Patient Advocate

Palms Medical Group•Middleburg, VA

1h•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Advocate performs clerical and front desk administrative duties, serving as a key liaison between patients and the care team. The role includes greeting guests, responding to patient chats, scheduling appointments, verifying insurance, collecting payments, and supporting front office workflow. The Patient Advocate is expected to provide professional, accurate, courteous service and contribute to a positive, patient-centered experience. The position covers patient check-in and check-out, maintaining and updating patient information and charts, supporting patient flow, scheduling and prescheduling appointments, processing records and documentation, collecting payments, and completing end-of-day financial reconciliation. Administrative duties include email and Microsoft Teams communications, routing clinical questions to nursing staff through the EHR, participating in meetings and training, supporting quality activities, audits, surveys, data collection, and other assigned tasks. Patient Advocates may work variable schedules on any day of the week, including mornings and occasional extended shifts, and may be assigned rotating Saturday or holiday clinic coverage. Schedules and locations may change to maintain patient access; travel to other PMG clinical locations may be required. Employees are expected to remain on-site until the last patient has completed their visit.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
Organized, self-motivated, and detail-oriented.
Able to work independently and collaboratively as part of a team.
Strong multitasking ability in a fast-paced clinical environment.
Working knowledge of a multiline telephone system, copier, computer and tablet devices, scanner, secured fax system and related work processes, and calculator.
Proficiency navigating Microsoft Office Suite, including Word and Excel; Luma; QueueMetrics; Nextgen; and quality and insurance portals.
Communicate complex or technical information clearly, professionally, and courteously to coworkers, patients, and vendors.
Demonstrate warm, empathetic, professional, and effective front-facing customer service and active listening.
Maintain positive, respectful, appropriate, and confidential front desk conversations.
Communicate effectively with people of varied ages, educational levels, and cultural backgrounds, in person and by telephone.
Use Language Line interpreter services when needed to communicate effectively with non-English-speaking patients.
Manage interactions with potentially emotionally distressed or irate patients.
Be available for flexible hours, including mornings and occasional extended shifts; possible rotating Saturday and designated holiday clinic coverage.
Be flexible about schedule and location changes and willing to travel to other PMG clinical locations for coverage.
Remain on-site until the last patient has completed their visit.
Meet physical demands that may include prolonged standing or sitting, frequent computer use, bending, stretching, reaching, walking short distances, and lifting or carrying up to 50 pounds.
Work in a clinical environment with potential exposure to infectious or contagious illness, chemical agents, medication inhalation during reconstitution, X-ray radiation when near radiologic services, and varied scents or odors.

Nice To Haves

Prior customer service experience.
Prior cash-handling responsibility.

Responsibilities

Provide courteous, prompt customer service to patients and guests, including greeting patients upon arrival and offering assistance at departure.
Answer internal telephone calls professionally within three rings and operate a multiline phone system.
Direct patients appropriately by maintaining knowledge of PMG departments and services.
Verify insurance using the EHR system or external insurance portals and maintain knowledge of accepted insurance plans and related charges.
Review the quality portal and print next-day appointment agendas.
Collect and update patient information, including insurance cards, fees, demographics, consent forms, and PCP changes.
Update patient charts through the check-in software and verify that Luma data is accurately reflected in Nextgen.
Support efficient patient flow and clinic operations; schedule or preschedule appointments at check-in or check-out as needed.
Sign in, announce, and route visitors, patients, and vendors appropriately, and complete applicable logs and sign-in sheets.
Maintain orderly, professional work areas and explain the sliding fee scale program to patients.
Collect payments for services and outstanding balances, document collection efforts, and follow applicable procedures.
Verify the PCP field in patient charts against the patient's provider of choice and follow protocol when no appointment is available.
At check-out, review encounter forms and verify or update patient demographics and billing and contact information; confirm and document provider of choice.
Generate work or school notes as needed, schedule return appointments or enter recalls per provider instruction, and post encounters daily while maintaining a five-day posting window.
Run the Kept Appointment Report with No Charges after daily encounters are completed.
Complete medical record requests daily and send them to the appropriate entity the same day by email or fax.
Scan patient documentation according to site procedures and file hard copies for three-month spot checks.
Perform quality outreach duties, including QIA projects, waitlist management, and patient follow-up.
Complete end-of-day reconciliation, including organizing encounters, reconciling cash drawer and charge totals, submitting balance sheets, preparing bank deposits, sending weekly encounters to Finance, and maintaining cash flow logs.
Review and follow the Front Desk Policy Manual; check and respond to email at least twice daily and use Microsoft Teams throughout the workday.
Route clinical questions to nursing staff through the EHR.
Participate in quality assurance and other meetings as directed; attend scheduled meetings and record minutes as assigned.
Assist with medical data collection for UDS reporting and grant applications, and support audits, surveys, and other assigned tasks.
Complete quarterly Relias training and submit Event Reports through Healthcare Safety Zone as needed.
Perform other duties assigned to support and improve PMG operations.
Remain on-site until the last patient has completed their visit and oversee the patient lobby to support a welcoming experience.
As needed, train, mentor, and coach peer Patient Advocate staff and coworkers.
Work variable schedules, including possible weekend and holiday clinic coverage, and travel to other PMG clinical locations when needed.
Follow universal precautions and infection-control standards.