Patient Care Coordinator - onsite

Position Summary

Under general supervision from the Operations Manager, the Patient Care Coordinator will support Department of Surgery attendings, physician extenders, as well as the department's daily operational needs. The primary purpose of the job is to serve as a liaison for patients in all communications regarding care rendered in the department.

Responsibilities

• Greets and provides assistance to visitors, patients and employees in a professional and courteous manner.
• Answers and directs telephone calls and other inquiries to the appropriate person.
• Gathers patient registration data to enter into appropriate systems as required for reimbursement of services rendered.
• Communicates with insurance carriers or other health facilities to ensure that all patients awaiting services have a current referral from their primary care physician.
• Prepares charge and billing information and reports on issues as needed, including taking patient co-pays.
• Composes correspondence, memoranda and spreadsheets, proofreads documents for typographical errors and makes revisions. Submits documents to supervisor or other designated department personnel for approval.
• Assigns a new medical record to new patients and maintains existing records up-to-date.
• Maintains a computerized records management system to ensure an accurate and current data base of records is available.
• Provides research and administrative support for special projects. Prepares data on projects, as requested and/or needed.
• Collates and assembles documents and distributes upon request. This includes specialized information packets, patient packets, and other mass mailings.
• Serves as a liaison with other departments to ensure efficient inter-department communication.
• Schedules procedures based on type, allocation of operative team, time availability and specialty instruments. Schedules surgeries and maintains the operating schedule for surgeons.
• Prior to scheduling verifies that procedure meets medical necessity screening using appropriate software.
• Schedules follow-up appointments; reschedules patients from cancelled or bumped surgical procedures.
• Maintains EPIC patient and referral workqueues, including obtaining referrals and authorization to satisfy claim requirements for billing.
• Schedules appointments, verifies demographics and financial information.
• Obtains pre-authorization from insurance carriers for all surgical cases and follows up on clinic referral needs.
• Affords assistance in the care and maintenance of department equipment and supplies.
• Reports any malfunctioning equipment to IT Help Desk or appropriate department.
• Maintains work area and equipment in a neat and orderly manner; organizes work area for efficiency and safety.
• Attends and participates in meetings and/or committees, as required.
• Routinely handles large amounts of sensitive, confidential information and maintains confidentiality.
• Meets hospital-wide standards in the following areas:
• a. Conforms to hospital standards of performance and conduct, including those pertaining to patient rights, so that the best possible customer service and patient care can be provided.
• b. Utilizes hospital’s Values as the basis for decision-making and to facilitate the division’s hospital mission.
• c. Follows established hospital infection control and safety procedures.
• Analyses problems in order to determine appropriate course of action and offers constructive suggestions to improve efficiency in office operations.
• Develops competencies as related to position.
• Performs other administrative tasks as needed.
• Complies with all requirements of RESPECT Boston Medical Center.

Qualifications

• High School diploma required.
• Associates degree or Bachelor’s preferred.
• All incumbents must have medical office experience and/or referral authorization experience as follows: HS/GED plus 5 + years or Associates plus 2 - 3 years or Bachelors plus 1- 2 years medical office experience and/or referral authorization experience.
• Service industry experience a plus.
• Extensive knowledge of a word processing and spreadsheet software applications. MS Office preferred.
• Working knowledge of managed care—overall understanding of HMO, PPO, and capitation; obtaining insurance approvals, billing, and co-payments, and handling patient flow.
• Proven experience handling service recovery/customer service and dealing with sensitive issues.
• Familiarity with scheduling and rearranging appointments.
• Pleasant speaking voice and demeanor.
• Neat, professional appearance.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• Stellar organizational skills.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and work independently; Attention to detail and to work under pressure are also important.