Hospital Communications Spec- Downtown

GENERAL CLASS DESCRIPTION:

Under general supervision, is responsible for coordinating responses of medical and health care personnel to multiple emergency situations. Responsible for screening and directing communications between hospital staff, patients and the public. Responsible for operating and maintaining hospital paging system. 

CHARACTERISTIC DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

1.    Coordinates response of hospital staff to multiple types of emergency situations including Code Blue, Code Green and Code Pink, National Disaster Medical System (NDMS), Hospital Emergency Incident Command System (HEICS), Iowa Department of Public Health all Hazards Program, Code Stroke, Code STEMI, Rapid Response, STAT calls, fire calls and various other alarms. Determines necessary response to emergency and contacts team members who have been posted for response.

2.    Facilitates medical communications during emergency situations.  Completes records and logs concerning emergency communications, disaster and downtime situations. 

3.    Executes hospital-wide communication procedures for major system outages, inclement weather, and disaster situations. Utilizes proprietary software applications and specialized telecommunication systems to accurately distribute information within a critical timeframe.  

4.    Monitors alarms and provides emergency escalation for alarms related to hospital environmental conditions, medical gas, generators and critical telecommunications systems including paging, telephone and voicemail. 

5.    Establishes multiple-party conference calls and monitored calls. Creates a legal record in the electronic medical record to document consent of a medical procedure. 

6.    Utilizes IPR and IDX to update the patient profile in the hospital inpatient directory in compliance with federal HIPAA regulations.   

7.    Provides call processing and on-call services for outside and affiliated agencies including University of Iowa, UI Community Home Care, Visiting Nurses Association, and Lions Eye Bank (supporting corneal transplant protocol).  

8.    Utilizes proprietary software to perform daily operations of hospital paging system.  Creates and initiates routine and STAT page requests.  Programs pagers in response to changes in the on-call schedules or assigning spare pagers. Performs minor maintenance on pagers and facilitates pager repair with outside vendors. Performs paging system tests. 

9.    Screens incoming calls from outside the hospital, assesses the caller's needs, determines appropriate area of referral, and takes appropriate action.

10.    Assists users with service and information related to communication technology systems, including telephone, paging, nurse call, network, and television.  Troubleshoots basic problems. Determines appropriate action or escalation.  

11.    Provides information to students, public, patients, visitors, faculty and staff regarding general policies, rules, regulations within the area of assignment.

12.    Places long distance and international calls making the necessary entries to ensure proper billing. Utilizes proprietary software to authenticate and provide staff with personal and confidential information for billing long distance calls.  

13.    Responds to incoming calls on the Telecommunications Device for the Deaf.

14.    Assists in training of Merit staff and student employees and responds to their questions.  Checks the work of new employees and provides input on the evaluation of their performance.

15.    Provides input in the development of unit policies and procedures and makes recommendations for process improvement.

16.    Communicates with other university offices and outside agencies such as hospitals, pharmacies, UI Community Home Care, Visiting Nurses Association, Lions Eye Bank, law enforcement agencies and various system vendors on matters of moderate complexity.

17.    Applies basic knowledge of computer technology and various software packages such as e-mail, print and electronic document processing, or specialized applications used by the unit and hospital. 

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES:

1.    In- depth knowledge of unit, department and institutional routines, functions policies, procedures and forms. Familiar with Telecommunications Center emergency procedures as well as hospital disaster plans including Hospital Emergency Incident Command System and HIPAA.

2.    Knowledge of medical terminology.

3.    Knowledge of the telecommunications systems and ability to operate systems efficiently. 

4.    Skill in utilizing a computer, software, online systems and conventional office equipment.

5.    Ability to communicate effectively with patients, visitors, staff and the public in a variety of situations.

6.    Ability to work in a high intensity environment.

7.    Ability to prioritize work assignments and daily tasks.

8.    Ability to read, interpret and accurately execute oral and written instruction and exercise judgment in its application. 

9.    Ability to document information timely and accurately.  

10.    Ability to withstand noise from various computers, alarms, pagers, telephones, office equipment and co-workers.   

11.    Good hand-eye coordination, manual dexterity and ability to execute oral and written instructions.