Medical Assistant - Community Health Worker (Street Medicine)

Neighborhood Healthcare•Escondido, CA

4d•$25 - $35•Onsite

About The Position

This is a combined role that directly supports the Street Medicine team, integrating the functions of an Enhanced Care Management (ECM) Community Health Worker (CHW) and a Medical Assistant (MA). The ECM CHW aspect focuses on improving patients' overall health through outreach, engagement, and by helping them navigate and access community services and resources, as well as adopt healthy behaviors. In the Medical Assistant role, the position supports the street medicine physician assistant in providing excellent patient-centered care within a dynamic field team environment. This role is a key component of the Street Medicine program, responsible for engaging and enrolling individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness into ECM. The position must adapt to a shifting landscape to meet the ECM needs of homeless and underserved populations and is integrated within the Street Medicine team, which includes multi-department staff. A shared responsibility for all non-clinical support staff on the team is driving a Neighborhood branded vehicle for the Street Medicine program.

Requirements

High school/GED required.
Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification required upon hire and must be maintained as a condition of employment.
Valid Medical Certificate from an accredited program required.
Two years’ medical assistant experience required.
Two years’ healthcare, behavioral health, street medicine, or social services industry experience required.
Experience with venipuncture/specimen collection and immunization administration based on provider orders required.
Must meet Neighborhood vehicle driver eligibility requirements to support shared responsibility to drive Neighborhood vehicle to support field services.
Ability to perform intermediate computer and data entry skills.
Ability to apply emotional and cultural intelligence to provide appropriate communication and patient care.
Ability to sufficiently engage patients in a variety of settings including phone, in person/homes, community streets/shelters, and/or healthcare settings.
Ability to develop relationships with community patients and leaders, including faith-based community.
Ability to make decisions and sound judgments to anticipate the needs of patients and knowing when to consult with the team, supervisors, and experts.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills, including superior composition, typing and proofreading skills.
Ability to interpret a variety of instructions in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form.
Ability to successfully manage multiple tasks simultaneously, including changing priorities and time-sensitive deadlines.
Excellent planning and organizational ability.
Excellent teamwork and relationship building skills.
Ability to work as part of a team as well as independently.
Ability to work with highly confidential information in a professional and ethical manner.
Positive, professional, and collaborative attitude and communication.
Ability to lift/carry 20 lbs/weight.
Ability to stand for long periods of time.
Follow all safety procedures as outlined in Neighborhood Healthcare’s Illness and Injury Prevention Plan (IIPP) and report any injuries and/or unsafe conditions immediately.
Maintain current knowledge of policies and procedures as they relate to safe work practices.
Follow all safety procedures and report unsafe conditions.
Use appropriate body mechanics to ensure an injury-free environment.
Be familiar with the location of the nearest fire extinguisher and emergency exits.
Follow all infection control procedures including blood-borne pathogen protocols.
Maintain privacy of all patients, employees, and volunteer information and access such information only on a need-to-know basis for business purposes.
Comply with all regulations regarding corporate integrity and security obligations.
Report all behavior and/or activity that is unethical, fraudulent, or unlawful.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with unsheltered homeless and/or personal lived homelessness experience preferred.
Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred.
Experience working in outreach and customer service within the medical office and behavioral health environments with individuals who struggle with substance use disorder and mental health issues preferred.
Knowledgeable about and experience with numerous cultural issues, such as immigration, socioeconomic, LGBTQIA+, seniors, etc.
Knowledgeable about and experience with trauma-informed practices, mental health conditions and addictive disorders.
Knowledgeable about community-based resources, especially non-professional resources and their reputation in the community.

Responsibilities

Maintains situational awareness and ensures scene safety when providing services in the community.
Conducts community outreach and establishes trusting relationships with patients while providing general support and encouragement.
Manages and provides ongoing follow-ups to an assigned caseload of patients, including scheduling appointments, using EMR, motivational interviewing, goal setting, conducting visits, assisting with access barriers, providing referrals, and connecting patients with transportation resources.
Liaises between patients and community service agencies to ensure patient needs and rights are met, collaborating with community providers for continuity of care.
Assists patients in navigating the healthcare system by finding and following up with eligible ECM patients.
Documents and shares patient barriers with the ECM team and PCP to improve care and outcomes.
Utilizes evidence-based approaches, such as motivational interviewing, to increase patients' sense of control over their health.
Communicates and delivers health and wellness information, including ECM patient benefits and services.
Advocates on behalf of ECM patients to community and provider organizations.
Builds and maintains positive working relationships with providers through various communication methods.
Assists the ECM team and providers in understanding patient and community culture, norms, beliefs, and preferences.
Helps create culturally relevant messages and materials for patients.
Works collaboratively within the ECM team for discussions on responsibilities, task sharing, conflict resolution, and patient case reviews.
Collaborates on patient care issues with other ECM team patients.
Participates in weekly case reviews and consults with the patient's PCP before taking clinical action.
Ensures documentation is accurate, helpful, and compliant with regulatory requirements and accreditation standards, including timely recording in eCW and managed care plans ECM portal.
Participates in required staff meetings or other assigned activities.
Assumes shared responsibility for driving the Neighborhood vehicle with non-clinical support staff.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Communicates and performs clinical care services with patients.
Takes patient vital signs, medical history, and obtains patient intake information.
Performs clinical procedures such as blood draws, vaccines, nebulizer treatments, ear lavages, and EKGs.
Assists in medical services, office procedures, and a variety of hands-on patient care tasks, relaying appropriate health information to necessary personnel.
Discusses patient needs and provides education and resources to patients directly.
Ensures mobile medicine vehicle is stocked and cleaned.
Conducts follow-ups with patients via phone calls, encampment visits, and visits to other settings where patients are located.
Provides patient care in a manner that is trauma-informed, non-discriminatory, non-judgmental, and compliant with policies and procedures.
Coordinates provider workflows to ensure efficient patient care.
Ensures providers have all pertinent information required for each patient visit, including diagnostic images, labs, medication reconciliation, and required screenings.
Assists other providers and care teams in women’s health, pediatrics, and general medicine departments as needed.
Utilizes electronic health records to order, process, and document clinical treatment plans for patients as directed by the provider.
Conveys information to patients via telephone or email under the direction of a provider or Registered Nurse.
Acts as a patient advocate and liaison between the patient and community-based organizations.
Consults and collaborates with community providers to ensure continuity of care.
Schedules patient appointments and encounters patients using EMR Registration programs.
Provides patients with requested documents after review to ensure forms are complete, accurate, and executed by the provider.
Completes ongoing/annual training for position compliance.