Laboratory Technical Assistant

Under general supervision, the incumbent in this position will work in one or more of the primary areas within the Laboratory Department to include Processing, Cytology, Histology, Microbiology, Blood Bank, Hematology, Chemistry and/or Inventory Control. Responsible to assist Laboratory Staff in accordance with established procedures for specimen receipt and testing. Performs laboratory duties as instructed by Laboratory Leadership. ## Additional characteristics for the Lead Role: Acts as a lead for an assigned area of department, including assisting with the day to day operations of the department, responsible for quality control and regulatory readiness of department.

Essential Job Functions

•Supports and models behaviors consistent with Billings Clinic’s mission, vision, values, code of business conduct and service expectations. Meets all mandatory organizational and departmental requirements. Maintains competency in all organizational, departmental and outside agency standards as it relates to the environment, employee, patient safety or job performance.
•Processes and accessions samples according to established policies and procedures.
•Assists with inventory management including stocking, ordering and monitoring to ensure adequate supplies to meet business needs within the assigned section of the laboratory (Cytology, Histology, •Processing, Sendouts, Hematology, Microbiology, Blood Bank, etc.)
•Performs waived laboratory testing and specimen processing within scope of practice.
•Provides administrative/clerical support for the departments including maintaining accurate record systems, requisitions, quality control data, patient results, and workflow documentation. Understands and demonstrates appropriate communication of Private Health Information.
•Assist pathologists and physicians, including collecting and transporting specimens, preparation of bone marrow specimens and/or fine needle aspiration/fine needle biopsies, preparing slides, maintaining integrity of specimens, and disposal of specimens according to procedure.
•Answers multi-line telephones and responds to the majority of all incoming calls before transferring to alternate resources. Responds to questions from patients, physicians and other reference labs and provides routine information, collection and testing procedures, specimen processing, turn around times, result reporting and reference lab availability. Also responds to non-routine questions regarding what steps need to be taken to rectify a situation when the integrity of a sample/specimen has been compromised.
•Facilitates result reporting. Results may be called to physician’s office, faxed or mailed depending on orders and situation.
•Monitors all label printers and fax machines for incoming orders. Responsible for ensuring printers and faxes are maintained in good working order due to the critical nature of information being received. Acts as a resource in resolving printer and fax related function problems, maintenance and form loading.
•Responsible for checking and verifying the integrity/quality of the specimens to ensure appropriate specimen volumes, packaging, etc. Assumes responsibility for initiating follow-up action necessary to prevent and/or resolve problem scenarios and coordinates as appropriate with other departments, management, etc.
•Coordinates specimen mail-outs to reference laboratories. Duties include decisions regarding how to draw sample/specimen, timing of draw, appropriate preparation of the sample/specimen, timing of mailing, selecting appropriate reference lab for processing as outlined in laboratory policies and procedures and tracking and planning the appropriate transportation mode.
•Maintains inventory management including order entry in Lawson, stocking and monitoring to ensure adequate supplies to meet the business needs for all areas within the Laboratory department and reference laboratory. Uses the correct cost center and General Ledger numbers.
•Dispatches and monitors the phlebotomy staff to maintain efficient response and turnaround times on hospital specimen orders.
•Receives specimens from the laboratory runners, phlebotomy staff, pneumatic tube system and external clients. Utilizes judgment to determine if sample/specimen is appropriate for testing according to established guidelines or if a redraw will be necessary. Initiates specimen preparation and processing. •Utilizes appropriate equipment (i.e. track system, centrifuge), prepares spin-offs, aliquots, cassettes, blocks and slides and distributes to the appropriate area of the laboratory for final processing. Monitors printers for STAT orders from the nursing units.
•Responsible for set-up, basic maintenance and records of work stations; filling staining stations, imagers, cleaning work areas, emptying garbage, cleaning of track, checking temperatures of refrigerators and freezers, cleaning of centrifuges, monitoring courier contact points, creating cassettes, changing fluids and paraffin, etc.