Patient Access Specialist, ED 2nd shift

Northwestern Memorial Healthcare • Lake Forest, IL

5d • $18 - $28

About The Position

The Patient Access Specialist supports Northwestern Medicine’s patient-first mission by providing customer service and administrative support throughout patient access, scheduling, registration, and insurance verification processes. The role follows organizational policies, confidentiality requirements, and applicable regulatory and accreditation standards. The specialist collects and verifies patient information, assists patients with scheduling and financial-account questions, performs insurance and medical-necessity checks, and uses Epic and other online systems to support accurate patient records and care coordination. The position includes cross-training across departments to help ensure coverage and may involve attending meetings that require walking within the NM Campus. Work hours are listed as 1:30 p.m.–10 p.m. with rotating weekends; the posting also lists “Day Job (1st)” as the job shift.

Requirements

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• 2–3 years of customer service or medical office experience.
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Ability to read, write, and communicate effectively in English.
• Proficiency in computer data entry and typing; ability to type 40 words per minute.
• Basic computer skills and ability to use computer applications efficiently.
• Ability to multitask.
• Customer-service orientation.
• Excellent organizational, time-management, analytical, and problem-solving skills.

Nice To Haves

• Additional education.
• Additional language skills.
• Healthcare finance and/or healthcare insurance experience.
• Knowledge and experience in a healthcare setting, especially patient scheduling and/or registration.

Responsibilities

• Provide consistently high-quality, patient-first customer service and foster a positive team atmosphere.
• Respond to patient questions and concerns, resolve service breakdowns, and escalate extraordinary issues or concerns when needed.
• Maintain patient confidentiality in accordance with HIPAA regulations.
• Collect, identify, and verify patient demographic and registration information according to organizational standards.
• Interact with hospital departments and physician offices to schedule and direct patients through NMHC systems.
• Contact patients to schedule appointments and communicate information about physician referrals, insurance referrals, and consultations.
• Perform medical-necessity checks and communicate available options when an appointment does not meet requirements.
• Inform patients about issues securing the financial account for an encounter and provide out-of-pocket estimates when requested.
• Collect authorization numbers in appropriate systems when applicable.
• Use online order retrieval systems to verify or print patient orders and online tools or telephone calls to verify insurance eligibility and benefits.
• Complete real-time eligibility checks and follow applicable out-of-network policies.
• Document accurate handoff instructions and notes in Epic, and send clear, descriptive, grammatically correct Epic messages and telephone encounters.
• Prevent visit issues by verifying test types, preparation requirements, scheduling conflicts, appointment time and location, order retrieval documentation, and duplicate patient records.
• Monitor registration, scheduling, and insurance verification for quality standards; analyze account activity and initiate appropriate resolutions.
• Participate in quality assurance reviews and departmental quality-improvement activities; evaluate procedures and suggest process improvements.
• Provide training and education as needed and serve as a resource for new staff and coworkers on processes and workflows.
• Communicate constructively across departments, support internal customers and coworkers, and accommodate different communication abilities.
• Manage work efficiently, complete assignments on time, use resources appropriately, and adapt to changing schedules, business needs, and healthcare policies.
• Follow department and hospital policies and compliance requirements, avoid creating patient financial or safety risks, and complete other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• The posting describes a broad benefits offering intended to support physical, emotional, and financial well-being and provide protection for unexpected life events; detailed benefits are available through the company benefits link.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Loan forgiveness.
• 401(k) matching.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level
• Education Level: High school or GED