Patient Asst. Specialist

Johnson Health Center; Lynchburg (VA); On-site; USD 19,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

Johnson Health Center seeks a Patient Assistance Specialist to join the Patient Care Team. The role focuses on delivering exceptional customer service across face-to-face and phone interactions and supporting team-based care by communicating patient needs to the care team.

The position emphasizes accurate insurance verification, demographic checks, and managing co-pays and patient balances while maintaining compliant, timely documentation in EMR systems.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent.
• 0-2 years of medical office experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of MS Office and EMR systems.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Working knowledge of office equipment and credit card processing.

Responsibilities

• Communicates with patients courteously in person and by phone; answers calls and routes messages.
• Checks in/out patients, verifies demographics and insurance, notifies care team of arrivals.
• Verifies insurance through web/portals, documents details in patient records.
• Handles cash, co-pays, balances, receipts and daily cash drawer accounting.
• Assists with Reduced Fee applications and maintains accurate patient charts.
• Maintains professional conduct and supports team-based care in a fast-paced environment.

Skills

Customer service

Professional communication

MS Office proficiency

EMR systems knowledge

Education

High School diploma or equivalent

Tools

MS Office

Electronic Medical Records (EMR)

Credit card terminal

Job description

General Position Summary

The Patient Assistance Specialist works as part of the Patient Care Team and assists with the overall office experience. The Patient Assistance Specialist is primarily responsible for providing excellent customer service in all patient contacts, and promoting team based care by collaborating and communicating patient needs with the care team.

• Communicates with patients in a courteous and professional manner in face-to-face encounters and via the telephone. Answers telephones, screens and routes incoming calls, takes messages and delivers information electronically.
• Promotes the Team-Based Care Model by participating in daily huddles and monthly care team meetings to communicate and collaborate on patient issues and needs.
• Checks in patients for acute clinic, appointments, or other visits. Verifies all demographic information and insurance. Notifies nursing staff and providers of arrival of patient through EMR.
• Facilitates verification of patients’ insurance through web and Anthem portals, copying insurance card and notates it under patient demographics on their information page; contacts the billing specialist if needed.
• Scans immunization records when patient is being seen at the Pediatric office as well as new patient’s prior medical records.
• Checks out patients and schedules any follow up appointments, also prints out the patients visit summary and have patients complete a patient survey.
• Prepares lab results and ‘unable to contact’ letters to be mailed to patients.
• If Medical Record transfer is needed, provides forms and helps patient complete the form once they provide identification.
• Collects money for co-payments, patient balances and apply monies to patient’s account and prints a receipt for the patient.
• Balances money collected from co-payments and patients’ bill balances, batch money with day sheet listing completed transactions for the day and put in the safe in the evening.
• Responsible for accurate accounting of the cash drawer and logging at determined times of the day (morning, evening).
• Assists patients with completion of the Reduced Fee application process, clearly understanding the process and following consistently.
• Physical attendance is an essential element of the job and necessary to perform the essential functions of the Patient Assistance Specialist position.
• Must be able to meet outlined compliance goals and stay up to date with computer based training.
• Ability to multi-task in a fast-paced environment.
• Must be proficient with documentation in patient charts via actions, telephone encounters, or in general/billing notes.
• Ability to communicate professionally and efficiently to employees, patients, and providers.
• Must be able to stay calm and follow outlined procedures in moments of patient related crisis.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Other Functions

• Employee will abide by the Code of conduct as documented in the Corporate Compliance Manual.
• Must demonstrate a personal and professional commitment to Johnson Health Center and its mission.
• Treats all patients and staff with dignity and respect, mindful of the cultural differences of the diverse population we serve.
• Management may modify, add or remove any job functions as necessary, or as changing organizational needs require.

JHC Core Values

Staff members must actively demonstrate dedication and commitment to the core values of JHC.

• Respect – We value and respect each patient, their family, ourselves, and each other.

Every individual associated with Johnson Health Center will be treated with dignity and respect. We value and respect people’s differences, show empathy to our patients, their families and each other, and work collectively to build Johnson Health Center as a health center and an employer of choice.

• Integrity – We are committed to doing the right thing every time.

Our actions reflect our commitment to honesty, openness, truthfulness, accuracy and ethical behavior. We are accountable for the decisions we make and the outcome of those decisions.

• Excellence – We will pursue excellence each and every day in activities that foster, teamwork, quality improvement, patient care, innovation, and efficiencies.

At Johnson Health Center, our medical, dental, pharmacy, behavioral health, front desk and administrative teams are passionately committed to the highest quality of care for our patients. We continually seek out ways to enhance the patient experience and promote an environment of continuous quality improvement.

• Innovation – We value creativity, flexibility, and continuous improvement efforts.

We are advocates and instruments of positive change, encouraging employees to engage in responsible risk-taking and working to make a difference. Out of the box thinking enables us to build on successes and learn from failures.

• Teamwork – We understand that teamwork is the essence of our ability to succeed.

We work across functional boundaries, for the good of the organization. Our collaborative approach ensures participation, learning and respect and serves to improve the quality of patient care. By focusing on a team-based approach, the expertise of each Johnson Health Center employee is leveraged to optimize the patient experience.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent.
• 0-2 years of medical office experience preferred.
• Working knowledge of MS Office products and ability to learn; previous experience with other computer related applications such as electronic medical records.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Working knowledge of office equipment, i.e., scanners, printers, copy machines, telephone system, fax and credit card machine.

Physical Demand And Working Environment

Fast paced office setting with travel to other offices often. Lifting and/or exerting force up to 25 pounds occasionally, with frequent moving of objects. Work requires speaking, sitting, bending, walking, standing, hearing, and stooping, kneeling, and repetitive motion with certain activities. Extended hours of computer usage. OSHA low risk position.