Hospital Unit Clerk

Job Description

Under supervision, performs clerical and receptionist duties on a hospital ward or outpatient clinic, provides support to medical and nursing staff, and acts as liaison between patient and family, medical, nursing and support staff and other hospital departments.

Essential Duties

When assigned to an Inpatient Unit

• Transposes physicians' and nurses' orders and comments from notes to patients' medical history files.
• Assists in admission, transfer and discharge of patients by processing clerical forms and notifying persons or other departments concerned.
• Greets and directs visitors, physicians and hospital personnel.
• Assists patients by delivering flowers, menus and mail.
• Places telephone calls for patients.
• Orders personal items from storage upon request.
• Orders newspapers, and performs personal services for patients.
• Receives, attaches, prepares and completes medical forms and cards.
• Answers phones and places calls according to direction or need.
• Performs other related duties as assigned/required.

When assigned to an Outpatient Clinical Setting

• Schedules appointments, acts as receptionist, refers patients to appropriate clinics and locations.
• Acts as liaison between medical and nursing staff and patients.
• Requests and checks medical record charts; processes clinic forms.
• Documents patient visits by inputting information into a computer and updating demographic information.
• Receives, attaches, prepares and completes medical forms and cards.
• Answers phones and places calls according to direction or need.
• Performs other related duties as assigned/required.

For all assignments

• Depending on the position, required work shifts may include days, part-time, evenings, nights, weekends, and/or holidays.

Working Conditions
Some positions may require employees to work directly with individuals within locked jails and psychiatric facilities, the homeless population and individuals who may have or may be carriers of infectious/communicable diseases.

Qualifications

Experience

• Six (6) months* of medical clerical experience in a hospital unit, doctor’s office or equivalent.

  • This experience must have been gained within the last three (3) years.

• Substitution: Completion of a recognized Certified Unit Clerk/Coordinator Program or completion of a recognized Medical Assistant/Clerical Training Program (Health Care Technology Program) may substitute for the required experience.

*Six months of full-time employment is equivalent to 1,000 hours of work experience (1,000 hours of qualifying work experience is based on a 40-hour work week). 

Applicants must meet the minimum qualification requirement by the final filing date unless otherwise noted.

VERIFICATION OF EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Every application is reviewed to ensure that you meet the minimum qualifications as listed in the job ad. Review SF Careers Employment Applications for considerations taken when reviewing applications.

Applicants may be required to submit verification of qualifying education and experience at any point during the recruitment and selection process. If education or experience verification is required, information on how to verify education and experience requirements, including verifying foreign education credits or degree equivalency, can be found at https://careers.sf.gov/knowledge/experience-education/.

Note: Falsifying one’s education, training, or work experience or attempted deception on the application may result in disqualification for this and future job opportunities with the City and County of San Francisco.

Additional Information

Selection Procedures: 
After application submission, candidates deemed qualified must complete all subsequent steps to advance in this selection process, which includes the following.

Multiple Choice Examination: (Weight: 100%)
Candidates that meet the minimum qualifications will be invited to participate in a Multiple Choice Examination that is designed to measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities in job related areas which may include but not be limited to: knowledge of medical and pharmaceutical terminology, ability to prepare documents, forms, medical charts and requisitions, decision-making ability, ability to maintain inventory and order supplies, and human relations ability.

Candidates must achieve a passing score on the Multiple Choice Examination in order to continue in the selection process and will be placed on the confidential eligible list in rank order according to their final score.

Additional selection processes may be conducted by the hiring department prior to making final hiring decisions.

Score Banking
Your scores from this assessment will be 'banked' for three years from the test date and will be used for one year on any job you apply to and qualify for that uses the same assessment. After one year, and before three years, if you apply to and qualify for any job using the same assessment, you may choose to (a) apply your banked test score or (b) re-test. If you retest, your most recent score becomes your official score. 

If this assessment undergoes significant changes within three years, score banking will no longer apply and you will need to take the modified assessment. 

Certification
The certification rule for the eligible list resulting from this examination will be the Rule of the List.

Eligible List/Score Report
A confidential eligible list of applicant names that have passed the civil service examination process will be created and used for certification purposes only. An examination score report will be established, so applicants can view the ranks, final scores and number of eligible candidates. Applicant information, including names of applicants on the eligible list, shall not be made public unless required by law. However, an eligible list shall be made available for public inspection, upon request, once the eligible list is exhausted or expired and referrals resolved. The eligible list/score report resulting from this civil service examination process is subject to change after adoption (e.g., as a result of appeals), as directed by the Human Resources Director or the Civil Service Commission.

The duration of the eligible list resulting from this examination process will be of 12 months and may be extended with the approval of the Human Resources Director.

To find Departments which use this classification, please see the city’s Position Counts by Job Codes and Departments.

Terms of Announcement and Appeal Rights
Applicants must be guided solely by the provisions of this announcement, including requirements, time periods and other particulars, except when superseded by federal, state or local laws, rules or regulations. [Note: The correction of clerical errors in an announcement may be posted on the Department of Human Resources website at https://careers.sf.gov/.]

The terms of this announcement may be appealed under Civil Service Rule 110.4. Such appeals must be submitted in writing to the Department of Human Resources, 1 S Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor, San Francisco, CA 94103-5413 by close of business on the 5th business day following the issuance date of this examination announcement. Information concerning other Civil Service Commission Rules involving announcements, applications and examination policies, including applicant appeal rights, can be found on the Civil Service Commission website at https://sf.gov/departments/civil-service-commission

Additional information regarding Employment with the City and County of San Francisco:

• Information About the Hiring Process
• Conviction History
• Employee Benefits Overview  
• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Disaster Service Worker
• ADA Accommodation
• Veterans Preference
• Right to Work
• Copies of Application Documents
• Diversity Statement

Where to Apply 
All job applications for the City and County of San Francisco must be submitted through our online portal. Please visit https://careers.sf.gov/ to begin your application process.

Applicants may be contacted by email about this recruitment. Please consider using a personal email address that you check regularly rather than a work or school account.

Computers are available for the public (9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Monday through Friday) to file online applications in the lobby of the Dept. of Human Resources at 1 South Van Ness Avenue, 4th Floor and at the City Career Center at City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room 110.

Ensure your application information is accurate, as changes may not be possible after submission. Your first and last name must match your legal ID for verification, and preferred names can be included in parentheses. Use your personal email address, not a shared or work email, to avoid unfixable issues.

Applicants will receive a confirmation email from [email protected] that their online application has been received in response to every announcement for which they file. Applicants should retain this confirmation email for their records. Failure to receive this email means that the online application was not submitted or received.

If you have any questions regarding this recruitment or application process, please contact the analyst, [email protected] 628-271-6704.

We may use text messaging to communicate with you on the phone number provided in your application. By applying, you accept the Trust and Privacy Policy and you may opt out of text messaging anytime. 

The City and County of San Francisco encourages women, minorities and persons with disabilities to apply. Applicants will be considered regardless of their sex, race, age, religion, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition (associated with cancer, a history of cancer, or genetic characteristics), HIV/AIDS status, genetic information, marital status, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, military and veteran status, or other protected category under the law.