Patient Registration Spec

Covenant Health•Harriman, TN

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Registration Specialist coordinates centralized scheduling of outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures and collects and enters the financial, demographic, and other information required for patient registration. The role verifies insurance benefits and pre-certification requirements, follows up on urgent or unscheduled registrations, and helps ensure patients understand their financial liability. It also supports patient admissions, scheduling, registration accuracy, collections, and departmental workflow at Roane Medical Center. The specialist schedules and documents procedures, communicates special resource needs and schedule changes, maintains bed-tracking information, and coordinates inpatient and observation admissions with Nursing Services. The position explains registration, consent, billing, and payment information to patients and families; collects applicable payments; and directs or assists patients to the appropriate care area. It maintains confidential patient records and scans and indexes registration and scheduling documents in electronic systems. The role works with clinical, care management, financial counseling, and other hospital teams to support collections, financial assistance referrals, accurate claims, and efficient processes. The specialist follows applicable policies, safety standards, and regulatory and insurance requirements; participates in training and quality improvement; and performs other duties as assigned. This is a PRN/OCC position with variable hours and shifts.

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.
Ability to demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed to perform the essential job tasks through formal education and/or prior work experience; this is typically equivalent to a high school diploma or GED.
No licensure requirement specified.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in a directly related field from an accredited college or university.
Experience or skills supporting patient scheduling, registration, insurance verification, and pre-certification.

Responsibilities

Coordinate centralized scheduling of outpatient diagnostic and surgical procedures.
Collect and enter patient demographic, medical, and financial information for scheduling, registration, and account verification.
Verify insurance benefits and obtain required pre-certifications from third-party payers.
Follow up on urgent or unscheduled registrations and provide accurate information about patient liability.
Collect co-payments and deposits, issue receipts, and deliver cash transactions to the cashier for posting.
Maintain patient confidentiality and follow department policies and procedures.
Notify the Financial Counselor of 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 and ensure supporting documentation is present.
Document reservations and scheduled procedures, enter faxed reservations, and update schedules for procedures, cancellations, and changes.
Notify departments of special resources needed for procedures or events and communicate schedule revisions to affected individuals.
Provide documentation to DHS and Med Assist staff for patients who may need financial assistance or TennCare enrollment.
Enter verification and pre-certification notes into the SMS financial system and gather information using the HBOC computer system.
Work with clinical and care management areas to identify opportunities to improve collections and cash flow.
Analyze claims denial data and report procedural changes or updates to appropriate leadership.
Explain registration information to patients or family members, including consent for treatment, advance directives, releases, deposits, billing and payment policies, and advance beneficiary notices.
Direct, escort, or provide wheelchair assistance to patients after registration.
Perform pre-registration by phone and mail, including advising patients of co-pay or deductible amounts due upon admission.
Maintain the computerized bed board and coordinate inpatient and observation admissions with Nursing Services.
Attend monthly staff meetings and participate in discussions about work performance and departmental or hospital updates.
Use the DeRoyal, HBOC, Account Link, Medifax, and other information systems that support registration and scheduling.
Cross-train in scheduling, registration, verification, and pre-certification duties.
Scan and index registration, scheduling, and verification documents into the correct electronic patient account folders.
Report promptly, complete assigned work, prioritize varying tasks, and use hospital equipment and supplies appropriately.
Activate manual processes 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.
Complete required annual education assignments, participate in quality improvement initiatives as requested, and perform other duties as assigned.