Patient Navigator - Womens Health

Grace Health is a faith-based, federally qualified community health center (FQHC) in southeastern Kentucky, providing primary care to underserved individuals.

About the role

The Patient Navigator serves as a liaison between patients, their families, and healthcare professionals. Working closely with providers and following approved guidelines, protocols, and standing orders, the Patient Navigator assists with patient needs under the supervision of a pharmacist, including refilling prescriptions, preparing prior authorizations, completing durable medical equipment (DME) and other forms, requesting recertifications, and evaluating medication assistance programs.

Responsibilities

• Respond professionally to a high volume of inbound calls and inbox tasks in a timely and efficient manner, following standard operating procedures.
• Collaborate with pharmacists to review and act upon refill requests using Grace Health-approved protocols, escalating concerns to the pharmacist.
• Schedule appointments following protocol or provider orders.
• Document all communication with patients and family in the electronic medical record (EMR).
• Inform patients or designated family members of lab and diagnostic results.
• Accurately establish and maintain patient medication profiles for pharmacist review.
• Provide superior customer service to patients and staff by treating them with respect and dignity while adhering to Grace Health protocols.
• Maintain HIPAA compliance.
• Use current technology to enter and update patient demographics, process refills and discontinuations, and document as needed.
• Practice active listening to ensure patient needs are met before ending calls.
• Escalate issues, concerns, or observations that may impact the patient to the pharmacist or lead.
• Collaborate with other departments such as diagnostics, referrals, scheduling, community outreach, Grace Health pharmacies, and outside pharmacies.
• Facilitate care with transportation services, home health agencies, physician offices, equipment companies, and nursing homes.
• Assist providers with completing DME, guardianship, FMLA, and other forms for patients or families.
• Complete preauthorization and patient assistance program requests.
• Document verbal orders or advice from providers and send documentation for provider sign-off.
• Maintain current license or certification, if applicable.
• Embrace a team-based approach to patient care, recognizing the importance of both clinical and non-clinical roles.
• Participate in care coordination, including communication with community organizations, health plans, facilities, and specialists.
• Demonstrate effective communication with vulnerable patient populations.
• Participate in Continuous Quality Improvement activities to ensure high-quality patient care.
• Engage in the review and evaluation of practice performance to identify improvement opportunities.
• Participate in Grace Health’s advocacy program.
• Follow office policies and procedures, including administrative, clinical, quality assurance, and personnel guidelines.
• Maintain good attendance and timely documentation of all work assignments.
• Maintain patient confidentiality.
• Keep supervisors informed about attendance and job assignments.
• Multitask effectively and work at an efficient pace.
• Work cooperatively with providers, administration, and peers.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent (required).
• Certified Pharmacy Technician, Nursing license, or Certified Medical Assistant (preferred).
• General computer skills.
• Customer service experience.

Skills

• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Attention to detail to ensure accuracy of information relayed and processed.
• Self-motivated with the ability to exercise independent judgment.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities.
• Adaptable to learning new systems and changes in the practice environment.
• Team player with a customer-oriented approach and a desire to assist people.
• Problem-solving skills and the ability to follow through on assigned tasks.

Physical demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those an employee must meet to perform the essential functions of this job successfully. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform these functions.

• Regularly required to talk or hear.
• Frequently required to stand, walk, sit, and use hands to finger, handle, or feel objects, tools, or controls.
• Occasionally required to reach with hands and arms, stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl, and taste or smell.
• Must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 pounds.
• Specific vision abilities required include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and the ability to adjust focus.