Ambulatory Liaison

Brown Medicine•Providence, RI

61d•$21 - $35•Onsite

About The Position

The Ambulatory Liaison reports to the Manager, Medication Access Program (MAP). Under pharmacist supervision and the direction of a Pharmacy Technician Supervisor or Technician Group Leader, the role uses established MAP processes to facilitate affordable, accessible, and reliable pharmacy services. The liaison interacts compassionately with patients and families and professionally with providers, nurses, and support personnel. Using the electronic health record and pharmacy system applications, the liaison obtains information needed to process prescriptions and payment transactions and acts as a provider’s agent to authorize eligible prescription refills in accordance with established guidelines. The role supports prior authorizations and financial assistance by investigating benefits, preparing and coordinating applications, pursuing appeals and tier exceptions, and helping patients secure available assistance. It also helps manage patient relationships and retention, communicates medication cost, availability, and wait-time information, identifies issues for pharmacist referral, and contributes to quality improvement, medication safety, and staff training. The position performs independently within departmental policies and procedures and refers complex policy questions to a supervisor.

Requirements

High school graduation or equivalent.
Minimum one year of experience as a pharmacy technician; commensurate related-field experience, such as benefits management, may be considered in lieu of technician experience.
Current unrestricted Rhode Island Pharmacy Technician II license for prior authorization and financial assistance services.
Current National Pharmacy Technician Certification (CPhT).
Strong customer service presence and verbal and written communication skills for interacting with patients, providers, nurses, and ancillary support staff.
Solid computer skills, including Microsoft Office Suite, web applications, and multiple pharmacy system applications.
Ability to multitask and reprioritize while maintaining accuracy and service standards.
Obtain pharmacy ambulatory liaison competencies within three months of hire and maintain them at least annually thereafter, including the Medication Access Program Competency Checklist, disease-state-specific training, accreditation updates, and other required operational competencies.
Ability to perform work requiring extended sitting, visual acuity, and manual dexterity to operate a computer and enter data using a keyboard and mouse while navigating multiple monitors.

Nice To Haves

Completion of one to two years of college.
Prior experience with specialty pharmacy services, call-center customer service, prior authorization management, and/or patient financial assistance programs.

Responsibilities

Provide friendly, helpful customer service to patients, families, providers, nurses, and support personnel.
Support pharmacy interdepartmental relationships to ensure smooth transitions of patient care from clinic to pharmacy.
Protect patient confidentiality in accordance with HIPAA guidelines.
Collect patient information needed for prescription filling, benefits investigations, prior authorizations, and financial assistance applications.
Enter patient data into organizational systems to support accurate service charges, insurance billing, payments, and copay processing.
Support growth of the Brown University Health Pharmacy patient population through ambulatory patient recruitment.
Answer questions about medication and pharmaceutical supply costs and availability, and communicate wait times and drug availability issues.
Advise patients about refill authorization processes for expired prescriptions.
Develop relationships with assigned patients to encourage retention and proactively contact patients to assess medication needs and supply on hand.
Help patients and customers resolve identified problems.
Identify clinical questions, including medication and drug-interaction concerns, and refer patients to a pharmacist.
Participate in quality assessment, improvement activities, process development, and medication safety initiatives, including reporting actual, prevented, and near-miss medication errors through approved processes.
Assist with training, onboarding, and support of fellow staff under pharmacist and technician leadership guidance.
Investigate patient benefits and coverage details, using the EHR to answer questions and provide documentation for prior authorizations and financial assistance applications.
Complete prior authorizations, appeals, and tier exceptions on behalf of providers, and communicate results to patients, families, providers, and pharmacies as appropriate.
Secure available treatment-related financial assistance, including manufacturer assistance, discount programs, and recognized foundations; refer patients to and assist with manufacturer program applications.
Coordinate financial assistance applications among patients, clinics, and providers to ensure required paperwork is submitted appropriately.
As an authorized provider agent under the MAP, authorize eligible prescription refills according to MAP guidelines and standards and communicate approvals to patients or pharmacies.
Consult the EHR, MAP, and refill standards before authorizing requests, and confirm that the provider has completed the required prescriber opt-in.
Approve refills only when applicable criteria are met, including provider visit timing, current laboratory testing, and medication-list and refill-standard requirements.
Reroute requests to providers, clinical staff, office staff, or pharmacists when defined criteria are not met, and refuse requests as required by MAP guidelines.
Help providers identify ancillary supplies needed for select medications, such as sharps containers, needles or syringes, alcohol swabs, and bandages.