Manager, Central Referral Office (CRO) and Call Center

The Manager of the Central Referral Office (CRO) and Call Center oversees daily operations, staff, and performance to ensure efficient, accurate, and patient-centered service. This role leads referral coordinators, schedulers, and call center staff, ensuring timely referral processing, appointment scheduling, and quality customer service. The CRO Manager is responsible for workforce management, operational performance, process improvement, compliance, and achieving departmental goals. Working collaboratively with clinical and operational leadership, this position enhances patient access, optimizes workflows, and promotes service excellence and continuous improvement.

SPECIFIC JOB DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Oversee daily operations of the Central Referral Office (CRO) and Call Center to ensure efficient, accurate, and timely, and patient-centered service.
• Supervise, coach, train, and develop referral coordinators, schedulers, and call center staff.
• Manage call center operations, including switchboard functions, call routing, message management, scripting tools, and escalation support.
• Monitor and analyze operational performance through productivity reports, referral aging metrics, turnaround times, call volumes, and service-level metrics to identify opportunities for improvement.
• Ensure accurate referral processing, patient scheduling, registration, documentation, and follow-up activities in accordance with organizational and departmental standards.
• Collaborate with physicians, clinic leadership, and support departments to improve patient access and scheduling workflows.
• Maintain and improve CRO and Call Center policies, procedures, workflows, and scheduling protocols.
• Coordinate staffing, time-off requests, payroll approvals, performance evaluations, and workforce coverage plans.
• Recruit, onboard, train, and retain high-performing team members while fostering a culture of accountability, teamwork, and customer service excellence.
• Utilize operational systems and technology to support patient flow, troubleshoot issues, and ensure compliance with organizational standards.
• Partner with leadership, IT, and other departments to address operational needs, maintain resources, and support organizational initiatives.
• Perform special projects and other duties as assigned

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY: Yes

EDUCATION, CERTIFICATION, LICENSURE, REGISTRATION: Bachelor’s Degree in Business or related field OR equivalent experience (preferred).

EXPERIENCE, KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS and ABILITIES:

• Minimum of five (5) years of healthcare scheduling or medical office experience and two (2) years of leadership experience.
• Experience managing staff performance, productivity, scheduling, and workflow operations.
• Knowledge of medical office operations, scheduling workflows, EMR systems, and medical terminology.
• Strong leadership, customer service, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent organizational, analytical, problem-solving, and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to prioritize, multitask, and manage competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to collaborate effectively, lead teams, and drive operational improvements.
• Detail-oriented with strong accuracy, accountability, and follow-through.

REASONING ABILITY:

• Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists.
• Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, or schedule form.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS:

• Must interact and communicate both verbally and in written form.
• Must interact and exchange information regarding patients with physicians and other departmental personnel, and outside agencies on a frequent basis while respecting the confidentiality of patient information.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment in sensitive situations.
• Exercises professionalism, discretion, and sound judgment when handling sensitive information, employee matters, patient concerns, and operational challenges.
• Ability to communicate expectations, workflow changes, and organizational goals effectively while adapting communication styles to diverse audiences

PHYSICAL DEMANDS:

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

• While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to talk or hear.
• The employee regularly is required to stand, walk, sit, use hand to finger, handle or feel objects, tools, or controls; and reach with hands and arms.
• Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. This position involves potential exposure to infectious diseases. Colleagues are offered appropriate vaccinations and safety training.