Patient Registrar- PRN

Mercyhealth•Lake Geneva, WI

10d

About The Position

The Patient Registrar supports patient access and registration across emergency department, urgent care, inpatient, outpatient, and hospital laboratory services. The role welcomes patients, visitors, and customers; gathers and enters accurate registration, demographic, insurance, and billing information; and helps coordinate patient arrivals and admissions. It requires a compassionate, professional approach and the ability to remain effective in fast-paced, emotionally demanding situations. The registrar uses EPIC and other department systems to identify patients, document symptoms and arrival information, generate patient labels and materials, verify insurance, obtain required signatures, collect applicable payments, and resolve registration errors. The role also supports patient flow, communicates with healthcare partners, assists during system downtime or disaster mode, and performs related administrative and customer-service duties. This PRN position may require alternate shifts, weekends, and overtime during peak periods.

Requirements

High school graduate or equivalent preferred.
One to two years of customer-service experience required.
Knowledge of computer systems, including navigation, typing, and data entry.
Strong oral and written communication skills.
Detail-oriented, with problem-solving, conflict-management, time-management, and stress-management skills for emotionally demanding situations.
Ability to use sound judgment and independent decision-making, work independently, and collaborate in a team environment.
Interpersonal skills to obtain information from patients and communicate it to partners and providers.
Flexibility to work alternate shifts, weekends, and overtime during peak periods may be required.

Nice To Haves

Knowledge of third-party payors.
Knowledge of medical terminology.
EPIC knowledge.

Responsibilities

Greet patients, visitors, and customers in a friendly and professional manner, anticipate their needs, and respond calmly to difficult situations.
Participate in team-building, quality-improvement, and educational activities; provide shadowing and training to new partners.
Register and arrive emergency department, urgent care, outpatient, surgical, and direct-admit patients; schedule and check in hospital outpatient laboratory patients.
Assess patients at registration for signs of immediate need, prioritize registration based on complaint severity, monitor waiting areas, and alert the triage RN if a patient needs reassessment.
Select and identify patients using required identifiers; enter complaints, symptoms, and other arrival information in the appropriate order in the electronic medical record.
Generate patient armbands, face sheets, and labels, and verify information before applying armbands, including during traumas or other chaotic situations.
Collect and enter demographic, guarantor, and billing information in EPIC; obtain required signatures and documents for inpatient and outpatient registrations.
Verify and update insurance information; identify out-of-network and uninsured patients, complete required paperwork and account notes, and coordinate with appropriate ED partners and patient financial counselors.
Identify primary and secondary payees, complete Medicare Secondary Payer Questionnaires as required, and collect applicable copayments, self-pay payments, and prepayments.
Coordinate patients into the appropriate unit and provide timely updates and arrival notifications to patients, visitors, customers, hospital departments, and outside EMS/EMT agencies.
Perform preregistration and pre-admission functions; provide admission information, obtain required Medicare admission signatures within the required timeframe, and secure and return patient valuables according to policy.
Assist hospital staff during EPIC downtime or disaster mode and assist nursing staff with transportation vouchers and payments for transportation services.
Maintain an accurate cash drawer and close and balance it at the end of each shift in accordance with cash-handling policy.
Manage work queues and resolve registration errors so patient bills can be processed promptly.
Assess when interpreter services are needed and use them effectively.
Answer, return, transfer, and place telephone calls; monitor security cameras and door-entry systems and relay information to appropriate staff, patients, or visitors.
Address questions and concerns, use service-recovery skills, provide directions or escorts, and track visitors as appropriate under current hospital guidelines.
Complete travel-screening questionnaires for patients, visitors, and customers entering the facility.
Communicate clearly and promptly with leadership, charge nurses, physicians, partners, and coworkers; notify leadership of unusual occurrences or situations requiring attention.
Adapt to changing duties and workloads, manage schedules and assignments efficiently, and help coworkers across departments and locations.
Use organizational and departmental resources efficiently and follow local, state, and federal healthcare regulations.
Perform light cleaning of registration, lobby, and waiting-room areas; complete required educational courses and other duties as assigned.