PATIENT REGISTRATION SPEC

Covenant Health•Harriman, TN

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Registration Specialist coordinates centralized scheduling for outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures and collects and enters accurate financial and demographic information for patients. The role verifies insurance benefits and pre-certification requirements before scheduled appointments or admissions, follows up on urgent or unscheduled registrations, and ensures patients receive accurate information about their financial liability. The specialist supports patient registration, admissions, scheduling, account documentation, and communication with patients, families, hospital departments, payers, and leadership. The position also helps maintain accurate records and schedules, supports collections and cash flow, follows regulatory and insurance requirements, and contributes to departmental quality improvement.

Requirements

At least one year of experience in a hospital or financial setting, or at least three years of total customer-facing or customer-service experience.
Ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the essential job tasks, typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED through formal education and/or prior work experience.
No licensure required.

Nice To Haves

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

Responsibilities

Collect co-payments and deposits based on verification information, provide receipts, and deliver cash transactions to the cashier for posting.
Maintain the confidentiality of patient information and refrain from solicitation during department working hours.
Recommend policy and procedure updates to the Coordinator to support efficiency and data integrity.
Notify the Financial Counselor when scheduling or registering potential self-pay, worker’s compensation, or non-covered-procedure patients.
Make patient type changes based on information from Medical Records Staff or Care Coordinators and ensure supporting documentation is in the medical record.
Document reservations to support departmental statistics and enter faxed reservations into the HBOC scheduling system.
Schedule operative and diagnostic procedures in the HBOC scheduling system, document each event, and notify departments of special resource requirements.
Verify insurance benefits, obtain pre-certification from third-party payers, and provide documentation to DHS and Med Assist staff for patients who may need financial assistance or TennCare enrollment.
Gather and enter demographic, medical, and financial information using the HBOC computer system, and enter verification and pre-certification notes into the SMS financial system.
Work with clinical and care management areas to identify opportunities to improve collections and cash flow.
Analyze claims denial data to identify opportunities to improve collections, payer and physician-practice relations, and workflow.
Report relevant procedural changes and updates to appropriate leadership.
Maintain knowledge and skills needed for job duties and stay current with regulatory and insurance requirements.
Interact professionally with patients, physicians, visitors, and hospital staff.
Maintain registration accuracy at a rate of 95 to 100 percent.
Explain information to patients or family members, including consent for treatment, advance directives, medical and financial releases, deposits, billing and payment policies, and advanced beneficiary notices.
Recognize situations requiring supervision and seek appropriate resources.
Direct, escort, or provide wheelchair assistance to patients going to a nursing unit or diagnostic testing area after registration.
Meet acceptable productivity expectations and understand departmental goals and objectives in relation to Covenant Health’s mission and values.
Complete pre-registration by phone and mail and advise patients of co-pay or deductible amounts due upon admission.
Maintain the computerized bed tracking system and coordinate inpatient and observation admissions with Nursing Services.
Promote positive public relations for the department and hospital.
Attend monthly staff meetings and participate in discussions about work performance and departmental or hospital updates.
Use DeRoyal, HBOC, Account Link, Medifax, and other information systems supporting registration and scheduling.
Update schedules daily for unexpected procedures, cancellations, or changes and communicate revisions to affected individuals.
Show initiative in cross-training for scheduling, registration, verification, and pre-certification duties.
Scan and index registration, scheduling, and verification documents into the optical imaging system and place them in the correct electronic folder.
Report for work promptly, complete assigned work, and follow through on tasks.
Handle varying tasks and set priorities appropriately.
Use hospital equipment and supplies appropriately.
Activate manual systems during computer network downtime, print schedules in advance when needed, and notify leadership of unscheduled downtime.
Coordinate classroom scheduling for meetings and conferences and confirm the correct date and time.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete required annual education; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality improvement initiatives as requested.
Perform other duties as assigned.