Medical Secretary III

Tufts Medicine; Stoneham (MA); On-site; USD 27,552 - 34,440; Full time

Job summary

Tufts Medicine is seeking an experienced administrative assistant to support day-to-day operations at a single site. The role encompasses secretarial tasks, scheduling, records management, patient interactions, and general office operations under supervision.

Primary duties include scheduling physician visits, maintaining patient records, verifying insurance, processing authorizations, and coordinating supplies and staffing with the site lead.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent required.
• 3+ years in healthcare including staffing and scheduling preferred.

Responsibilities

• Schedule physician visits, diagnostic procedures, tests, and preventive care.
• Maintain and update patient and office records; handle routine admin tasks.
• Verify insurance at registration and educate patients on coverage and responsibilities.
• Process pre-authorizations and CPT/ICD coding for procedures; communicate with patients about financials.

Skills

Administrative support

Customer service

Office coordination

Education

High School diploma or equivalent

Associate’s degree

Bachelor’s degree

Tools

Microsoft Word

Excel

EMR systems

Job description

Job Profile SummaryThis role focuses on providing administrative and business support to the organization in order to achieve operational goals. In addition, this role focuses on performing the following General Administration duties: Produces documents, collects, records, sorts and files information, handles mail, prepares routine reports, makes travel arrangements, arranges appointments, responds to inquiries, data entry, and operates office equipment. An organizational related support or service (administrative or clerical) role or a role that focuses on support of daily business activities (e.g., technical, clinical, non-clinical) operating in a “hands on” environment. The majority of time is spent in the delivery of support services or activities, typically under supervision. A senior level role that requires broad knowledge of operational procedures and tools obtained through extensive work experience and may require vocational or technical education. Works under limited supervision for routine situations, provides assistance and training to lower level employees, and problems typically are not routine and require analysis to understand.

Job OverviewThis position is responsible for overseeing the day-to-day secretarial, routine office, supply ordering, and other operational tasks in support of a single site. This includes planning, organizing, assigning and directing staffing needs. Plans work schedules for all physician support assignments.

Job Description

Minimum Qualifications:

• High School diploma or equivalent.
• Three (3) years of experience in a healthcare including staffing and scheduling.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree.
• Five (5) years of experience in a healthcare including staffing and scheduling.

Duties and Responsibilities: The duties and responsibilities listed below are intended to describe the general nature of work and are not intended to be an all-inclusive list. Other duties and responsibilities may be assigned.

• Schedules appointments for physician visits, diagnostic procedures, tests, and preventative visits.
• Sets-up and maintains office records, patient and office files, periodically reviewing for accuracy and updating information.
• Handles routine administrative details for the Medical Office.
• Verifies insurance on every registration and educates patients on their insurance status.
• Completes prior insurance authorizations and pre-certifications for patient procedures.
• Communicates with patient regarding their financial responsibilities for the procedure and discuss any bad debt or collection history.
• Secures monies collected during shift and post collections to each patient account with precision.
• Submits or inquires about patient referrals in a timely fashion, utilizing CPT codes and ICD 9 codes, into the POS machine and REVS Internet for options regarding submission or retrieval of referrals.
• Answers telephone calls and triages nature of call as urgent, acute or routine based on medical knowledge.
• Acts as receptionist by greeting and directing patients, visitors and vendors. Maintains professional attitude and provides positive, welcoming environment.
• Enters standing orders in the computer system for patients who present with weekly or monthly lab testing requirements.
• Maintains daily quality assurance report and review all patient accounts ensuring that insurance has been verified, subscriber field is correct, patient demographics are correct, employer name is correct, etc.
• Follows office procedure during any computer downtime operation.
• Opens and closes the office.
• Receives all transcription and lab correspondence and other documentation pertaining to patients and routes appropriately for required signatures according to established policies and procedures and by law.
• Maintains proper documentation in the medical records to ensure compliance with both quality and legal requirements.
• Interfaces with other physician offices handling specific procedures and requirements.
• Manages all patient existing tasks including, but not limited to, scheduling of follow up appointments. Provides patient education regarding the guidelines of the office.
• Processes incoming mail and lab work.
• Maintains and orders office supplies and maintain appropriate level of supplies for all departments within the clinic to use. Assist in the care and maintenance of equipment.
• Monitors any sick calls and potential staffing issues and works with the Site lead daily to find replacement staff to maintain adequate levels.
• Collaborates with Site Lead and physicians on any site-specific training of new hires, and re-training. Monitors progress of new hires to make sure they are operating under the appropriate protocols and guidelines to ensure patient safety. Reports any potential issues to the Site Lead immediately.
• Checks in with site staff daily and maintains a presence in their location.
• Registers patients and gathers or matches patient information such as record numbers, dates of birth, addresses, etc).
• Communicates with insurance vendors on the phone on the patient’s behalf.
• Retrieves medical necessity documentation, ICD 10 codes and CPT codes and submits them for insurance review.
• Determines costs of procedures via order entry or charge reference manual.
• Assesses each patient on their financial status and insurance status and educate them about their options for coverage, financial assistance or payment process.
• Collects payment due for each procedure or office visit and provide change and/or receipt to patient.
• Responsible for communicating with patient, physician and insurance company on all authorizations and their status.
• Runs money journal at the end of shift and ensure balance between postings and collections.
• Turns in monies to assigned cashier accountant.
• Books appointments based on patient need and communicate instructions to patient depending on type of appointment needed.
• Pulls orders each time patient presents for testing. Communicates any discrepancies to hospital laboratory staff.
• Secures all procedure rooms, equipment and doors in their proper mode for start or close of day.
• Responsible for disarming and arming alarm system daily.
• Sets up physician scheduling daily and pull charts as necessary.
• Gathers medical records for record release.

Physical Requirements:

• Frequent sitting, occasional standing or working, and lifting of 10-15 lbs.
• May be exposed to dust and other typical office-like discomforts.
• Manual dexterity using fine hand manipulations for computer keyboard operation.
• Requires ability to see computer screen and read reports.
• Requires ability to hear instructions from physicians and other clinical or nursing staff.

Skills & Abilities:

• Computer literacy required including familiarity with word processing programs and electronic spreadsheets and facility in learning new applications.
• Excellent interpersonal and customer service skills including excellent interpersonal and telephone skills.
• High degree of tact is necessary due to frequent interaction with patients, physicians, and insurance companies.
• Strong business skills, including understanding of health care expenses, billing, revenue, and reimbursement models and how they affect business plans.
• Ability to develop recommendations based on analysis and lead teams and drive to decisions.
• Excellent organizational skills required with attention to detail.
• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Ability to work independently with a minimum of supervision in routine matters.
• Excellent organizational skills.
• Ability to prioritize work and be flexible with work assignments.
• Self-motivated.

At Tufts Medicine, we want every individual to feel valued for the skills and experience they bring. Our compensation philosophy is designed to offer fair, competitive pay that attracts, retains, and motivates highly talented individuals, while rewarding the important work you do every day.

The base pay ranges reflect the minimum qualifications for the role. Individual offers are determined using a comprehensive approach that considers relevant experience, certifications, education, skills, and internal equity to ensure compensation is fair, consistent, and aligned with our business goals.

Beyond base pay, Tufts Medicine provides a comprehensive Total Rewards package that supports your health, financial security, and career growth—one of the many ways we invest in you so you can thrive both at work and outside of it.

Pay Range: $20.12 - $25.15