Ambulatory Care Administrative Coordinator 2

University of California, San Francisco•San Francisco, CA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

Under the direct supervision of the Otolaryngology – (OHNS) Practice Supervisor, the Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator will work independently and have responsibility for providing administrative support to the Facial Plastic OHNS practice. The Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator functions as the primary contact for tertiary new and returning patients requiring ambulatory care at UCSF Health Facial Plastics. S/he will work closely with the administrative and management teams to support practice operations, complex surgery scheduling, billing and work queue knowledge and advanced care coordination with multiple departments at UCSF. The Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator serves as a liaison to management to advise on, take lead action on, and provide direction on process improvements initiatives. S/he provides support to all functions of the administrative teams including oversight of: registering and scheduling patients, checking in and out patients, referral work queue management, authorizations, insurance verification, surgery depot management, OR block time utilization, APeX in baskets, scanning and filing. As an Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator, s/he is responsible for addressing and resolving escalated issues of day-to-day operations in addition to maintaining daily administrative operations and communications relations to the clinic staff, to social workers, physicians and multiple department staff when coordinating advanced care. As a subject-matter expert in patient scheduling and the electronic medical record, the Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator will assist in template building, adjustments, scheduling improvements, and work with support staff and the clinical team to ensure seamless day-to-day clinic operations. The Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator will participate in performance improvement initiatives such as the True North Board, in pulling data for the clinic and in feedback related to staff performance. The Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator will participate in UCSF’s Ambulatory-wide initiatives to represent the department and may also present at monthly staff meetings and division meetings with any updates. S/he works as a team member with other practice staff and consistently projects a professional and courteous demeanor. S/he is a team player who works closely with others and who is flexible in dealing with the changing priorities. S/he is a self-reliant individual who synthesizes his/her knowledge of practice operations in order to problem-solve, prioritize and facilitate complex transactions in the course of his/her daily activities. In addition to providing the day-to-day practice support, the Ambulatory Administrative Coordinator will assist in staff orientation and ongoing training; redistributes work within the OHNS Facial Plastics team as needed; covers for OHNS staff when they are out; helps to supervise and cover other areas of the practice when the Director or supervisor are off-site. S/he must have the ability to perform and prioritize multiple tasks and work well with staff, patients and providers. A high degree of independence, initiative, assertiveness, and diplomacy are necessary in dealing with faculty, staff and patients in a complex environment. This position functions in the outpatient clinical settings at all UCSF Health sites (Parnassus, Mt. Zion, joint UCSF health partnerships, Satellite Clinics, or with UCSF Faculty at other off-site clinic sites, et al). Department Overview: Otolaryngology/Head and Neck Surgery service offers a broad scope of outpatient and inpatient services for the diagnosis and surgical management of ear, nose and throat problems; head and neck surgery; and plastic and reconstructive surgery of the face. Specialty programs include Otology and Neurotology, Head and Neck Surgery, Rhinology and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery, Endocrine (Thyroid and Parathyroid) Surgery, Skull Base Surgery, Facial Plastic surgery.

Requirements

Acquiring knowledge of Patient Rights & Responsibilities, Joint Commission standards, and Centers for Medicare / Medicaid regulations.
Knowledge of Medical Terminology.
Knowledge of data collection, compilation, and analytical techniques.
Strong knowledge of practice operations, patient-scheduling systems, medical and insurance terminology, applicable information systems, patient service standards, and regulatory requirement and best practices.
Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with the ability to quickly analyze problems, determine appropriate level of intervention, and develop and apply effective solutions.
Strong interpersonal skills for effective collaborations with all levels of management and staff, consultants and outside agencies.
Skills to comprehend and assess patient's grievances to quickly locate appropriate resource for assistance.
Working knowledge of the organization and how to get issues resolved.
Solid interpersonal and customer service skills.
Ability to be diplomatic and highly organized.
Ability to remain calm under pressure and apply sound judgment.
Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, demanding environment with minimal supervision.
Ability to manage and oversee multiple tasks simultaneously, including high daily call volume.
Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
Proficiency with Windows-based software including Microsoft word, Excel, Outlook.
Knowledge of computer systems and software used in functional area.
1-3 years of experience within surgery scheduling.
Prior experience with EPIC EMR.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in related area and / or equivalent experience / training.

Responsibilities

Provides high-level patient care coordination support for FPS clinical practice.
Obtains insurance prior-authorization for new patients and surgeries and coordinates with authorizations coordinators for follow-up visits along with billing issues related to this work.
Has a keen awareness of the need to provide prompt and convenient appointment access to patients.
Adheres to the provider productivity standards as established in APeX templates for the practice and oversees the scheduling of appointments with the appropriate appointment type.
Upholds UCSF policies such as HIPAA regarding the maintenance and confidentiality of the medical records.
Reviews referred telephone calls, screening for emergencies and routing messages, handles urgent requests, refill requests, etc. to the appropriate support staff/physician.
Covers APeX in-baskets, work queue, and phone messages when other members of the team are absent.
Assists in urgent issue resolution for the Practice Coordinator team when members are out of the office.
Monitors and oversees handling of the work queues daily to ensure timely contacting and scheduling of patients per department and UCSF standard.
Creates referrals and schedules from referrals whenever required in APeX.
Demonstrates an ability to adjust priorities as required for smooth operation of the practice and notifies the clinical staff.
Provides administrative support to providers in coordination of tertiary patient care and complex surgery coordination.
Schedules needed procedures and tests providing appropriate instructions to patients.
Collaborates with clinical staff in problem-solving patient needs and requests for same day appointments and other appointments requiring care coordination.
Works together with the clinical staff in the processing and follow-through of urgent patient needs.
Demonstrates courtesy and overt helpfulness in all interactions.
Collaborates with Practice Supervisor, Practice Manager, and Administrative Director in the resolution of patient complaints.
Complex facial reconstructive surgical procedures with liaison departments, Gender reassignment facial surgeries with multiple requirements including social and mental health mandates, complex rhinoplasties with both insurance and self-pay components and collections, etc.
Pre- and post-operatively coordinates communication between healthcare providers and departments related to medication risks, current medical conditions, special language, cultural, and religious needs of the patients.
Updates and monitors OR block time to ensure providers are able to utilize their OR time within block time efficiently and coordinates with other surgery schedulers to secure OR time outside of designated block time in the operating rooms.
Consistently releases OR block time according to departmental standards.
Coordinates pre-operative anesthesia appointments with other testing, authorization coding and scheduling the surgery in Op-time, working on the insurance authorization for the surgery and any post-surgical needs.
Updates and coordinates with surgeons to ensure compliance with established billing requirements and ensuring all applicable codes are entered and used in ambulatory Epic Care and Op-Time.
Successfully interacts with patients to ensure that the patient is aware of a payment plan for surgery. This includes quoting prices and coordinating payment, collections, f/u with billing team and ensuring all mandatory forms are explained and signed.
Oversees and coordinates follow-up care and services for all patients after a physician consultation, after office visits and in-between visits.
Ensures that a global period is in place and promotes understanding of patients for the differences between the follow-up care for presurgical, surgical and post-surgical patients.
Ongoing care coordination includes, but is not limited to the following: Follow-up appointments with providers in the practice, in other UCSF practices and community providers, coordinating the entire care of the patient.
Promotes department specific procedures to ensure needed Post-surgical appointments and testing, identification of patients who need to return to surgery at planned intervals or those patients who return to surgery urgently or emergently.
Point of contact for coordination of Head and Neck Surgery and Facial Plastic Surgery joint case coordination.
Identifying which dates are available for coordinated free flap surgeries.
Addresses patient grievances at point of service.
Identifies appropriate resource as needed.
Investigates patient complaints and grievances about barriers (or perceived barriers) for patient satisfaction.
Leads the Practice Coordinator team and takes into consideration the various needs of the team members and physicians to facilitate change.
Leads by example and inspires and encourages team members to function at their highest level and produce quality work.
Rounds regularly with the Practice Coordinator team and Leadership team using Caring Behaviors to understand the needs of the team and works to ensure that deficits are identified and corrected.
Has a strong working knowledge of all divisions of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, and can fill in to assist/trouble-shoot as needed across multiple facilities.
Communicates directly with patients either by telephone, electronically or face to face while consistently following Everyday PRIDE principles in verbal and written communications.
Responds promptly and courteously to internal and external inquiries.
Manages appropriate APeX Pools and In Baskets.
Helps supervise and cover when Leadership team is out.
Handles front line patient complaints with the support of the Practice Supervisor, Practice Manager and Administrative Director.
Collaborates with practice management to lead the orientation of new practice coordinator staff and conducts hands-on training.
Supports all performance improvement initiatives as outlined by the medical Center leadership through active participation and initiation, including the True North Board.
Represents the department in LEAN/Process improvement initiatives internally and externally to the department.
Obtains and evaluates all relevant information to handle inquiries and complaints.
Is a strong team player, has a dedicated work ethic, and is willing to learn and adapt to new tasks when asked.
Is comfortable building rapport with patients quickly and is able to work effectively with and without supervision and remain calm and friendly in all interactions with patients, physicians and staff.
Notifies providers of patient delays and service issues.
Acts and advocates for patients to help facilitate provider punctuality in seeing patients according to schedule.
Notifies management of any performance issues and actively works with the leadership team to resolve issues in a thoughtful and consistent manner.
Offers suggestions for change or improvement in clinic/practice operations.
Represents the Practice Coordinator team in internal and external meetings; leads meetings and presents hot topics to address operational and service concerns.
Leads by example in the areas professional appearance, demeanor and body language, making eye contact with patients and internal customers, exhibits a friendly demeanor to put patients at ease.
Takes cash collection roles as needed in the department (auditor, depositor, etc).