines; orients employees and holds regular staff meetings to keep employees appraised of all matters relevant to successful job performance; approves timecards; communicates performance standards, assesses clinical competency and evaluates employee performance; counsels employees, providing constructive feedback and recognizing results achieved; participates in performance management activities and resolves technical issues referred by subordinates as beyond their scope of authority.

Monitors Compliance:

• Interprets, and monitors compliance with, applicable internal/external legal and regulatory agreements, standards and requirements; keeps abreast of changing regulatory requirements/regulations, professional standards and competitive industry practices impacting assigned functions, as well as organizational initiatives/changes with potential to impact current operations; monitors impact on existing activities and identifies/implements effective response/solution while maintaining acceptable service levels and work quality.

Other Essential Duties:

• Establishes and cultivates relationships with existing customers/clients of the CHI-MH laboratory; coordinates and oversees the start-up, and related set-up, of new clients (e.g. logistics, systems connectivity, billing, phlebotomy services, supplies, etc); consults with clinic management to assess service expectations and uses feedback to enhance service level provided so that client expectations are consistently met; troubleshoots client issues, providing rapid response/resolution within designated scope of responsibility or elevates issues to higher-level authority in accordance with established procedures; provides client feedback to lab management with respect to issues impacting customer satisfaction.
• Oversees the start-up of new PSCs in accordance with established guidelines, (e.g. organization/timing of project tasks, determining staffing model, equipment and furnishings, LIS devices, courier pickup scheduling, coordinating with other stakeholders, etc) to ensure that the PSC opens on schedule, fully functional and within budget; oversees the tracking and follow up on contracts/agreements needed (e.g. rental/lease, reference lab, phlebotomy, operational etc).

License/Certification:

• Medical Technologist or Medical Laboratory Technician desireable.
• Non licensed lab personnel are encouraged to apply.

Experience:

• Three (3) years of work experience in a clinical laboratory setting that would demonstrate attainment of the requisite job knowledge/abilities, including two (2) years in a “lead” or supervisory capacity.
• Experience in healthcare sales/support, billing, managed care and government regulation compliance is preferred.

• Associate’s degree required. In the absence of a higher education degree, seven years of related work experience in a clinical laboratory environment that would demonstrate attainment of the requisite job knowledge/abilities, including two years in a “lead” or supervisory capacity, may be substituted.