Surgery Coordinator/Scheduler

UCSF Health; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

ZSFG/UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco seeks a Surgery Practice Coordinator to organize and schedule all outpatient and inpatient surgeries. You will coordinate pre- and post-operative appointments, anesthesia clearance, and related testing, ensuring timely procedures while liaising with patients, physicians, and staff.

The role requires strong organization, excellent communication, and the ability to prioritize in a dynamic clinical environment, supporting billing and referrals as needed.

Qualifications

• Strong customer service and communication skills are essential.
• Ability to analyze situations, prioritize, and develop solutions under deadlines.
• Experience navigating multiple patient record systems and common office software.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and schedule all outpatient and inpatient surgeries.
• Ensure surgeries are scheduled within clinically appropriate time frames.
• Interface with patients, physicians, and hospital staff to communicate surgical details.
• Work closely with attending and resident physicians to place surgeries appropriately.
• Coordinate pre- and post-operative appointments, biometry, anesthesia clearance, and COVID testing.
• Arrange patient transportation and collaborate with social workers on related needs.
• Maintain the surgery scheduling database and related communications.
• Support clinical functions such as patient scheduling, referrals, scanning, filing, authorizations, and billing.

Skills

Customer service

Communication

Problem-solving

Teamwork

Education

High school diploma or equivalent

4 years related experience OR college degree with 6 months related experience

Tools

Outlook

Excel

EPIC/APEX

Job description

ZSFG/UCSF Medical Center is a patient‑focused organization dedicated to enhancing health and well‑being through patient care, research, and education. Our mission is accomplished through a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. We seek faculty and staff who share our commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence.

Job Description

The Surgery Practice Coordinator (PC) is primarily responsible for coordinating and scheduling all outpatient and inpatient surgeries for the surgical practice. The PC ensures that all surgical procedures are scheduled within a clinically appropriate timeframe and interfaces with patients, physicians, and hospital staff to maintain clear communication regarding all aspects of surgical services. The role includes coordinating pre‑ and post‑operative appointments, anesthesia clearance, biometry, and COVID testing; managing patient transportation; and collaborating with social workers to address other patient needs related to surgery. The PC frequently manages complex scheduling to secure operating room (OR) time outside of designated block periods and maintains the surgery scheduling database and related communications. This position supports all functions of the clinical teams, including patient scheduling, telephone encounters, referrals, scanning, filing, authorizations, and billing, and adheres to ZSFG telephone standards while remaining a flexible, self‑reliant team player.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate and schedule all outpatient and inpatient surgeries.
• Ensure surgeries are scheduled within clinically appropriate time frames.
• Interface with patients, physicians, and hospital staff to communicate surgical details.
• Work closely with attending and resident physicians to place surgeries appropriately.
• Coordinate pre‑ and post‑operative appointments, biometry, anesthesia clearance, and COVID testing.
• Arrange patient transportation and collaborate with social workers on related patient needs.
• Manage complex scheduling for OR time outside designated block periods.
• Maintain the surgery scheduling database and related communications.
• Support clinical functions such as patient scheduling, telephone encounters, referrals, scanning, filing, authorizations, and billing.
• Adhere to ZSFG telephone standards and maintain sensitivity to patient, staff, and provider needs.
• Operate as a team player, adaptable to changing priorities, and self‑reliant in problem‑solving and task prioritization.

Qualifications

• High school graduate or equivalent with four years of related experience, or college degree with six months of related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Strong computer skills, including basic keyboarding, with experience in at least two office–type software programs (e.g., Outlook, Word, Excel) and ability to navigate multiple patient record systems.
• Ability to analyze situations, prioritize, develop solutions, and make recommendations.
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision.
• Ability to use good judgment and work under pressure of deadlines.
• Excellent customer service and communication/interpersonal skills, both over the telephone and in person.
• Able to sit at a computer terminal with telephone headphones for extended periods of time.
• Basic math skills.
• Ability to deal with a wide variety of individuals sensitively and effectively, including patients, families, and colleagues.
• Excellent organizational and problem‑solving skills.
• Strong writing skills with ability to compose, edit, and proof a wide variety of documents.
• Demonstrated administrative/office coordination skills.
• Demonstrated knowledge of medical practice terminology.
• Effective communication skills with patients and staff; proper telephone technique and etiquette; escorting patients or family members when necessary; sensitivity to cultural differences; positive and supportive manner.
• Teamwork skills that acknowledge and recognize colleagues and use personal experience to model and teach Living PRIDE standards.
• Tact and professionalism in difficult situations according to PRIDE Values and Practices.
• Within six months of start date, the Supervisor will complete a proficiency checklist with the employee. This includes the following areas if applicable:
  • Referrals (incoming referral entry) and handling all referral work queues
  • Pending orders
  • Pending smart sets
  • Schedule surgeries
  • Work applicable work queues
  • Enter/edit outside test results
  • Messaging (CRM) if applicable
  • 2nd calls in CRM if applicable
  • Telephone encounters
  • My open encounter
  • Staff message
  • New message
  • Route patient advice request to providers (My Chart)
  • Patient schedule (My Chart)
  • Letters
  • Pools
  • Patient lookup
  • Check‑in process
  • Check‑out process
  • Comment field
  • Quick note
  • Scanning

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience in health care (medical, dental, or veterinary) in areas such as patient scheduling, insurance verification, medical record data abstraction, or patient financial services.
• Prior experience with appointment, ancillary service, or surgical scheduling, or a combination of all three.
• Bi‑lingual or multi‑lingual capability (Tagalog, Spanish, or Cantonese) strongly preferred.
• Prior experience working with EMR; experience with Epic/Apex strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated understanding of Ophthalmology terminology and experience in the Department of Ophthalmology.