Have you ever been involved in ordering medical supplies, maintaining inventory, or any other types of healthcare-related administrative duties during your career?

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Basic administrative duties can easily be overlooked on the job, but they are vital to any healthcare-related role. With Kaiser Permanente, you may be responsible for filing patient record notes for some of their over 12 million members. Failing to take this role seriously could lead to negative consequences down the road for the patient or the organization. The role you will be responsible for might include maintaining inventory and ordering medical supplies or other necessary patient care materials, and your interviewer needs to know that you will take these duties seriously. Talk about any administrative duties you've held throughout your career and discuss how you ensured that they were a priority and never overlooked.

"In my current position, I'm a shift leader and am responsible for tracking the inventory of supplies in patient care rooms and overall supplies for the unit. I work very closely with our supply chain team in ordering supplies. I keep a daily checklist for patient rooms to ensure that they are all full of supplies at the end of each clinic day. Then, every Wednesday morning, I look at all available supplies for the unit and order new things as necessary. I know that failure to have simple items available such as latex gloves can put a big damper on a day, so I ensure that I never overlook my inventory duties. I'd love to hear more about the administrative duties you foresee in this role with Kaiser Permanente. Can you talk more about that?"

Anonymous Answer

"Yes, the pharmacist and I are the ones that order prescriptions most of the time. I also check what's low and order specialty if it's a fast mover. I make sure the on hands are right for the computer to order what's on auto order. I also help the pharmacist manager every year when there is inventory and make sure it was done right with nothing missing and control inventory when we come at 9 pm and count all controls."

Rachelle's Feedback

Excellent! It sounds like you have the experience the interviewer would be looking for. If possible, also try to mention which programs or software you are experienced in when it comes to ordering or doing inventory.

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Anonymous Answer

"I am usually the technician who has been doing the ordering for the medications and supplies. I also helped out on the inventory. I learned how keeping equipment in one spot is very important, so it doesn't get misplaced or lost."

Rachelle's Feedback

Keeping equipment in order is very important, indeed! Try going into as much detail as you can relating to your inventory and ordering activities.

Anonymous Answer

"I have not ordered medical supplies or maintained inventory. When I am getting supplies, if something is low, I always inform the Chief Technologist so they can be ordered. I have been the lead PA in two of my positions. My main duty involved creating the APP schedule. I am also a Proctor PA."

Amanda's Feedback

You've done a good job pivoting away from what you don't have experience with (supply ordering or inventory) and emphasizing what administrative duties you do have experience with. Consider enhancing this response further by talking briefly about the administrative duties being a lead PA involves beyond scheduling. Did you approve time off or handle other administrative matters for team members? What kind of administrative tasks do you handle as a Proctor PA? Sharing this additional information highlights that you have strong administrative skills as well as the patient care skills needed to excel in the medical field.

Anonymous Answer

"As a former operations supervisor with Chase, I didn’t have administrative duties such as maintaining inventory, ordering supplies and needs for the branch, and setting appointments for potential clients to our investment partners. If Kaiser needs me to fill this role, I would be more than comfortable to do so."

Jaymie's Feedback

Great! You can also reiterate that you're a quick learner and would be willing to take on those tasks as needed in the role.

Anonymous Answer

"Throughout my medical career, I have helped to maintain an inventory of medical supplies in an office where I worked one day a week. We developed a checklist of medical supplies, and each week I assessed whether the current supply was adequate. If we were low on supplies then we indicated what was needed on the supply checklist and faxed it to the main office, where a larger quantity of supplies were stored. Also, I maintained the work/vacation schedule for physicians in two of our offices and helped to manage a staff of nurses, medical assistants, and receptionists."

Jaymie's Feedback

It sounds like you're comfortable with these types of tasks and would have no problem performing them as necessary.