PATIENT REGISTRATION SPEC

Covenant Health•Crossville, TN

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Registration Specialist coordinates centralized scheduling for outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures and collects and enters accurate demographic and financial information for patients registered at the facility. The role verifies insurance benefits and pre-certification requirements before scheduled appointments or admissions, follows up on urgent or unscheduled registrations, and helps ensure patients understand their liability. The position also supports inpatient and observation admissions, patient account documentation, collections, and efficient registration and scheduling workflows.

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.
Education and/or prior work experience sufficient to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for the job, typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
No licensure required.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in a directly related field from an accredited college or university.
Experience or familiarity with DeRoyal, HBOC, Account Link, and Medifax information systems.

Responsibilities

Collect co-payments and deposits based on benefit verification, issue receipts, and deliver cash transactions to the cashier for posting.
Maintain the confidentiality of patient information.
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, workers’ compensation, or non-covered-procedure patients.
Make patient type changes based on information from Medical Records Staff or Care Coordinators, ensuring supporting documentation is present in the medical record.
Document reservations to support departmental statistics and enter faxed reservations into the HBOC scheduling system.
Schedule operative and diagnostic procedures using the HBOC scheduling system, document each procedure or event, and notify departments about required special resources.
Verify insurance benefits and obtain pre-certification from third-party payers; provide documentation to DHS and Med Assist staff for patients who may need financial assistance or TennCare enrollment.
Gather demographic, medical, and financial information for scheduling, registration, and account verification; record it in the HBOC 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, relationships with insurers and physician practices, and workflow.
Report relevant procedural changes and updates to appropriate leadership.
Interact professionally with patients, physicians, visitors, and hospital staff.
Keep current with regulatory and insurance requirements and incorporate changes into daily work.
Maintain registration accuracy of 95 to 100 percent and explain relevant information to patients or family members, including consent for treatment, advance directives, releases, deposits, billing and payment policies, and advance beneficiary notices.
Recognize when supervision is needed and seek appropriate resources.
Direct, escort, or provide wheelchair assistance to patients after registration to the appropriate nursing unit or diagnostic testing area.
Meet productivity expectations and understand departmental goals and objectives in relation to Covenant Health’s mission and values.
Conduct 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 admission flow with Nursing Services.
Use the information systems that support registration and scheduling, including DeRoyal, HBOC, Account Link, and Medifax.
Update schedules for unexpected procedures, cancellations, and changes, and communicate revisions to affected individuals.
Take initiative to cross-train in scheduling, registration, verification, and pre-certification duties.
Prepare patient account folders by scanning and indexing registration, scheduling, and verification documents in the optical imaging system.
Handle varying tasks and set priorities appropriately; use hospital equipment and supplies appropriately.
Activate manual processes during computer network downtime, print schedules in advance when necessary, and notify leadership of unscheduled downtime.
Coordinate classroom scheduling for meetings and conferences and confirm dates and times.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete required annual education, work toward goals, and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Perform other duties as assigned.