Patient Registration Spec

Covenant Health•Crossville, TN

2d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Registration Specialist coordinates centralized scheduling of 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 helps ensure patients understand their financial liability. The position supports registration, scheduling, admissions, patient account documentation, and communication with patients, families, clinical teams, payers, and hospital staff. It uses hospital information systems to maintain accurate records and schedules, supports collections and cash flow, and follows applicable policies, safety standards, and regulatory and insurance requirements. The role is PRN/OCC with variable shifts at Cumberland Medical Center in Crossville, Tennessee.

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 essential duties; typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
No licensure requirement.

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 benefit verification, generate receipts, and deliver cash transactions to the cashier for posting.
Maintain the confidentiality of patient information.
Recommend policy and procedure updates that support organizational values, efficiency, and data integrity.
Notify the Financial Counselor about potential self-pay patients, workers’ compensation patients, and non-covered procedures.
Make patient type changes based on information from Medical Records Staff or Care Coordinators, ensuring 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 using the HBOC scheduling system and document each scheduled procedure or event in detail.
Notify departments of special resources required for procedures or events.
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, and record it in the HBOC computer system.
Enter verification and pre-certification notes into the SMS financial system as a cross-reference.
Work with clinical and care management areas to identify opportunities to improve collections and cash flow.
Analyze claims denial data to identify ways to improve collections, payer and physician-practice relations, and workflow.
Report relevant 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 professional registration practices and a registration accuracy rate of 95 to 100 percent.
Explain registration-related information to patients or family members, including consent for treatment, advance directives, releases, deposits, billing and payment policies, and advanced beneficiary notices.
Recognize situations requiring supervision and seek appropriate resources.
Direct or escort patients, or provide wheelchair assistance, to the appropriate nursing unit or diagnostic testing area after registration.
Meet productivity expectations and understand departmental goals in relation to Covenant Health’s mission and values.
Complete pre-registration by phone and mail, advising 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.
Use information systems supporting registration and scheduling, including DeRoyal, HBOC, Account Link, and Medifax.
Update schedules daily for unexpected procedures, cancellations, and changes, and communicate revisions to affected individuals.
Show initiative in cross-training in scheduling, registration, verification, and pre-certification duties.
Prepare patient account folders by scanning and indexing registration, scheduling, and verification documents into the correct electronic file folders.
Handle varying tasks and set priorities; 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 required annual education assignments; and participate in quality-improvement initiatives as requested.
Perform other duties as assigned.