Patient Access Specialist I

Part-time position (0.5 FTE) with shift hours from 4:00 AM to 10:30 AM, working every other weekend.

Overview

Assists in providing access to services at the hospital and/or other service areas. Processes registration information for patient visits, obtaining patient demographic and third-party information with a high degree of accuracy, and performs financial collections. Ensures timely completion, preparation, and deployment of legal, ethical, and compliance-related documents that must be presented and thoroughly explained to the patient at registration. Maintains knowledge of JCAHO, Patient Rights and Responsibilities, HIPAA, HMOs, commercial payers, and departmental/system policies and procedures. Work may be performed in a patient care area. Serves as a liaison between ancillary departments and other Patient Access Services areas.

Responsibilities

• Represents the hospital in a positive, compassionate manner with professional communication, demeanor, and appearance.
• Assists patients/visitors throughout the enterprise, providing telephone support, one-on-one assistance, and wayfinding.
• Maintains cooperative and productive working relationships with co-workers, physicians, management, and external customers to coordinate optimum patient flow and throughput.
• Actively supports patient/family-centered care by actions and attitude that demonstrate service excellence.
• Identifies customer service concerns and resolves and/or initiates service recovery.
• Handles admissions and/or registrations (outpatient/ED/pre) to ensure accurate demographic/financial data is properly obtained, entered, and documented into required systems, including bedside registrations, pre-registration, point-of-service registrations, bed assignments, and facility-to-facility transfers.
• Initiates the patient revenue cycle by proper identification, verification, and entry of insurance and authorization information.
• Notifies and explains financial obligations to the patient/guarantor in a compassionate manner and provides resources for financial assistance.
• Stays abreast of insurance and billing code updates.
• Verifies Medicare medical necessity and issues ABNs for non-covered services.
• Issues and explains insurance waivers as necessary.
• Ensures outpatient physician orders are scanned and attached to the patient visit and tests are ordered via the order entry system accurately.
• Performs other related work as required or requested.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• One (1) year of business office experience, preferably in Patient Access, billing, collections, insurance principles/practices, or accounts receivable.
• Completion of 12 hours of coursework in a business or healthcare-related field may be considered in lieu of business office experience.
• Previous experience in Patient Access is highly desirable.

Skills

• Knowledge of tasks performed in various Patient Access Service areas to provide optimum internal and external customer satisfaction and accurate reimbursement.
• Superior patient relations and interpersonal skills; appropriate level of mental and emotional tolerance when dealing with staff, patients, and the general public, using tact, sensitivity, and sound judgment.
• Promotes a positive work environment and contributes to overall team efforts.
• Working knowledge of computers, with the ability to enter and retrieve data, and electronically notate registration software and other required applications/systems.
• Detail-oriented with critical thinking and problem-solving ability.
• Excellent oral and written communication and customer service skills, with the ability to maintain a calm and professional demeanor in high-stress situations.
• Ability to remain flexible and consistently exercise sound judgment and initiative in stressful situations.
• Ability to effectively manage competing priorities and work independently in a rapidly changing environment.
• Ability to educate, persuade, and negotiate effectively with patients and families.
• Knowledge of medical terminology, medical procedural (CPT) and diagnosis (ICD-9 CM) coding, and hospital billing claims preferred but not required.

Pay

USD $16.00/Hr. – Max USD $23.64/Hr.