What are the responsibilities and job description for the Ophthalmic Assistant position at Kaiser Permanente?
Job Summary:
Provide technical and patient care support either in a clinic or on the phone as a member of the Eye Care team. In clinic perform measurement and evaluation tests and perform specified procedures. On phone acts as a triage point for urgent, emergent and general Eye Care needs. May support fitting of contact lenses and provide patient instruction.
Essential Responsibilities:
- Patient Assessment: Anticipates and recognizes changes in the patients eye health status and needs for eye care. Clinic only-History taking: Presenting complaint/history of presenting illness, past ocular history, family history, systemic illness, past and present, medications, allergies and drug reactions. Phone only-Using the Eye Care triage process, provides telephone consultation to patients. Determines priorities of patient care based on essential patient needs and available resources.
- Clinical Exam (clinic only) Basic Testing Skills: methods of measuring/recording acuity, color vision testing, lensometry, A-scan biometry, Exophthalmometry Amsler Grid, Schirmer, Tests Evaluation of Pupils, Estimation of Anterior chamber depth, Visual field evaluation. Perform Patient Services Procedures: Ocular dressings and shields, Drug delivery, spectacle principles, assisting patient, minor surgery assist and instruction. Instrument Maintenance: Acuity projectors, ophthalmoscopes, retinoscopes, lensometers, perimeters, tangent screen, phoropters, slit lamps, ultrasound, keratometers, lenses, tonometers, muscle light, special instruments, surgical instruments.
- Appointing: Clinic-May check-in or make follow up appointments. Phone-Provides appropriate schedule guidance through use of technical skill and judgement along with established protocols.
- Patient Care: Encourages patient compliance with established therapeutic and medical treatment. Promotes patient self-care responsibility for meeting their own eye health needs. Adheres to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington documentation standards. Provides a safe environment for each patient and adheres to Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of Washington safety standards. Clinic~ Basic principles, fitting procedures, patient instruction, trouble-shooting problems, verification of lenses, cash handling, retail opinions for contact lenses.
Qualifications:
Basic Qualifications:
Experience
- N/A
Education
- High School Diploma OR General Education Development (GED) required.
License, Certification, Registration
- Registered Medical Assistant (Washington) within 2 months of hire
- Ophthalmic Assistant Certificate within 24 months of hire from The Joint Commission on Allied Health Personel in Opthomology
Additional Requirements:
- Demonstrated Customer service experience and skills.
- Computer experience in a MS Windows environment; keyboarding skills.
- Strong written & verbal skills which will be utilized for patient history assessment, medical record documentation and patient/family education.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Experience working with contact lens patients and products.
- Experience working in an ophthalmology or optometry practice.
- General medical knowledge of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, anatomy, physiology, systemic diseases, ocular diseases, ocular emergencies and metric conversion fundamentals of microbial control.
- Graduate of an accredited medical assistant, ophthalmic assistant or allied health professional program.
