Access Specialist I - ED

Albany Medical Center • Glens Falls, NY

20h • $46,215 - $60,080 • Onsite

About The Position

The Emergency Department Access Specialist I is a hybrid position combining the Access Representative and Health Unit Coordinator roles, designed to operate effectively in a high-pressure environment. This role involves rotating assignments across multiple disciplines within the Emergency Departments. Key areas of responsibility include Triage of walk-in patients, which involves quick data collection, entering information into the ADT System, patient wristband placement, and acquiring regulatory signatures. For patients seen by a provider, a full registration, including General Consent and financial responsibility collection, is required, with a strong emphasis on accurate patient identification even without formal identification. The position also covers ED Zone Support, managing multi-line telephones, inquiries, call transfers, patient discharges, and verifying laboratory specimens. Bedside Registration entails collecting demographic and insurance information, regulatory consent forms, and financial responsibility directly at the patient's bedside. Lastly, the EMS Desk role involves shadowing and answering EMS Radio calls, providing patient descriptions, age, chief complaint, vital signs, and ambulance agency capture, while accurately identifying patients, often without identification, and managing related policies and procedures.

Requirements

• High School Diploma/G.E.D.
• Ability to keep composure in a high-stress environment.
• Ability to multi-task in stressful and high patient volume units; must be able to manage pressure of high intensity situations.
• Good judgment and ability to be resourceful to problem solve; escalate issues as needed.
• Ability to manage contained blood, urine, and other bodily fluids.
• Ability to handle a multi-line telephone system; paging required.
• Ability to push 35-50 lb Workstation on Wheels (WOW).
• Must be able to stand for long periods of time.
• Social and Emotional Intelligence.
• Ability to deal with a diverse population including critically injured, mentally disturbed, and belligerent patients.
• Patient-centric customer service.
• Conflict Management skills.
• Team-oriented support.
• Adaptability to high-stress situations.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Equivalent combination of relevant education and experience may be substituted as appropriate.

Nice To Haves

• Associate's Degree
• 1-3 years in customer service experience, or a hospital or clinic setting

Responsibilities

• Accurately identify patients in highly stressful situations, ensuring patient safety.
• Perform bedside registration, collecting patient demographic information, insurance details, and obtaining signatures for regulatory forms via Document Management/electronic signature, including Medicare patients' MSPQ information.
• Identify and verify insurance at the bedside, obtaining additional information for No Fault or Worker’s Compensation for MVA patients and employees hurt at work.
• Ensure Access’ expectations of key clinical measures are executed and timeframes met, such as Chest pain – Door to EKG notification.
• Review, assess, and assign the appropriate health insurance plan and collect copayment, if applicable, at the bedside.
• Interact effectively with external agency personnel: EMS Agencies, Law Enforcement Agencies, and Correction Facilities.
• Capture patient’s pharmacy information in support of expedited discharge by nurse and physician.
• Answer multi-line telephones and manage all calls in a calm, courteous, and respectful manner.
• Capture brief information via Ambulance Radio, including patient description, age, chief complaint, and Vital Signs.
• Manage the ED Patient Tracker and complete Access Specialists tasks as identified.
• Verify laboratory specimens and assure timely delivery to the laboratory.
• Manage daily workflow during scheduled and unscheduled SYSTEM downtimes, following downtime procedures.
• Manage downtime flow in the ED during system downtimes.
• Ensure EMTALA Regulations are maintained.
• Perform triage of walk-in patients, including quick data collection and entering into the ADT System, placing patient wristbands for patient safety, and acquiring a regulatory signature on the HIXNY Consent.
• Complete a full registration including General Consent and collection of financial responsibility if a patient is seen by a provider.
• Accurately identify patients in the ADT system, even when identification is problematic or absent.
• Provide ED Zone Support, including answering multi-line (10) telephones, managing all inquiries, transferring telephone calls, discharging patients via the patient medical record, and verifying all laboratory specimens for accurate labeling by nurse or provider.
• Shadow answer EMS Radio (Ambulance Agency calls from the field) and provide a brief description of patient age, complaint, Vital Signs, and ambulance agency capture.
• Accurately identify patients with often no identification, manage EMS inaccuracy of capture of information, and manage UNKNOWN Patient policy and procedure at the EMS Desk.

Benefits

• Excellent health care coverage with no copay at Albany Medical Center providers
• A wide array of services and programs to support emotional, physical, and mental wellbeing

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED
• Number of Employees: 1,001-5,000 employees