Physician Assistant Ortho CCH (Per Diem)
About The Position
The Physician Assistant provides orthopedic care across emergency, inpatient, surgical, and outpatient settings. The role includes evaluating orthopedic emergency patients, preparing pre-operative patients for surgery, serving as a surgical first assistant, and managing inpatient and outpatient care in collaboration with orthopedic surgeons and other clinicians. The PA works under the immediate physician supervisor, whose scope of practice limits the PA’s scope, and follows the supervising surgeon’s clinical priorities and assignments. The position also includes hospital call coverage as needed, coordination with orthopedic residents, Hospital Physician Service physicians, and other surgical PAs and NPs, timely clinical documentation and billing, maintaining required certifications and privileges, and supporting service excellence and continuous improvement.
Requirements
- Graduate of an accredited Physician Assistant training program.
- Currently licensed as a Physician Assistant in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
- U.S. Department of Justice and Massachusetts Controlled Substance DEA registrations are required for prescribing practitioners.
- Current BLS certification.
- ACLS certification within 3 months of starting the position.
- Able to work well under pressure, remain patient-focused, work independently, and recognize when and how to ask for help.
- Communicate effectively and participate actively on the healthcare team.
Nice To Haves
- Two years of orthopedic surgical experience, including experience as a first assistant in the operating room.
Responsibilities
- Perform history and physical examinations for orthopedic emergency patients when admission is planned.
- Arrange necessary consultations and testing to support medical clearance of orthopedic pre-operative patients.
- Serve as surgical first assistant to orthopedic surgeons during elective and emergency procedures.
- Provide initial orthopedic evaluation and treatment for emergency room patients already evaluated by an emergency room physician, and prepare patients for attending orthopedic surgeon evaluation and treatment when appropriate.
- Collaborate with orthopedic residents to avoid duplicating services.
- Provide services to orthopedic inpatients, including responding to nurses’ calls, expediting discharges, and completing documentation at an attending surgeon’s request as time allows.
- Conduct outpatient office visits for new patients, routine follow-ups, and acute care.
- Order and interpret laboratory and radiology results and formulate plans of care according to protocols.
- Manage inpatients medically on a daily basis in collaboration with a physician.
- Coordinate orthopedic emergency admissions and pre-operative and post-operative medical management with Hospital Physician Service physicians.
- Coordinate duties with other surgical PAs and NPs to avoid duplication or omission of services.
- Coordinate clinical services with the orthopedic surgeon and defer to the surgeon’s decisions about clinical priorities and assignments.
- Maintain complete and accurate documentation of clinical work and submit billing encounter sheets promptly.
- Maintain required certifications and CCH medical staff privileges as an orthopedic PA.
- Work closely with the attending surgeon supervising the patient and remain within that physician’s scope of practice.
- Provide hospital call coverage for the supervising physician as needed.
- Comply with CCH Medical Staff By-Laws and Rules and Regulations, Human Resource policies, and CCH Corporate compliance policies.
- Provide service excellence to patients, family members, visitors, volunteers, and coworkers.
- Identify opportunities to improve processes and present recommendations and solutions to management.
- Participate in, support, and promote CCHC Pillars of Excellence and the organization’s continuous-improvement culture.
- Perform other job functions as required.
