Clinical Access Specialist

MedStar Health’s Washington Hospital Center; Fairfax (VA); Hybrid; USD 100,000 - 125,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare facility is seeking a full-time Clinical Access Specialist for its call center in Columbia. This role involves assisting with inbound and outbound clinical calls, scheduling patient appointments, and ensuring efficient call handling while prioritizing patient safety. Candidates must be either a Certified Medical Assistant or hold an LPN license, coupled with strong customer service experience in healthcare environments.

Qualifications

• 2 years experience in high-volume customer service required.
• 1-2 years telephonic customer service experience needed.

Responsibilities

• Handle inbound and outbound clinical calls efficiently.
• Schedule patients for follow-up and lab appointments.
• Triage calls to connect patients with clinical teams.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Telephone communication

Critical thinking

Multi-tasking

Attention to detail

Education

High School Diploma or GED

Completion of an approved Medical Assistant or LPN program

Tools

Microsoft Word

Microsoft Excel

Job description

General Summary of Position

We have a full-time, day shift, hybrid opportunity at our call center in Columbia. The Clinical Access Specialist will assist with inbound and outbound clinical calls, will triage calls, and connect patients with the clinical care team. This role is also responsible for scheduling patients for follow-up and lab appointments.

Certified or Registered Medical Assistant required or LPN license required.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Is responsible for inbound and outbound call handling to identify and assess callers' needs quickly and accurately.

Solves problems systematically, using sound business judgment and critical thinking skills.

Demonstrates high reliability principles through proactive approach to patient safety, reporting patient safety events and near-misses, identifying and implementing opportunities for improvement, and seeking system solutions to safety concerns.

Maintains alertness for patient/caller medical or health issues that may need to be addressed urgently. Promptly notifies clinical personnel or intervenes as per departmental protocol.

Demonstrates ability to use various MedStar Health technology and software applications as required to assist with the caller's needs; documents patient/family call encounters; and reports patient/workflow concerns as appropriate applying chain of command.

Maintains scheduling and lab call back protocol knowledge base and designated skills in order to meet established goals for scheduling accuracy, results call backs, daily call metrics, and defined individual/team goals.

Maintains subject matter knowledge of assigned specialties and/or lab call back scripting and workflows to effectively address patient inquiries, prepare prescription refill requests, lab result inquiries, and clinical questions to the providers.

Minimum Qualifications
Education

• High School Diploma or GED required.
• Completion of an approved Medical Assistant (MA) program or completion of an approved LPN program.
• One year of relevant education may be substituted for one year of required work experience.

Experience

• 2 years of experience in a high-volume customer service industry position analyzing and resolving customer concerns from basic to complex in nature. required.
• 1-2 years Telephonic customer service experience typically acquired in a call center role, front desk reception, hospital, or medical office scheduling environment required

Licenses and Certifications

• Certified Medical Assistant (CMA)-AAMA Certified Medical Assistant (CMA) by the American Association of Medical Assistants or Registered Medical Assistant (RMA)-American Medical Technologists Registered Medical Assistant (RMA) through American Medical Technologists or equivalent within 12 months of hire required or LPN - Licensed Practical Nurse - State Licensure required.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Ability to type 40 WPM accurately.
• Intermediate proficiency with software applications including creating and editing Microsoft Word documents and Excel spreadsheets.
• Ability to navigate through multiple technology programs simultaneously while speaking with patients/families on the telephone.
• Exceptional interpersonal and telephone communication skills and use of grammatically correct written communication.
• Ability to empathize with and prioritize MedStar customer needs while remaining composed, focused and demonstrate compassion during stressful situations.
• Good communication and decision-making skills, especially while multi-tasking.
• Ability to work in a high-stress and complexity environment applying a high sense of urgency. Strong attention to details.

This position has a hiring range of $19.17 - $33.08