Medical Assistant-HIV/STD Counselor

APLA Health - West Hollywood, CA

West Hollywood, CA

About the position

The HIV-STD Counselor/Medical Assistant will provide patient care services under the direction of a licensed health care provider inclusive of culturally appropriate HIV/STD services to APLA Health & Wellness patients. In collaboration with prevention program staff, the HIV/STD Counselor/Medical Assistant will work to identify HIV positive individuals who are part of our prevention programs and who are not yet linked to HIV medical care, including newly diagnosed individuals, persons who know their HIV status but have never been engaged in care, and others who know their status and have dropped out of care to access medical care services. The HIV-STD Counselor/Medical Assistant will perform administrative front office and clinical back office duties in the medical clinic, including submitting and tracking referrals, taking vital signs, preparing examining rooms, administering medications as ordered by a licensed healthcare provider, performing phlebotomy and other technical clinical functions.

Responsibilities

• Greets and register patients when needed; assists them with completion of necessary forms; answers telephones and schedules appointments; retrieves medical files; maintains medical records and files.
• Provide pre/post test client-centered HIV counseling.
• Conduct HIV/STD risk assessments.
• Provide HIV/STD risk reduction and prevention coaching/counseling.
• Prepares treatment rooms, ensuring that rooms are neat and clean, and stocked with the necessary supplies and equipment for patient examination; maintains sanitary and sterile supplies and equipment.
• Interviews patients to obtain basic medical information and history; measures and records vital signs, height, weight and body mass index (BMI); prepares medical records for provider review.
• Performs phlebotomy to collect blood samples; collects urine and other non-invasive specimens; logs specimens for testing; performs urine dip sticks and finger-sticks for hemoglobin and glucose measurements.
• Provides counseling and rapid HIV testing to clients seeking those services.
• Maintains monthly equipment logs, i.e. Glucometer, Hemocue, and Refrigerators.
• Develop a set of focused strategies, designed to improve the linkage (and ongoing engagement) to HIV primary medical care of recently diagnosed HIV-infected persons; individuals of known HIV status who have never sought medical care and HIV-infected persons who have dropped out of care and are no longer seeking HIV medical care and treatment.
• Assists physicians and nurses in examining and treating patients; handling instruments; preparing and disinfecting treatment sites; applying and removing dressing and bandages; administers medications in accordance with providers orders; administers subcutaneous and intramuscular injections as ordered by mid-level providers and physicians.
• Assist in the preparation of reports as requested.
• Maintain HIV/STD testing records to ensure that all documentation required by funders and agency Quality Management Plan is on file.
• Carries out patient discharge processes; clarifies and provides patients with follow-up care instructions and referrals.
• Follows steps outlined in APLA Health & Wellness referral tracking policy to ensure that patients gets the referrals needed and that referrals are appropriately logged and tracked.
• Administers Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) in a medical emergency.
• May be required to work overtime as shift coverage is essential to providing patient care and must be available on an as needed basis which may include evenings and weekends.
• May be required to work at various APLA Health sites as needed.

Requirements

• High School diploma or GED equivalent required.
• Successful completion of a Medical Assistant training program in a recognized institution in accordance with standards established by the Medical Board of California.
• Successful completion of LA County's Division of HIV and STD Programs' HIV Test Counselor Certification required within first 90-days of hire.