Certified Medical Assistant & Patient Service Representative

American Addiction Centers•Chicago, IL

20h•Onsite

About The Position

This role focuses heavily on administrative tasks while being able to step in for Medical Assistant duties as needed. The Certified Medical Assistant & Patient Service Representative will ensure assistance to healthcare providers in efficient patient flow, competently perform and record in-house testing, prepare laboratory specimens for transport, and perform various tasks based on department needs and skills verification. The position also involves greeting and escorting patients, preparing them for visits, ensuring prior results are available, obtaining and recording vital signs and patient history, notifying providers of patient needs, assisting healthcare providers during exams or procedures, providing patient education materials, reinforcing discharge instructions, coordinating activities to promote patient satisfaction, and communicating delays in service to patients. Additionally, the role includes demonstrating appropriate actions in emergencies, performing CPR, and other assigned duties. The position also involves organizing and maintaining medical supplies, assisting in maintaining the center lab, performing and recording Quality Controls, maintaining cleanliness of nursing stations and exam/procedure rooms, providing care and routine maintenance of patient care and laboratory equipment, cleaning and maintaining instruments, and keeping inventory. Miscellaneous clinical activities include reviewing/updating appointment schedules, organizing workflow, keeping providers informed of changes, providing patients with requisitions and instructions, reviewing and completing encounter and referral forms, checking in lab results, handling patient inquiries, answering phones, scheduling follow-up appointments, assisting with inventory and ordering of supplies, pulling charts, participating in logging of abnormal results and patient tracking, and other assigned duties. The role also encompasses general and financial scheduling, including answering incoming telephone calls, directing calls, delivering phone messages, scheduling appointments, verifying appointment status, financial patient type, insurance eligibility, outstanding balances, demographic information, and inputting complete and accurate demographic information for new patients. Registration duties include pulling and preparing medical charts, verifying insurance policies, ensuring charts are prepared, greeting and interacting with patients, registering patients, explaining and securing forms, preparing patient medical charts and billing information, notifying appropriate parties of patient arrival, and arriving/canceling/no-showing patients in the scheduling system. The role also involves reviewing and processing encounter forms, ensuring they follow coding guidelines, accounting for missing/incomplete forms, adhering to service breakthrough standards, confirming patient appointments, filing medical charts and other supporting data, purging old files, ensuring patient confidentiality, sorting and distributing mail, mailing correspondence, creating new patient packets and charts, participating in clerical projects, maintaining quality management activities, and attending mandatory in-services and training. Professional growth includes demonstrating customer service standards, complying with policies and procedures, assisting in staff/student orientation, seeking educational opportunities, participating in quality management activities, maintaining awareness of current standards of practice, attending meetings and inservices, completing annual mandatory education and competency assessments, and maintaining active CPR certification. The position requires completion of an accredited Medical Assistant Program, 1-2 years in a medical setting, 2-3 years of customer service experience in a high volume, multiple task, high stress environment, experience handling difficult callers/customers/patients, basic knowledge of managed care and commercial insurance, and basic knowledge of medical terminology and billing/coding practices. Required knowledge, skills, and abilities include clinically appropriate skills, excellent communication and customer service skills, ability to establish and maintain effective personal relationships, comprehensive ability to conceptualize and follow office policies and procedures, ability to handle stressful situations, ability to function in a high-volume, multiple task environment producing quality work, ability to work independently and problem-solve, strong interpersonal and telephone communication skills, solid PC skills, and working knowledge of automated appointment scheduling. Current CPR Certification and certification as a Certified Medical Assistant by the AAMA, AMT, MHA, or NCCT are required. Physical requirements include demonstrating tact and good judgment, being mature, motivated, decisive, and flexible, maintaining a professional demeanor, ability to work in a diverse professional and patient population, ability to work under stressful conditions and with demanding customers, ability to perform lifting/transfer activities related to patients as needed, ability to stoop/bend, routinely working with potentially infectious specimens and patients, exposure to hazardous materials and life-threatening diseases, occasional evenings and weekends. Bilingual in Spanish is preferred. Lifting up to 35 pounds without assistance is required, with patient handling equipment expected to be used for lifts over 35 pounds or when the patient is unable to assist.

Requirements

Completion of an accredited Medical Assistant Program
1-2 years in a medical setting or equivalent.
2-3 years of customer service experience in a high volume, multiple task, high stress environment.
Experience handling difficult callers, customers and patients.
Basic knowledge of managed care and commercial insurance.
Basic knowledge of medical terminology and billing and coding practices.
Clinically appropriate skills
Excellent communication and customer service skills.
Demonstrates excellent ability to establish and maintain effective personal relationships.
Comprehensive ability to conceptualize and follow office policies and procedures.
Ability to handle stressful situations.
Able to function in a high-volume, multiple task environment producing quality work.
Able to work independently and problem solve.
Strong interpersonal and telephone communication skills.
Solid PC skills.
Working knowledge of automated appointment scheduling.
Current CPR Certification
Certified Medical Assistant by the AAMA, AMT, MHA or NCCT
Ability to perform lifting/transfer activities related to patients as needed.
Ability to stoop/bend.
Ability to lift up to 35 pounds without assistance. For patient lifts of over 35 pounds, or when patient is unable to assist with the lift, patient handling equipment is expected to be used, with at least one other associate, when available.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual in Spanish preferred.

Responsibilities

Ensures assistance to healthcare providers in efficient patient flow
Competently performs and records all in-house testing, which may include EKG, urine dipstick, pregnancy test, strep test, accucheck and hemocult, as ordered by the provider.
Prepares laboratory specimens for transport to lab, completing appropriate lab requisition and maintaining center’s copy for tracking.
Performs various tasks based on department needs and skills verification. This may include administration of medications (excluding IV administration), phoning in prescription refills, nebulizer treatments and application of Oxygen (under the supervision of the RN/MD) qnd telephone triage.
Greets and escorts patients to/from examination room: Prepares patient for visit by reviewing chart and inquiring into the nature of the visit with the patient.
Ensures that prior results/reports are available to the provider in the record.
Obtains and records vital signs (height, weight, BP, TPR as appropriate) and patient’s history/reason for visit, according to office protocols.
Notifies provider of patient needs/changes in condition which require expertise beyond Medical Assistant’s scope of practice.
Assists healthcare provider during exam or procedures, ensuring patient’s comfort, and that adequate and appropriate supplies are immediately available to the provider.
Provides patient education materials and reinforces discharge instructions as ordered by healthcare provider.
Coordinates activities to promote patient satisfaction.
Communicates all delays in service to patients in waiting area at regular intervals.
Demonstrates appropriate actions in emergencies. Performs CPR as indicated.
Other duties as assigned
Organizes and maintains medical supplies for clinical areas, including exam/procedure rooms and lab area, to meet the needs of the patient and physician
Assists in maintaining Center lab, performing and recording Quality Controls, and maintaining cleanliness.
Maintains nursing station, exam and procedure rooms in a clean, orderly and well-stocked condition.
Provides care and routine maintenance of patient care and laboratory equipment. Alerts supervisor immediately if equipment is not functioning correctly, attaching red tag to equipment if appropriate.
Cleans and maintains instruments appropriately. Packages for storage or for sending to Central Supply for sterilization. Keeps inventory.
Reviews/updates appointment schedules, organizes work flow, and keeps providers informed of changes in daily activities/schedules.
Provides patient with appropriate requisitions, instructions, referrals for ancillary tests, procedures and consultations, as ordered by the healthcare provider.
Reviews, completes and appropriately distributes encounter and referral forms and their copies per established criteria.
Checks in lab results when received, and routes them promptly to the appropriate provider as per center policies. Notifies patients of results, either in writing or by phone, as directed by the healthcare provider.
Handles patient inquiries, either by phone or in person, for such things as test results and referrals. Follows up on inquiries or directs to appropriate personnel.
Answers phones and directs calls to appropriate department or person, or takes messages for call backs.
Schedules follow-up appointments for patients when needed, in conjunction with patient’s needs or provider request.
Assists or is responsible for inventory and ordering of supplies, which may include pharmacy supplies, medical/surgical, laboratory and emergency supplies.
Pulls charts or files in medical records as necessary.
Participates in logging of abnormal results and patient tracking as assigned.
Answers incoming telephone calls in a timely manner, delivering excellent telephone customer service skills and adhering to Advocate Health Care Telephone Standards and Revenue Cycle Scripts.
Directs all incoming telephone calls to the appropriate person(s) in accordance with the departmental phone and triage policy.
Delivers detailed and accurate phone messages to the appropriate party (ies) in a timely manner, retrieving chart when necessary.
Schedules appointments, including walk-ins, for all designated providers within the practice following departmental policies and procedures.
Schedules appointments (phone or in-person) following all Revenue Cycle guidelines which include but not limited to: • Verification of appointment status (i.e. new patient, established patient). • Verification of financial patient type (i.e. Self-Pay, insured) including discussion of hospital policies and procedures and patient responsibilities. • Verification of insurance eligibility, primary provider and site, co-payment and deductible responsibility. Discussion of patient responsibilities when applicable. Entry of verification information in computerized scheduling system. • Verification of outstanding balances and discussion of hospital outstanding balance policies and procedures and patient responsibilities. Entry of verification information in computerized scheduling system. • Verification of demographic information including name, address and telephone number. • Inputting complete and accurate demographic information for all new patients.
Pulls and prepares medical charts in advance for appointments in accordance to hospital and departmental policy.
Verification of all non-verified insurance policies.
Ensures all charts are prepared and present for current clinical day.
Greets and interacts with patients following Advocate Health Care Point of Service Standards.
Registers patients following all Revenue Cycle guidelines which include but are not limited to: • Verification of demographic information. • Notification of outstanding balances. Discussion with patient regarding payment, hospital payment policies and/or rescheduling of appointment. • Establishes payment plans. • Verification of insurance eligibility, viewing and copying of insurance cards and discussion of hospital policies when applicable. • Collection and recording of all co-payment, self-pay and outstanding balances following Cash Control and Revenue Cycle Policies.
Provides new and established patients with paperwork within accordance to hospital/departmental policies and HIPAA guidelines.
Explains, secures and witnesses all forms and signatures required to provide complete medical treatment, assign benefits, release information, establish financial responsibility and meet other external and internal requirements.
Prepares patient medical chart and billing information according to Revenue Cycle Policies.
Notifies appropriate party(ies) of patient’s arrival.
Arrives/Cancels/No Shows patients in scheduling system and medical chart as appropriate, assuring accurate monthly statistics and maintaining all standards of follow-up for non-compliant patients.
Reviews and processes encounter forms for completeness for all patients seen on specified clinical day.
Ensures all encounter forms follow coding guidelines.
Accounts and reconciles all missing and incomplete encounter forms prior to end of clinical session.
Adheres to all Advocate Service Breakthrough Standards and Scripts.
Confirms patient appointments.
Files patient medical charts, laboratory results, referrals, notes and other supporting data on a daily basis in order to keep medical records complete and current.
Purges old files as needed in accordance to Record Retention Policies and Procedures.
Ensures patient confidentiality at all times.
Sorts and distributes mail daily.
Mails all correspondence letters/information generated by department (ie. laboratory result letters, etc).
Creates new patient packets and charts.
Participates in clerical projects and duties as assigned.
Participates in maintaining quality management activities.
Attends and completes all hospital and mandatory in-services and required training
Knowledge and demonstration of Advocate Healthcare Customer Service standards
Knowledge of and compliance with Advocate Healthcare policies and procedures that apply to the job and area of responsibility
Knowledge of and compliance with federal, state and local laws that apply to the job’s area of responsibility
Assists in orientation of new staff and students.
Seeks opportunities to attend classes through Advocate’s programs
Participates in developing and maintaining quality management activities.
Maintains awareness of current standards of practice.
Attends on-site meetings and inservices.
Completes annual mandatory education and all appropriate clinical competency assessments.
Maintains active Healthcare Provider in CPR status.
Maintains certification as a Certified Medical Assistant, as required by the NCCT or AAMA.