Inside This Issue

Clerks at Work

A day in the life of inpatient and outpatient clerks

Speaking Their Language
Latechia Howard, patient services assistant, is one of the clerks at the CVC who helps with greeting and directing patients and making sure office visits run efficiently.

They are the first smiling faces patients and visitors see when they arrive for appointments. They perform behind-the-scenes work that ensures clinicians have all the necessary information and support they need. And they are the last set of helping hands a patient experiences before leaving.

They are inpatient and outpatient clerks and they keep the Health System running smoothly.

Lori Lathers is a senior training specialist in Central Staffing Resources who trains inpatient unit clerks. She says that working inpatient is one of the most stressful, but important, jobs there is.

“They touch and support almost every aspect of care on the floors. They are the inpatient customer service rep for the unit, the ‘go-to’ person for everything. Doctors order tests but inpatient clerks coordinate getting those tests done,” she says.

It’s not uncommon for an inpatient clerk to manage hundreds of transactions per day—from phone calls to patient orders.

 

Speaking Their Language
Maryann Byrnes, patient services assistant in the Cardiovascular Center clinic, (left, seated with Carol Rizkallah, L.P.N.) are two of the many clerks who help keep operations running throughout UMHS.

“We help everybody keep going—from scheduling admissions and transfers to ordering equipment and answering phones,” says Natasha Battle, a floating inpatient services assistant. “It would be hard for nurses to stop and do everything. We help them move more freely and help things along the way.”

There are more than 300 inpatient unit clerks and thousands of outpatient clerks who support business operations for the more than 1.6 million clinic visits and 43,000 admissions in the Hospitals and Health Centers per year.

“These jobs are very critical,” says Latoya Griffin, clinic office manager for the Cardiovascular Center clinic on floor 3. “When patients walk into the clinic, my staff (check-in and check-out clerks, medical records clerks, billing clerks, surgery schedulers) are the people who greet patients, direct them where to go and make sure appropriate business and demographic information is captured and coordinated to ensure patients make it through their visits seamlessly from check-in to check-out.”

Whether it’s helping patients find their way or scheduling complicated follow-up appointments, customer service drives the work they do.

“I like the challenge of trying to get the tests scheduled on the same day and to coordinate everything for their benefit to make it easier for [patients],” says MaryAnn Byrnes, patient services assistant in the Cardiovascular Center clinic. Sometimes the job feels like being a social worker too because patients need someone to talk to. In my conversations, I often learn about things and realize we have additional help to offer. I can then get them in touch with the help they need.”

 

 

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