Patient Access Specialist

Northwestern Memorial Healthcare • Chicago, IL

22d • $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 scheduling and registration. The role collects and verifies patient demographic and insurance information, schedules and directs patients, supports financial account preparation, and helps ensure accurate patient data and efficient processes. It follows organizational policies, HIPAA confidentiality requirements, and applicable compliance, regulatory, and accreditation standards.

The specialist communicates with patients, physicians’ offices, hospital departments, and internal staff; assists with referrals, authorizations, insurance eligibility, and appointment requirements; and resolves or escalates service and operational issues. The role uses Epic and other online systems to manage orders, eligibility checks, registration information, and handoff notes. It also contributes to quality assurance and improvement, supports coworkers and new staff, and may be cross-trained across departments. The work schedule may change to reflect business needs.

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, including the ability to type 40 words per minute.
• Basic computer skills.
• 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 exceptional customer service and foster a patient-first, team-oriented atmosphere.
• Respond to patient questions and concerns, resolve service breakdowns, and escalate extraordinary issues or matters requiring management attention.
• Maintain patient confidentiality in accordance with HIPAA regulations and follow department, hospital, and compliance policies.
• Collect, correctly identify, verify, and update patient demographic and registration information.
• Schedule appointments and direct patients through Northwestern Medicine systems in a patient-friendly manner.
• Contact patients to schedule appointments and communicate appointment issues, options, tests, preparations, times, and locations.
• Perform medical necessity checks as needed and inform patients of issues securing the financial account for an encounter.
• Complete out-of-pocket estimates when requested.
• Communicate with patients about physician referrals, insurance referrals, consultations, and authorization numbers.
• Interact with hospital departments, physicians’ offices, and internal customers to support patient care and resolve operational issues.
• Use online order retrieval systems to verify or print patient orders.
• Verify insurance eligibility and benefit levels using online tools or by phone, run real-time eligibility checks, and follow applicable out-of-network policies.
• Record accurate handoff instructions and notes in Epic, and send descriptive, grammatically correct Epic messages and telephone encounters.
• Prevent patient-visit issues by checking test types, preparation requirements, conflicts, appointment details, order documentation, and duplicate patient records.
• Monitor registration, scheduling, and insurance verification for compliance with prescribed quality standards, and adjust processes as needed.
• Analyze account activity, identify problems, and initiate appropriate resolutions.
• Participate in quality assurance reviews and departmental quality improvement activities.
• Evaluate procedures and suggest improvements to customer service and operational efficiency.
• Use organizational and departmental resources efficiently and understand applicable quality metrics.
• Train and educate as needed, serve as a resource for new staff and coworkers, and share process and workflow information.
• Manage schedules, tasks, and assignments efficiently and on time; adapt to changing business needs and healthcare policies.
• Demonstrate teamwork, communicate respectfully and effectively, accommodate different communication abilities, and acknowledge others’ contributions.
• Attend relevant interdepartmental meetings, which may involve walking within the NM campus.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

Benefits

• Tuition reimbursement
• Loan forgiveness
• 401(k) matching
• A wide range of benefits intended to support physical, emotional, and financial well-being and provide protection for unexpected life events

What This Job Offers

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