Ophthalmic Administrative Specialist
The University of California, San Diego
About this position
Position Description
The Department of Ophthalmology is comprised of 30 faculty physicians and scientists, 10 resident physicians, and 13(include clinical and research) post-doctoral physicians and scientists and over 150 staff with 6 divisions – Glaucoma, Retina, Cornea & Refractive Surgery,Pediatrics, Ocularplastics, and Neuro-ophthalmology. Clinical services are provided at the Shiley Eye Center, Ratner Eye Center, UCSD Health Sciences (UCSDHS) Hillcrest ambulatory center and the Veterans Administration (VA) Hospital. The Department of Ophthalmology has the largest single outpatient clinic at the University of California, San Diego with over 110,000 visits annually. Additionally, over 5400 surgical cases are performed. The Department of Ophthalmology is rapidly growing and looking to expand its practice at the Shiley Eye Center and in regional satellites, including possible acquisition of existing practices. Under the general supervision of the Ophthalmic Administrative Supervisor, the incumbent serves as the Ophthalmic Administrative Work Lead for the Department of Ophthalmology. Provides day-to-day leadership and operational coordination for ophthalmic administrative and clinical support functions. Serves as a key resource to staff and supervisors by prioritizing and coordinating administrative and patient care requests, facilitating workflow, addressing operational needs, and ensuring timely and effective service delivery. Serves as a designated Work Lead and provides operational backup to Ophthalmic Supervisors in staff scheduling, daily assignments, workflow coordination, and coverage needs. Provides guidance and training to staff on administrative and clinical support processes, monitors workflow and productivity, balances staff assignments, and assists with staff development and training needs. Exercises independent judgment in identifying, troubleshooting, and resolving day-to-day operational issues and recommends workflow improvements to enhance efficiency, productivity, compliance, and patient service. Oversees and/or performs specialized administrative and clinical support functions, including processing walk-ins/add-ons, prescription refill requests, pharmacy communications, and visual field testing needs. Monitors medical and office supply levels and coordinates ordering through the Premier online ordering system. Processes and submits 390 forms for high-value requests and STRATA requests for emergency capital needs. Coordinates equipment repair and maintenance work orders, processes and receives shipments, and communicates with pharmacies, vendors, and other departments to ensure continuity of clinic operations.Coordinates visual field (VF) operations, including creating VF encounters, releasing and processing orders, monitoring VF schedules, identifying patient locations after check-in, and coordinating patient scheduling changes. Maintains responsibility for ERG and EOG scheduling and ensures appointments are accurately scheduled and verified using the Epic Enterprise system. Serves as a resource for staff regarding VF, ERG, and EOG scheduling workflows and related operational requirements. Provides administrative support for medication-related workflows by entering prescription information for provider review and approval, processing refill requests within Epic, and transmitting prescriptions through approved systems. Serves as a primary point of contact for pharmacy-related communications, including initiating and returning calls, coordinating follow-up, and maintaining accurate documentation within the electronic health record. Assists with medication-related administrative inquiries by utilizing reference resources and established procedures, ensuring timely communication and coordination among providers, pharmacies, and patients. Coordinates meetings and training sessions with pharmaceutical representatives, including scheduling dates, times, and locations. Provides timely and professional communication with patients, physicians, clinical staff, pharmacies, vendors, and other stakeholders to facilitate patient care and clinic operations. Assists with addressing and resolving patient and clinician concerns and escalates issues to the appropriate supervisor or provider when necessary. Provides administrative support for licensed room operations by monitoring and documenting inventory levels, refrigerator temperature logs, and supply needs in accordance with established procedures. Coordinates ordering and replenishment requests and maintains required records to support regulatory and departmental compliance. Supports access control processes for licensed rooms consistent with clinic policies and serves as backup administrative support for 340B-related coordination and documentation activities.Licensed Room Lead, ensuring continuity of licensed room operations and inventory processes during the Lead's absence. Acts as a central resource and liaison between Ophthalmic Supervisors, administrative staff, ophthalmic technicians, physicians, clinical faculty, Department Business Office staff, pharmacies, vendors, and other stakeholders. Facilitates communication, coordinates resources, and supports consistent implementation of departmental procedures and workflows. Provides leadership in maintaining organized, efficient, compliant, and patient-centered administrative and clinical support operations.The incumbent is expected to exercise sound judgment, prioritize competing operational needs, coordinate multiple functions simultaneously, and independently identify opportunities to improve workflow and service delivery. The position serves an essential role in supporting the continuity and efficiency of daily ophthalmic operations and provides leadership-level support to the Ophthalmic Supervisors and clinical teams. Performs other duties and responsibilities as assigned in support of the Department of Ophthalmology and the efficient operation of the Shiley Eye Institute.
Qualifications
General knowledge about ophthalmic medications, surgical and office services. Knowledge of content and structure of medical records. Demonstrated excellent interpersonal skills, including tact, diplomacy and flexibility in order to deal effectively with medical and ancillary staff, patients and general public. Ability to set priorities, maintain composure and function efficiently under high volume, multiple demand work conditions. Demonstrated experience and knowledge of clinic's scope of services and triage guidelines in order to complete triage forms based on the patient's needs/problems and on the clinic's available medical staff. Knowledge of how to accurately complete invoices and ordering forms. Knowledge of abbreviations of pharmaceuticals, most common dosage and proper spelling of the medications. Demonstrated experience in screening telephone calls and directing callers to appropriate resource or to physician or staff for further screening and disposition. Proven ability to maintain confidentiality and knowledge of UCSD policy and procedures regarding release of information. Demonstrated knowledge of computer operations with proven data entry skills. Demonstrated experience at maintaining an organized work area. Working knowledge of clinical systems - Epic Enterprise preferred.