Medical Receptionist

Portland Mental Health & Wellness; Portland (OR); On-site; USD 40,000 - 43,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Paid Vacation Time

Paid Health Leave

Paid Floating Holiday Hours

Medical and Vision Insurance

Life and AD&D Insurance

Short Term Disability Insurance

Flexible Spending Account

401K Retirement Plan

Continuing Education Allowance

Employee Store Discount

Commuter Benefit

Job summary

Portland Mental Health & Wellness is seeking a Medical Receptionist to coordinate patient intake scheduling, manage referrals, and provide administrative support to psychiatric providers. Strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail, and ability to work in a fast-paced setting are essential.

Responsibilities include processing forms, verifying insurance, coordinating interpreter services, and taking patient vitals during visits.

Qualifications

• Preferred: bilingual (Spanish/English or other languages).
• Strong HIPAA knowledge and confidentiality practices.
• Proven customer service and communication skills.
• Experience coordinating intake scheduling and referrals is a plus.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate patient intake scheduling and referrals.
• Serve as first point of contact for psychiatric patients.
• Assist with chart reviews and portal/document handling.
• Maintain accurate records in EHR (TherapyNotes) and project tools.

Skills

Bilingual

HIPAA

Customer service

Communication

Scheduling

Interpersonal skills

Tools

ClickUp

Job description

We recognize the health disparities of people of color, people from working class backgrounds, women and LGBTQ people. We believe that the experiences of these communities must be valued in the work we do. Hence, we strongly encourage applications from people with these identities or who are members of other marginalized communities.

Portland Mental Health & Wellness is a thriving private practice and training practice with four locations in Portland, as well as one location in Salem. We are a collaboration of psychologists, psychiatric prescribers, counselors, marriage and family therapists and our trainees. We emphasize relationship first and foremost and diagnosis and treatment from within that relationship.

We strongly emphasize trauma informed care, cultural competency, establishing comfort and safety for patients, and coordination of care with primary care doctors, specialists, pediatricians, schools, and other mental health clinicians.

Location: Portland, OR
Supervisor: Medical Support Team Lead
Employee Classification : Non-Exempt (Hourly), Full-Time
Hours: Full-Time, 40 hours per week
Compensation: $19.00/hour

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Primary Function:

The Medical Receptionist serves as a primary point of contact for psychiatric patients at Portland Mental Health & Wellness. This role coordinates patient intake scheduling, manages referral workflows, and provides direct administrative support to psychiatric providers, ensuring timely access to care and a seamless patient experience. This role requires strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail, and the ability to handle a fast-paced environment.

Essential Functions:

• Intake Scheduling (approx. 40%): Schedule new patient intakes (90 min) and transfer-of-care appointments (60 min) for psychiatric providers. Coordinate provider screener responses, offer availability to patients, and manage follow-up timelines per organizational protocols.
• Referral Processing (approx. 20%): Process internal referrals (from psychotherapy to psychiatry) and external referral requests. Track referral status through all stages: screener sent, follow-up, ready to schedule, and scheduled. Refer patients to outside providers when internal capacity is unavailable.
• Patient Communication (approx. 20%): Serve as the first point of contact for incoming psychiatric calls. Conduct outbound patient outreach for scheduling, follow-ups, waitlist updates, and cancellations. Manage secure messaging through the EHR patient portal and respond to voicemails and faxes same-day per policy.
• Administrative & Clinical Support (approx. 15%): Process new patient forms and portal documents. Verify insurance status and flag expired coverage. Coordinate interpreter services when needed. Assist with chart review and relay prescription refill inquiries to appropriate team members. Take patient vitals during in-office visits.
• Coordination & Documentation (approx. 5%): Maintain accurate records in TherapyNotes (EHR) and ClickUp. Communicate with providers, billing, credentialing, and patient care coordinators to resolve scheduling and patient access issues. Participate in admin team meetings.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Preferred: previous experience in a behavioral health or psychiatric setting
• Preferred: bilingual (Spanish/English or other languages)
• Preferred: familiarity with ClickUp or similar project management tools
• An ability to triage and determine urgency of patient needs and prioritize appropriately
• Ability to prioritize and manage a high volume of concurrent referrals
• Strong written communication for secure messaging and documentation
• Team collaboration across clinical and administrative departments
• Demonstrate competence and humility in terms of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religion, class, ability et al
• Demonstrate commitment to the preservation of a workplace which embraces diversity
• Demonstrate commitment to confidentiality of patient and employee information
• Communicate professionally and effectively with patients and clinicians, always providing stellar customer service
• Answer phone systems with excellent etiquette – a warm/friendly tone, articulate, and providing understandable responses to questions or concerns
• Demonstrate a strong understanding of HIPAA policies and regulations
• Demonstrate a strong attention to detail and organization
• Demonstrate patience: being patient with people who may have trouble communicating or understanding what is happening is imperative for this position
• Follow policies and procedures to contribute to the administrative efficiency of the practice, taking initiative to suggest and develop those that may be needed
• Demonstrate strong computer skills including web based systems
• Ability to work with Mac OS & Google Workspace

Equipment Operated: Standard office equipment, including computers, copiers, printers, telephones, etc.

Work Environment: When working from a PMHW office, the position is in a well-lit office environment. Varied activities including sitting, standing, walking, reaching, bending, and lifting.

Mental and Physical Requirements: Involves sitting approximately 90 percent of the day, walking or standing the remainder. Ability to tolerate mental and emotional distress as an anticipated aspect of the position. May require working under stressful conditions.

Portland Mental Health & Wellness offers a competitive benefits package for full time employees that includes:

• Paid Vacation Time (80 hours per year to start)
• Paid Health Leave (40 hours per year)
• Paid Floating Holiday Hours (80 hours per year)
• Medical and Vision Insurance – Kaiser Permanente of the Northwest (choice of three plans)
• Employer Paid Life and AD&D Insurance
• Voluntary Additional Life and AD&D Insurance
• Voluntary Short Term Disability Insurance
• Voluntary Critical Illness Insurance
• Voluntary Accident Insurance
• Flexible Spending Account, Health Care
• Commuter Benefit – Choice of TriMet Pass or Limited Parking Reimbursement
• 401K Retirement Plan – Up to 4% Company Match Once Eligible
• Annual Continuing Education Allowance of $500
• Discounted Enrollment with Student Loan Tutor
• 10% Discount on Vitamins & Supplements Through Fullscript
• Limited Access to Columbia Sportswear Employee Store
• OnPoint Community Credit Union Group Banking Benefits

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This description is intended to provide only the basic guidelines for meeting job requirements. Responsibilities, knowledge, skills, abilities, and working conditions may change as the practice’s needs evolve. Regular and predictable attendance is an essential function of every job.

The requirements described above are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. By signing below, you acknowledge that you are able to perform the Essential Functions of this job, with or without accommodation. If an accommodation is needed, you acknowledge that you have an opportunity to discuss this with Human Resources.

Portland Mental Healthis an equal opportunity employer. We support and encourage diversity.