PATIENT REGISTRATION SPEC

Covenant Health•Crossville, TN

About The Position

The Patient Registration Specialist coordinates centralized scheduling for outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures and collects and enters the financial and demographic information required to register patients. 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 financial liability. The position also supports patient admissions, registration accuracy, collections, scheduling documentation, and communication among patients, hospital departments, and external payers.

Requirements

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

Nice To Haves

A bachelor’s degree in a directly related field from an accredited college or university is preferred.

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 improve efficiency and data integrity.
Immediately notify the Financial Counselor about potential self-pay patients, workers’ compensation patients, or non-covered procedures.
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 and enter faxed reservations into the HBOC scheduling system.
Schedule operative and diagnostic procedures in HBOC, document each procedure or 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 for scheduling, registration, and account verification in HBOC; enter verification and pre-certification notes in 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 relationships, and workflows.
Report pertinent procedural changes and updates to appropriate leadership.
Communicate 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 treatment consent, advance directives, releases, deposits, billing and payment policies, and advance beneficiary notices.
Recognize situations requiring supervision and seek appropriate resources.
Direct, escort, or provide wheelchair assistance to patients after registration to the appropriate nursing unit or diagnostic testing area.
Meet acceptable productivity expectations and understand departmental goals 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 an accurate bed board using the computerized bed tracking system and coordinate inpatient and observation admissions with Nursing Services.
Use patient registration and scheduling systems, including DeRoyal, HBOC, Account Link, and Medifax.
Update schedules daily for unexpected procedures, cancellations, or changes and communicate revisions to affected individuals.
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 and placing them in the correct electronic folders.
Handle varied tasks and set priorities appropriately.
Use hospital equipment and supplies appropriately.
Activate manual systems 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 the correct date and time.
Follow policies, procedures, and safety standards; complete annual education assignments; work toward goals and objectives; and participate in quality improvement initiatives as requested.
Perform other duties as assigned.