PATIENT ACCESS SPECIALIST

Covenant Health•Knoxville, TN

1d•Remote

About The Position

The Patient Access Specialist coordinates the verification, scheduling, and pre-registration of all outpatient diagnostic procedures, as defined under the Centralized Scheduling Department’s purview. Responsibilities include the accurate collection and entry of required financial and demographic patient information, scheduling queue management, verification of benefits, scheduling, and payment collection.

Requirements

Experience in hospital setting or financial area required.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in a directly-related field from an accredited college or university.

Responsibilities

Collects patient payment of financial responsibility over the phone, provides receipt of payment to patient, and documents payment as outlined in the department’s workflow
Recommends to the Supervisor modifications to existing policies and procedures that support Covenant Health’s values and are intended to increase efficiency and promote data integrity
Notifies the Supervisor/Financial Counselor of any potential self-pay patient, worker’s compensation patient, or non-covered procedures
Schedules diagnostic procedures utilizing the eCare (Cerner) scheduling system
Verifies all orders are completed and signed
Verifies insurance benefits and verifies pre-certification from third-party payers
Has extensive knowledge of insurance plan and pre-certification requirements
Accurately documents relevant demographic, clinical, and financial information required for scheduling, pre-registration, and insurance verification using eCare (Cerner), TransUnion, and STAR
Attempts to collect payment of financial responsibility for all patients to improve overall collections and cash flow
Reports pertinent procedural changes/updates to appropriate leadership
Professionally interacts with patients, providers, office staff, and hospital department staff members
Demonstrates ability to keep up with regulatory and insurance requirements, ensuring that changes are incorporated into daily job functions
Ensures the scheduling process is handled in a professional and courteous manner
Schedules on average 25 appointments per day
Clearly communicates all necessary information to patients, e.g. clinical preps as outlined in the eCare scheduling guidelines, ABNs, financial responsibility, etc.
Recognizes situations that necessitate managerial intervention and seeks out appropriate resources
Promotes good public relations for the department and the organization
Attends monthly staff meetings and participates in discussions regarding work performance and departmental/hospital updates
Displays competence in the use of all IT Systems related to insurance verification, scheduling, patient registration, and scheduling
Monitors appointment schedules daily for cancellations, reschedules, stats, or other changes; communicates with all departments impacted
Shows initiative to cross-train in all duties related to departmental functions
Activates manual systems for computer network downtime, printing schedules in advance when necessary
Notifies leadership of unscheduled downtime occurrences
Follows policies, procedures, and safety standards. Completes required education assignments annually. Works toward achieving goals and objectives, and participates in quality improvement initiatives as requested.