Medical Technologist

Job Title

Performs clinical procedures and testing in accordance with approved policies and procedures and clinically accepted standards. Provides technical expertise to the Supervisory Medical Technologist regarding assigned laboratory areas. Assesses, prepares and/or updates procedure manuals, performs and reviews quality control and maintenance manuals while being cross-trained to function in any area of the clinical laboratory. Performs scheduled duty on weekends, holidays, and on an emergency callback basis as well as when requested to do so in order to facilitate patient care.

Job Description

May be necessary to work when Administrative leave is granted if patient care would be compromised. Performs clinical procedures and testing in accordance with approved policies and procedures and clinically accepted standards. Provides technical expertise to the Supervisory Medical Technologist in any of the intra-laboratory disciplines; chemistry, microbiology, hematology, immunology, serology, parasitology, and blood banking. Performs instrument start-up procedures, observes all safety procedures, identifies instrument malfunctions, unacceptable reagent performance, and provides clinical instruction to other technologists and technicians. Develops and reviews complex laboratory section procedures and participates in proficiency testing (CAP) as requested. Performs laboratory instrument calibration standardization and preventative maintenance. Develops and maintains inventory control of all reagents, quality controls, and materials associated with laboratory testing. Performs phlebotomy procedures in accordance with accepted policies and standards on pediatric and adult patients. Maintains a working knowledge of statistics and responsible for the calculation of monthly quality control statistics; mean, standard deviation, coefficient of variation, etc. Uses statistical data to conduct a critical assessment of daily, monthly, and yearly quality control performance. Keeps abreast of new developments by research and continuing education in assigned discipline area and passes this information on to other technologists and technicians in the department. Prepares special reports and performs special research as directed by the Supervisory Medical Technologist. Prepares workload reports for assigned clinical area and submits on a monthly basis to laboratory supervisor. Develops, assesses, prepares, and/or updates procedure manuals for assigned clinical laboratory area. Develops and maintains clinical processes and procedures with the assistance of the laboratory supervisor in accordance with all applicable accrediting organizations (ex. CAP, JCAHO, etc.) and participates in applicable accreditation inspections. Performs and reviews quality control and preventive maintenance procedures for various areas of the laboratory an ongoing basis. Maintains confidentiality of all patient results and reports. Provides careful and respectful treatment to all patients and staff members. Uses safe work practices that include maintaining a clean workplace, following established policies and procedures for safety and infection control, following universal blood/body fluid precautions, and reporting accidents/incidents promptly. Organizes and prioritizes work efficiently to maintain a high level of productivity without sacrificing quality. Collects data, organizes and prepares reports as required to fulfill compliance requirements by CAP, JCAHO or any other agency as required. Will also meet all competency requirements, including age specific competencies as mandated by accreditation organizations. Assists the laboratory with maintaining CAP/JCAHO accreditation by compliance with standards and accurate performance of proficiency testing. Performs complex data analysis on a daily, monthly, and yearly basis for each test in assigned clinical area (Hematology, Chemistry, Immunology, etc.). Performs validation and crossover studies when introducing new testing methodologies into the laboratory. Incumbent must be able to work alone. Incumbent must be resourceful in calling experts when the need arises in any given area of the laboratory. Time allocation for direct patient care will be 95%, administrative will be 3%, and teaching/education will be 2%. Cross-trained to be able to perform the following for each area:

Chemistry/Immunology/Serology

• Separates serum and plasma from red cells and performs Chemistry, Immunology, and Serology testing on patient specimens. Testing ranges from simple qualitative tests to highly complex quantitative analyses using both manual and automated methods. Testing includes include but are not limited to: glucose, sodium, potassium, chloride, CO2, BUN, creatinine, liver function tests, cardiac tests (troponin, CKMB), phosphorous, calcium, protein, albumin, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, salicylate, acetaminophen, ETOH, and ketones.
• Performs highly complex quantitative analysis on urine and CSF specimens.
• Verifies that results are reportable by analyses and interpretation of quality control and must possess a thorough clinical knowledge of physiological possibilities for humans with and without disease processes and physiologic abnormalities.
• Repeats testing on both specimens and quality control materials as necessary to assure accuracy of results.
• Maintains equipment in working condition. Performs preventative maintenance as scheduled and needed. Maintains records of preventative maintenance and corrective actions. Keeping equipment in working condition may include minor repairs and will require extensive knowledge of the problem and working with technical experts from equipment vendors.
• Incumbent must also be able to assess when samples must be recollected due to various interferences such hemolysis or lipemia as some test results are erroneous with these interferences.

Microbiology/Parasitology

• Cultivates pathogenic and non-pathogenic microorganisms for the purpose of identifying and performing susceptibility assays on clinically significant isolates for the treatment of patients.
• Monitors all specimens submitted for proper collection, preservation, and identification. Specimen types may originate from any part of the body but are most commonly fluids, wounds, blood, throat swabs, rectal, or vaginal swabs.
• Places specimens in appropriate holding transport media or broth.
• Prepares, treats, and inoculates specimens onto appropriate media and maintains them under special conditions (ex. CO2 enhancement, oxygen deprivation, etc.) to enhance the growth of microorganisms.
• Examines culture and subculture growth for possible pathogens, discriminating between potential pathogens versus normal flora or contaminants.
• Separates colonies needed for identification and susceptibility testing.
• Using biochemical analytical methods and identifies isolated colonies to the species level for bacteria.
• Identifies the presence of fungal elements.
• Performs susceptibility testing using precise dilutions of microorganisms with known concentrations of antimicrobials.
• Performs gram stains, oxidase, and indole testing as well as other manual biochemical methods.
• Maintains equipment in working condition. Performs preventative maintenance as scheduled and needed. Maintains records of preventative maintenance and corrective actions. Records include temperature checks, QC testing, rapid testing, and records of media QC testing. Keeping equipment in working condition may include minor repairs and will require extensive knowledge of the problem and working with technical experts from equipment vendors.
• Reports susceptibilities using NCCLS standards to aid the physicians and other caregivers in appropriate therapy.

Hematology

• Performs Hematology testing and reports the results in a timely and efficient manner to assist physicians in diagnosis of anemias or other blood dysplasias, blood loss, and coagulation anomalies.
• Performs hematology differentials and counts and must possess necessary skills to differentiate between cellular components within blood specimens. WBC differential and manual cell counts depend on the technologist's ability to recognize cell types and differentiates cells on appearance under the microscope using specialized stains.
• Performs venipuncture, capillary puncture, therapeutic phlebotomy, and bleeding times as appropriate.
• Prepares, treats, dilutes, and identifies blood specimens for all requested hematological analysis (ex. CBC, ESR, Reticulocyte Counts, Coagulation, WBC differential, RBC Counts and morphology, etc.).
• Performs complex cellular analysis and testing on body fluids (ex. CSF, Joint fluids, etc.).
• Uses clinical knowledge of normal and abnormal physical conditions to appropriately and adequately identify those patients requiring more testing and analysis by more specialized personnel (ex. Hematologists, Pathologists, etc.).
• Incumbent must be able to test non-ideal specimens by pretreatments to remove interferences when encountered, e.g., lipoma.
• Maintains equipment in working condition. Performs preventative maintenance as scheduled and needed. Maintains records of preventative maintenance and corrective actions. Keeping equipment in working condition may include minor repairs and will require extensive knowledge of the problem and working with technical experts from equipment vendors.

Blood Bank

• Performs all required Blood Bank procedures according to the standards of the AABB including but not limited to ABO, Rh typing, antibody screening, antibody identification, antibody titer, cross matching, direct coombs, and the transfusion reaction investigation.
• Recommends to physicians' blood components for specific situations (ex. pheresed platelets for increasing platelet most effectively and safely).
• Co-ordinates with the American Red Cross for the acquisition of needed products and maintains records of acquired blood products to ensure safety and tracing as needed.
• Selects correct types of blood products depending on component needed, adhering to protocol and severity of the situation.
• Monitors all critical temperature-controlled refrigerators and freezers according to AABB and CAP standards.
• Maintains records of Quality Control testing to assure adequate and appropriate function of reagents