Referral Specialist, External

JOB SUMMARY

The External Referral Specialist (ERS) uses their experience and knowledge to appropriately triage scheduling needs regarding clinic referral orders and maintain professional communication with our online platforms including Doctor Connect and Carespace. This individual will have the technical knowledge to schedule and follow up on appointments, maintain patient records, and perform clerical tasks.

Job Specific Duties And Responsibilities

• Gather pre-admission information from the hospital, patient, or family member on scheduled patients before initial and/or follow-up visit.
• Facilitates all referrals from CARTI physicians to outside physicians or physician offices including, but not limited to consults, evaluations, radiology, and procedures.
• Obtains, verifies, and updates patient information and provides support services to patients and medical staff.
• Know how to locate path reports, outside medical records, and radiology reports and retrieve if necessary for the position.
• Contact the social worker for assistance with patient needs such as lodging, transportation, medication requests, or any type of social worker request.
• Forward any medical records requests to the centralized medical records department.
• Schedule referring and future physician appointments as requested by the physician. This includes sending the required records for the referring appointments.
• Communicate to the PSS scheduling teams and the clinical teams of their assigned physician when their referred patient is scheduled and contacted.
• Communicate professionally through our online platforms including CareSpace (patient portal) and Doctor Connect (appointment reminder system).
• Reschedule any cancelled appointments making sure all patients have follow-up through Doctor Connect.
• Document all contact/scheduling attempts in the EMR and Salesforce.
• Closely monitor Salesforce accounts in a timely manner as specified with a supervisor.
• Maintain daily written or electronic documentation of completed work to provide data for monthly reports.
• Conduct daily research of expired patient information and update EMR or billing systems. Notify physician and medical records if required.
• Prepare and process correspondence. Answer routine medical inquires and draft letters.
• Serve as the custodian of the front office multi-function device.
• Know how to prepare and mail radiology procedure prep instructions as needed by patient appointment.
• Process EMR messages and worklist queues.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

OTHER JOB REQUIREMENTS

• Travel to satellite centers as required.

EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION, LICENSURE AND REGISTRATION

• A high school graduate or GED, required.

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• A minimum of two years of customer service work experience, required.
• Medical office setting skills preferred.
• Competent in EMR systems preferred.
• Strong knowledge of medical terminology and office procedures.
• Excellent computer and other basic office equipment skills.
• Knowledge of grammar, spelling and punctuation.
• Skilled in time management and organization.
• Ability to read, understand, and follow oral and written instructions.
• Ability to communicate clearly and concisely.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with patients, team members, and the public.

REASONING ABILITY

• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, or scheduled form.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

• Must interact and communicate both verbally and in written form.
• Must interact and exchange information regarding patients with physicians, other departmental personnel, and outside agencies frequently while respecting the confidentiality of patient information.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.
• The employee regularly is required to stand, walk, sit, use hand to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

• The work environment described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job.
• This position involves potential exposure to infectious diseases.
• Colleagues are offered appropriate vaccinations and safety training.