UNIV - Administrative Coordinator I - Department of Ophthalmology

Medical University of South Carolina • Charleston, SC

1d

About The Position

The Administrative Coordinator provides comprehensive administrative, operational, and coordination support to four full-time physicians across multiple ophthalmic specialties in a high-volume academic medical clinic. This role is critical to ensuring efficient clinic operations, accurate scheduling, timely patient communication, and seamless coordination among clinical teams, financial services, referral partners, and operating room staff. The Administrative Coordinator serves as a key liaison between physicians, patients, clinic staff, community partners, and departmental leadership. The position requires independent judgment, strong organizational skills, and the ability to adapt positively to evolving workflows, innovative processes, and additional responsibilities as departmental needs change.

Requirements

• A high school diploma and four years relevant experience in business management, public administration or administrative services; or a bachelor's degree and two years experience in business management, public administration or administrative services.

Nice To Haves

• Prior administrative experience in a medical or healthcare setting preferred.
• Proficiency with EPIC or similar electronic medical record systems strongly preferred.
• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• High level of professionalism, confidentiality, discretion, and attention to detail.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively with multidisciplinary teams.
• Demonstrated flexibility, initiative, and a positive attitude when adapting to new tasks, responsibilities, innovative processes, and evolving workflows.

Responsibilities

• Clinic and Schedule Management: Provide direct administrative support to multiple sub-specialist physicians, for the Department of Ophthalmology, maintaining full engagement with each specialty. Support future onboarding and training of new hires. Review clinic schedules one week and three business days in advance to identify mis-scheduled patients, template inconsistencies, or access issues. Notify patients of mis-scheduled appointments and assist with appropriate rescheduling to ensure timely access to care. Manage physician clinic templates, including template changes, frozen minutes, and overbook approvals. Ensure held frozen clinic minutes remain under 30 minutes per month. Prepare, submit, and track all clinic change requests to ensure timely review and approval. Coordinate clinic cancellations, ensuring all cancellations are requested and finalized at least 45 days in advance. Review schedules against the Master Schedule to prevent scheduling conflicts and errors. Serve as the liaison between physicians, scheduling teams, and clinic staff to optimize clinic efficiency and patient flow. Independently perform routine and complex administrative duties using discretion, tact, and minimal supervisory assistance.
• EPIC In Basket and Patient Communication: Monitor and manage EPIC In Basket messages, including phone messages, staff messages, CC’d charts, patient advice notifications, and referral messages. Ensure all incoming phone messages, both direct and EPIC-based, are addressed within one to two business days. Document all patient communication attempts in EPIC using telephone encounters. Make a minimum of two documented attempts to reach patients when follow-up is required. Handle all patient phone calls professionally and courteously, ensuring timely follow-through to resolution.
• Cataract Referral Queue and Scheduling: Actively monitor and sign into the Cataract Referral Queue to answer patient calls and schedule new cataract consultation appointments. Ensure all cataract-related calls received during business hours are answered on the same business day. Respond to after-hours cataract calls on the following business day.
• Procedure and Financial Coordination: Schedule all in-office procedures for assigned physicians. Notify patients of any applicable elective or out-of-pocket fees prior to procedures. Accurately log elective fee information in the designated elective surgery Excel tracking tool for Financial Counseling review and collection. Coordinate with Referral and Financial Counseling teams to ensure all referrals, authorizations, and financial clearances are in place prior to procedures. Communicate with revenue cycle teams regarding elective services, billing inquiries, and payment concerns. Support Financial Assistance Program (FAP) and Coordination of Benefits (COB) processes as applicable.
• Operating Room and Interdepartmental Coordination: Collaborate closely with Operating Room scheduling teams to resolve scheduling conflicts and optimize OR utilization. Partner with physicians, residents, faculty, clinical staff, and administrative leadership to support clinical operations and patient care initiatives.
• Correspondence and General Administrative Support: Manage all correspondence, including patient letters, physician requests, vacation requests, clinic cancellations, and travel itineraries. Prepare and submit required approval forms related to correspondence, scheduling, and operational changes. Maintain physicians’ calendars, office files, surgery schedules, certifications, and licensure documentation. Schedule and coordinate meetings and departmental activities as needed. Respond to or appropriately route routine internal and external inquiries using independent judgment. Work with community partners to schedule patients on an urgent-need basis, including but not limited to The Citadel, College of Charleston, and Health Champions. Proactively identify potential issues and implement solutions with minimal supervisory guidance. Maintain excellent interpersonal, organizational, and customer service skills at all times.
• Cross-Training, Coverage, and Staff Development: Cross-train in additional medical specialties to ensure continuity of operations during staff absences or coverage needs. When covering for another team member, assume full responsibility for their daily duties and assigned tasks. Train front desk staff on clinic scheduling workflows as needed. Train all new administrative staff following the established six-week training guide.
• Additional Duties Special Projects assigned by the Administrative Supervisor and / or Department Administrator. To include but not limited to special events, taskforces ect. Perform other duties as assigned by the Administrative Supervisor and/or Department Administrator in support of departmental operations.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED
• Number of Employees: 501-1,000 employees