Patient Access Liaison, Lead - Access Center - Full Time 8 Hour Days (Non-Exempt) (Union)

University of Southern California•Los Angeles, CA

About The Position

The Patient Access Liaison, Lead serves as a primary point of contact for access to USC academic medical centers and the USC Health Sciences Campus. Under the direction of Access Center Leadership, the Lead supports team members by assigning daily duties, balancing workloads, coordinating scheduling, and leading daily huddles. The Lead also serves as a service recovery contact and works independently while assisting with department projects as needed. The role answers, screens, and directs telephone calls, electronic messages, omnichannel contacts, and other web-based communications using organizational communications systems. It responds to basic inquiries and refers other questions to appropriate medical personnel, and distributes messages to medical personnel through electronic methods such as text, voice, and email. The Lead schedules and confirms initial and follow-up appointments, registers patients, verifies insurance coverage, and may advise patients of estimated financial responsibility. The position provides guidance and ad hoc training to Level 1 and Level 2 staff, supports service recovery escalations, and serves as a key resource for Patient Access Center information. It may assist leadership with process updates, training materials, staffing plans, scheduling, provider master schedules, huddles, and special projects. The role may float to other organizational areas as assigned and is expected to work from home when organizationally deployed, following departmental remote-work guidelines.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
Three to five years of experience working in a call center and/or healthcare customer service department or environment; the posting also describes a combination of experience totaling two or more years.
Demonstrated interpersonal skills.
Strong leadership skills.
Ability to multitask.
Cross-trained in multiple specialty areas.
Knowledge of insurance.
Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
Fire Life Safety Training (LA City); if not held at hire, it must be obtained within 30 days of hire and maintained through renewal before expiration, as required within LA City.

Nice To Haves

Associate's or bachelor's degree in healthcare, business, or operations.
Vocational certificates in healthcare, including appointment scheduling, registration, insurance verification, or medical assisting.
One year of lead experience.
Knowledge of HIPAA compliance and various health insurance types.
Knowledge of medical terminology.
Demonstrated high-level computer literacy with practice management scheduling systems.
Bilingual ability, including Spanish, Chinese, or other languages.

Responsibilities

Assign daily duties, balance workloads, coordinate scheduling, and lead daily team huddles.
Serve as a service recovery contact and first point of escalation for service recovery matters forwarded by Level 1 and Level 2 staff.
Answer, screen, and direct incoming and outgoing calls, electronic messages, omnichannel contacts, and other web-based communications; transfer calls to appropriate departments or medical personnel.
Respond to basic inquiries and refer other inquiries to appropriate medical personnel.
Contact medical personnel and distribute messages using electronic text, voice, and email systems.
Schedule, reschedule, cancel, and confirm medical appointments across clinical sites and divisions, including initial and follow-up appointments.
Schedule medical diagnostics and outpatient procedures, and coordinate care with patient coordinators, nurses, physicians, patients, and referring physicians.
Register patients, verify insurance coverage, and, when applicable, advise patients of estimated financial responsibility.
Maintain medical data and reconcile it with patient appointment records; analyze schedules to provide adequate patient access.
Maintain information in the Call Management system and Qgenda and ensure updates are provided to management.
Follow departmental procedures for processing messages and comply with HIPAA regulations.
Provide direction, guidance, and ad hoc training to Level 1 and Level 2 staff, including on-campus and remote staff.
Assist with updates to foundational processes, scheduling protocols, scripts, Master Schedules, and training materials.
Assist leadership or supervisors with huddles, affinity assignments, reporting needs, appointment conversions, special projects, staffing plans, projections, and staff scheduling.
Float to organizational areas as assigned and work remotely when organizationally deployed, following departmental guidelines.
May page physicians and perform follow-up checks on open pages while on shift and before leaving the shift.
Facilitate communication and implementation of security or emergency standards as directed by Patient Access Center leadership.
Maintain accuracy, professional conduct, collegial interactions, and customer service standards; contribute effectively as a team member.
Perform other duties as assigned.