Clinic Services Specialist - Ophthalmology Surgery Scheduling

University of Iowa•Iowa City, IA

61d•Onsite

About The Position

The University of Iowa Health Care, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences is seeking a 100% Clinic Services Specialist (CSS) - Ophthalmology Surgery Scheduling. This role serves as the central point of coordination for surgical scheduling, patient flow, and operational efficiency within the Ophthalmology department. Responsibilities include scheduling and repositioning surgeries, managing patient interactions at the nurses' station, and ensuring timely communication to support patient satisfaction. The position oversees complex surgical scheduling across multiple ophthalmic specialties and locations, collaborates with surgeons and diagnostic teams, and allocates operating room resources to optimize faculty utilization. This role requires strong organizational skills and critical thinking to balance patient needs, staff and physician resources, and institutional priorities. University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics-recognized as one of the best hospitals in the United States-is Iowa's only comprehensive academic medical center and a regional referral center. Each day more than 12,000 employees, students, and volunteers work together to provide safe, quality health care and excellent service for our patients. Simply stated, our mission is: Changing Medicine. Changing Lives.

Requirements

A Bachelor's degree or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Patient centered focus and demonstrated ability to serve as a patient advocate
Ability to anticipate needs, problems and potential issues and use judgment, foresight and problem-solving skills to troubleshoot, recommend and implement solutions.
Careful attention to detail and accuracy, strong organizational skills, and ability to handle multiple tasks quickly and effectively, proactively establish priorities and meet deadlines.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills required including ability to compose communications and grammatically correct documents in a concise, logical and organized manner.
Proficient in computer software applications (Microsoft Office Programs)

Nice To Haves

Three (3) years + administrative support experience in a healthcare, collegiate, and/or ophthalmology setting
Three (3) years + support experience with multiple calendar and scheduling management
Job related experience with and/or commitment to customer service excellence.
Experience with the EPIC system
Experience with hospital operations and/or Ambulatory Clinic operations
Knowledge of University of Iowa policies, procedures, and regulations

Responsibilities

Receives/monitors patients, visitors, physicians, nursing staff, fellow employees and others at the nurses station.
Confirms demographics, insurance, MSP, and caregiver information and makes changes as needed.
Provides direction for patient flow as they arrive. Prioritizes patients based on need, staffing, and current activity.
Remains engaged with patient satisfaction for wait times, prompt follow-up, communication, and close loop not only with patients, but with the health care team.
Schedules and repositions surgeries for Ophthalmology. Collaborate with other surgeons when multi sub specialties are needed to perform complex procedures.
Determines allocation of OR schedule between multiple locations to ensure maximum faculty efficiency.
Participates in quality assurance measures related to adding CPT codes on surgical orders and/or work referral workques.
Monitors/makes adjustments to Qgenda for physician absence in relation to looking surgical time.
Utilizes critical thinking skills to determine urgency of patient phone calls.
Answers questions about clinic surgical procedures according to department instructions.
Coordinates EUA (exam under anesthesia) surgical procedures with MRI and our internal Echography team.
Coordinates diagnostic services across hospital.
Coordinates complex surgical scheduling across multi-specialty areas involving multiple areas to ensure that combined surgical cases are scheduled with correct physicians and resources.
Coordinates with Iowa Lions Eye Bank to ensure eye tissue is here on the day of surgery for the provider.
Triages and serves as the primary point of contact for Nurses station and is responsible for assigning work responsibilities for the nursing staff each day.
Responsible for determining surgical room allocation every 4 weeks for room utilization.
Coordinates surgeries and minor room procedures in four different locations and with multiple sub specialties across the institution.
Takes an active role in strategic planning in determining future faculty and nurse staffing.
Modifies snap board scheduling process for the procedure suite.
May partner with department administration in budget preparation regarding allocation of surgical revenue, projects, and determine capacity for future growth.
May perform other duties as assigned.