Patient Service Representative-Ophthalmology

Advocate Health Care; Aurora (IL); On-site; USD 32,000 - 45,000; Full time

Job summary

Advocate Health Care in Illinois seeks a patient services specialist to deliver efficient, high-quality service to patients arriving for appointments or seeking information on tests, billing, referrals, and more. You will register patients in the EMR and coordinate scheduling via phone and in person.

Daily duties include handling inbound calls, routing messages, coordinating with hospital sections, verifying insurance eligibility, and entering charges.

Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent required; 1–2 years of related customer service experience preferred.
• Experience handling difficult callers and patients is desirable.
• Proficiency with CRT/PC and EMR systems a plus.

Responsibilities

• Greet and register patients in the EMR system with accurate billing and demographic data.
• Coordinate scheduling of patient appointments via phone and in person.
• Answer multiple lines, triage calls, and route messages per protocol.
• Manage communications, including pagers, faxes, and emails.
• Assist with insurance identification and eligibility verification.
• Enter charges into the EMR and ensure encounter forms are complete.
• Release medical records per policy and maintain patient charts.

Skills

Customer service

Communication skills

Problem solving

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

Tools

eClinicalWorks scheduling

Job description

Major Responsibilities

Patient Services

Provides efficient, high-quality service to patients who arrive for appointments or who telephone or visit in person to request appointments or information on tests and procedures, bills and charges, referrals, and other matters.

• Greets and accurately registers patients in EMR system verifying essential billing and demographic information.
• Coordinates scheduling of patient appointments (phone and in-person requests)

accurately and efficiently.

• Answers multiple incoming telephone lines, accurately determining the appropriate recipient of the call or message and referring them promptly and appropriately.
• Distributes communications accurately, based on practice protocol.

Includes pagers, faxes, emails.

• Resolves a variety of patient questions, including HMO referrals, billing and queries about services and test results; refers complex issues to practice manager or a clinical staff member, as appropriate.
• Schedules future appointments and requisitions, laboratory tests, radiology procedures and other special diagnostic tests as needed.

May coordinate with appropriate sections of hospital admission and/or outpatient admissions and surgery.

• Notifies patient care area when patient has arrived and is ready to be seen.

Attends to waiting patients in reception and ensures that they are seen in a timely manner or are promptly notified of unexpected delays.

• Accurately identifies type of insurance from card, understands different types of payers, and verifies eligibility if necessary.
• Performs other related duties as required.

Billing Services

Ensures entry at time of service of billing information on the patient and payer and accurate follow-up on missing information.

• Reviews encounter forms for accuracy and completeness, checks with physician for missing information.
• Enters patient charges into the EMR system according to established policies and procedures.
• Batches encounter forms and balances charges.

Medical Record Services

Upholds standards of the practice and of the medical group for accurate and timely medical records.

• Releases information from records, only according to corporate policies and procedures.
• Ensures the availability of properly prepared patient medical records, daily schedules and related forms.

Maintains medical record including loose filing and re-filing of charts daily.

Pull and prepares charts for appointments.

Education/Experience Required:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• One to two years related customer service experience
• Experience handling difficult caller/customers/patients.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities Required:

• CRT/PC experience in a customer service setting.
• Working knowledge of eClinicalWorks and scheduling sections of the eClinicalWorks system preferred.
• Strong communication skills.
• Ability to solve problems posed by callers seeking referrals, appointments, billing issues and clinical information.

Physical Requirements And Working Conditions

• Ability to function in a high volume, multiple-task environment, possibly in a crowed or closely shared work space.
• Exposure to ill patients.
• Ability to work under stressful conditions with demanding customers.

Ability to lift up to 35 pounds without assistance. For patient lifts of over 35 pounds, or when patient is unable to assist with the lift, patient handling equipment is expected to be used, with at least one other associate, when available. Unique patient lifting/movement situations will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. This job description indicates the general nature and level of work expected of the incumbent. It is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities required of the incumbent. Incumbent may be required to perform other related duties.