Dental Office Specialist - Southwest - Adult Dental

El Rio Health•Tucson, AZ

18h

About The Position

The Dental Office Specialist supports dental office operations and provides customer service to patients and visitors in person and by telephone. Duties include appointment scheduling, patient registration, insurance eligibility verification, data entry, billing and collections, and report preparation. The role supports El Rio Health’s mission to provide comprehensive, quality health care that is affordable and accessible to people with health care needs. The position maintains a professional and safe reception environment, protects patient confidentiality, communicates wait times and appointment information, and responds to inquiries and complaints. It also helps patients understand El Rio Health’s sliding fee programs, represents the organization at community events, and supports quality improvement and annual federal reporting. Employees must follow facility policies, including HIPAA, compliance, safety, infection prevention, and applicable Joint Commission Certification requirements. A high school diploma or GED and customer service experience are required, along with experience handling money and credit card transactions. A current, valid Level I fingerprint clearance card in good standing is required, or the employee must apply within seven working days after beginning employment. Reliable transportation is required to accommodate operational reassignments during the workday. Employees who drive during work hours must have a valid driver’s license and comply with Arizona vehicle insurance requirements.

Requirements

High school diploma or GED.
Customer service experience.
Experience with money and credit card transactions.
Current, valid Level I fingerprint clearance card in good standing, or application for the card within seven working days after beginning employment.
Reliable transportation that can accommodate organizational operational reassignments during the workday.
If driving during work hours, a valid driver’s license and compliance with Arizona vehicle insurance requirements.
Ability to follow applicable policies and procedures, including those related to patient confidentiality, safety, compliance, and infection prevention.

Nice To Haves

Extensive public-contact work experience.
Medical or dental front-office experience.
Knowledge of dental terminology and procedures.
Experience in dental insurance billing.
Computer data-entry and retrieval experience.
Bilingual English/Spanish ability, including speaking, reading, and writing in both languages.

Responsibilities

Prepare and maintain a clean, professional reception area and ready the equipment and materials needed for the workday.
Greet patients and visitors, answer telephone calls courteously, record and route messages or complaints, and protect patient confidentiality.
Register patients and accurately complete required fields in El Rio Health’s EHR/EMR and other IT systems.
Check patients in efficiently, keep them informed about wait times, schedule and manage appointments, and notify back-office staff when walk-ins need assessment.
Provide excellent customer service, address and resolve complaints, and build respectful working relationships with team members and providers.
Collect information for quality improvement surveys and annual Federal reporting (Universal Data Sets).
Educate patients about El Rio Health sliding fee programs and eligibility requirements, and share information about El Rio Health services in the community.
Represent El Rio Health professionally at community events, including health fairs, immunization clinics, and employee events.
Handle money according to policy, collect applicable co-pays and payments, and apply them correctly to patient accounts.
Verify insurance eligibility daily using SPSI exceptions, AHCCCS and commercial insurance websites, and update corresponding EMR/EHR records.
Understand and apply the required order of insurance billing, including AHCCCS and private insurance payers, grant-funded coverage, and sliding fee arrangements.
Run reports from El Rio Health EHR/EMR systems as required.
Follow up on missed or no-show appointments and accommodate same-day appointment requests.
Comply with facility policies and procedures, including HIPAA, compliance, safety, infection prevention, and Joint Commission Certification requirements.
Maintain a clean, safe, and hygienic work environment and promptly address or report safety issues and hazards.
Model El Rio Behavioral Standards and professional conduct in interactions with patients, coworkers, and visitors.
Perform other duties as assigned.