Patient Registrar

Mercyhealth•Riverside, IL

About The Position

The Patient Registrar welcomes and assists patients, visitors, and customers while completing registrations and related administrative duties across hospital locations. The role supports emergency room, urgent care, surgical, direct-admit, outpatient, laboratory, pre-admission, and pre-registration processes. It requires professional, friendly interactions; sound judgment in emotional or demanding situations; and flexibility to respond to changing duties and patient volumes. The Patient Registrar uses EPIC and other computer systems to select the correct medical record, enter patient and billing information, verify insurance, obtain required signatures, collect payments, and manage registration work queues. The role also coordinates with patients, families, nursing staff, physicians, leadership, financial counselors, outside EMS/EMT agencies, and other departments to support timely patient care and accurate billing. Additional duties include monitoring waiting areas and entry systems, assisting during EPIC downtime or disaster mode, maintaining cash-handling procedures, and following healthcare regulations and Mercyhealth policies.

Requirements

High school graduation or equivalent preferred.
One to two years of customer service experience required.
Knowledge of computer systems, including navigation, typing, and data entry.
Detail-oriented, with strong oral and written communication skills.
Strong problem-solving, conflict-management, time-management, and stress-management skills in emotional and demanding situations.
Ability to use good judgment and independent decision-making, work independently, and collaborate in a team environment.
Interpersonal skills to obtain needed information from patients and communicate it to partners and providers.
Self-starter with willingness to try new ideas and a positive, urgent, can-do attitude.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

Greet patients, visitors, and customers in a friendly manner and anticipate and respond to their needs, remaining calm when handling difficult or emotional situations.
Participate in team-building, continuous quality improvement, and educational activities; provide shadowing and training to new partners.
Arrive patients to the emergency room and urgent care; sign in or check in hospital outpatient visits; admit surgical and direct-admit patients; and schedule and check in hospital outpatient lab patients.
Visually assess patients at registration, prioritize registration by complaint severity, monitor the waiting area for changes in patient condition, and alert the triage RN when re-evaluation is needed.
Use required patient identifiers to select the correct electronic medical record and enter complaints, symptoms, arrival information, demographics, guarantors, and billing information in EPIC.
Generate patient armbands, face sheets, and labels, verifying information and promptly applying armbands during traumas or other chaotic situations.
Obtain signatures and required documents for inpatient and outpatient registrations, including required Medicare forms within the specified timeframe.
Verify and update insurance information; identify out-of-network and uninsured patients; complete applicable out-of-network paperwork and account notes; and coordinate with patient financial counselors on self-pay services.
Identify primary and secondary payees, complete Medicare Secondary Payer Questionnaires (MSPQ) as required, and collect applicable copayments, self-pay payments, and, in some cases, prepayments.
Coordinate patients into appropriate units and notify other departments at hospital locations when patients have arrived.
Assist outside EMS/EMT agencies with patient arrival and provide paperwork for billing purposes.
Perform pre-admission and pre-registration functions and provide admission information, such as the VIP Folder, as needed.
Secure and return patient valuables according to Mercyhealth policy.
Assist hospital staff with patient care processes during EPIC downtime or disaster mode; 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 to resolve registration errors and support timely bill processing.
Determine when interpreter services are needed and use them effectively.
Log, answer, return, and transfer incoming telephone inquiries, and make outbound calls as needed.
Monitor security cameras and door entry systems politely and communicate relevant information to appropriate staff, patients, or visitors.
Address questions or concerns promptly, identify appropriate resources, and use service recovery skills to resolve problems or service breakdowns.
Remain flexible and reliable as duties and work volumes change; manage schedules so tasks and assignments are completed on time.
Complete travel-screening questionnaires for every patient, visitor, and customer entering the facility; track patient visitors as appropriate under current hospital guidelines; and provide directions, assistance, or escorts.
Demonstrate teamwork across departments and communicate clearly and promptly with leadership, charge nurses, physicians, and partners; notify leadership of unusual occurrences or situations requiring attention.
Use organizational and departmental resources efficiently and follow local, state, and federal healthcare regulations.
Perform light-duty cleaning in registration, lobby, and waiting-room areas and complete required educational courses.
Work alternate shifts, weekends, and overtime during peak periods when required; perform other duties as assigned.