Customer Service Clerk

Tufts Medicine•Lowell, MA

3d•$17 - $20•Onsite

About The Position

The Customer Service Clerk works in the Service Response Center at Lowell General Hospital and supports the hospital’s commitment to excellent customer service. The role maintains the flow of information through in-person interactions and phone calls, responds to service issues, identifies root causes, and coordinates solutions to help ensure successful referrals and positive patient experiences. Routine duties require strong computer skills and professional etiquette. The clerk may also collect and capture patient registration information, verify scheduled ambulatory visits and insurance coverage, confirm referral authorization for specialty visits, and check primary care physician information for managed care patients. This is a part-time position at Lowell General Hospital, 295 Varnum Ave, Lowell, Massachusetts. The schedule is 24 hours per week, 10:30 AM to 7:00 PM, with every other weekend and every other holiday required. The work takes place in a normal office environment with frequent contact with patients, physicians, payers, and hospital staff, in person and by telephone.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent (listed as a preferred qualification).
One year of customer service or call center experience (listed as a preferred qualification).
Strong customer service, interpersonal, and telephone skills.
Ability to deal effectively with upset or difficult patients.
Tact in frequent interactions with patients, insurance companies, and staff at all levels.
Understanding of medical terminology.
Knowledge and understanding of health care delivery systems, especially referral management for managed-care providers.
Organizational skills and attention to detail.
Ability to perform accurate data entry.
Ability to communicate, read, and write in English.

Nice To Haves

Bilingual ability.

Responsibilities

Interact politely and courteously with patients and customers, provide excellent customer service, and help resolve issues related to housekeeping, transport, or food service requests.
Analyze requests and handle them as appropriate, researching issues with area staff, supervisors, managers, other hospital departments, or the patient advocate office when needed.
Answer calls to the call center and dispatch them to the appropriate service or staff member; receive and transfer calls and provide follow-up calls as needed.
Receive and record messages for appropriate personnel in accordance with job-scope guidelines.
Monitor phone, fax, and mail inquiries for resolution, and resolve returned-mail issues or direct them to the proper staff member.
As needed, interact with billing and collection agencies; identify patient issues, disputes, account holds, and payment-plan questions and assist with resolution.
As needed, provide requested billing and demographic information to physicians, ambulance companies, and other partners by telephone in accordance with hospital protocol.
As needed, post patient credit-card payments to the appropriate accounts through the hospital system.
As needed, research self-pay credit balances and prepare check refunds, refund credit-card payments through the current system, or transfer payments to other open accounts according to hospital procedures.
Collect and capture patient registration data, verify scheduled ambulatory visits and valid insurance coverage, confirm referral authorization for specialty visits, and check primary care physician data for managed-care patients.