Dental Patient Assistance Specialist Float

About the Role

The Patient Assistance Specialist works as part of the Patient Care Team and assists with the overall office experience. This role is primarily responsible for providing excellent customer service in all patient contacts and promoting team-based care by collaborating and communicating patient needs with the care team.

Responsibilities

• Communicates with patients in a courteous and professional manner in face-to-face encounters and via telephone.
• Answers telephones, screens and routes incoming calls, takes messages, and delivers information electronically.
• Promotes the Team-Based Care Model by participating in daily huddles and monthly care team meetings to communicate and collaborate on patient issues and needs.
• Checks in patients for acute clinic, appointments, or other visits, verifying all demographic information and insurance.
• Notifies nursing staff and providers of patient arrival through EMR.
• Facilitates verification of patients’ insurance through web and Anthem portals, copying insurance cards and notating information under patient demographics; contacts the billing specialist if needed.
• Scans immunization records for pediatric patients and new patients’ prior medical records.
• Checks out patients, schedules follow-up appointments, prints visit summaries, and ensures patients complete a patient survey.
• Prepares lab results and ‘unable to contact’ letters to be mailed to patients.
• Assists with medical record transfers by providing forms and helping patients complete them once identification is provided.
• Collects money for co-payments and patient balances, applies payments to patient accounts, and prints receipts.
• Balances money collected from co-payments and patient balances, batches money with the day sheet listing completed transactions, and secures it in the safe.
• Ensures accurate accounting of the cash drawer and logs transactions at determined times of the day (morning, evening).
• Assists patients with completion of the Reduced Fee application process, following the process consistently.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Physical attendance is essential to perform the functions of the position.
• Must meet outlined compliance goals and stay up to date with computer-based training.
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Proficient with documentation in patient charts via actions, telephone encounters, or general/billing notes.
• Ability to communicate professionally and efficiently with employees, patients, and providers.
• Must remain calm and follow outlined procedures during patient-related crises.
• Abides by the Code of Conduct as documented in the Corporate Compliance Manual.
• Demonstrates a personal and professional commitment to Johnson Health Center and its mission.
• Treats all patients and staff with dignity and respect, mindful of cultural differences.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent.
• 0-2 years of medical office experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of MS Office products and ability to learn other computer-related applications such as electronic medical records.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Working knowledge of office equipment, including scanners, printers, copy machines, telephone systems, fax, and credit card machines.

Skills

• Respect: Values and respects each patient, their family, and colleagues, treating everyone with dignity.
• Integrity: Committed to honesty, openness, truthfulness, accuracy, and ethical behavior.
• Excellence: Pursues excellence daily in teamwork, quality improvement, patient care, innovation, and efficiencies.
• Innovation: Values creativity, flexibility, and continuous improvement efforts.
• Teamwork: Understands that collaboration across functional boundaries is essential for success.

Physical Demands and Working Environment

• Fast-paced office setting with frequent travel to other offices.
• Lifting and/or exerting force up to 25 pounds occasionally, with frequent moving of objects.
• Work requires speaking, sitting, bending, walking, standing, hearing, stooping, kneeling, and repetitive motion.
• Extended hours of computer usage.
• OSHA low-risk position.