Office Specialist/Patient Financial Consultant

DEPARTMENT: SOUTHWELL ENT

F ACILITY: Tift Regional Medical Center

WORK TYPE: Full Time

S HIFT: Daytime

The Office Specialist/Patient Financial Consultant is responsible for coordinating all communications within the clinic and handling administrative and financial processes to support daily operations. This includes transcribing physician orders, registering patients, staying up to date on insurance requirements, and collecting payments for surgeries and procedures. The Office Specialist/Patient Financial Consultant works closely with Patient Access at the hospital to ensure compliance with current registration guidelines and provides excellent customer service to patients, families, visitors, physicians, coworkers, and other medical and non-medical personnel. This position reports directly to the Practice Manager.

* Correctly Transcribes physician’s orders into mainframe using appropriate forms.

• Coordinates scheduling, needed follow-ups, and referrals for patients.
• Demonstrates the ability to handle confidential information with discretion for the patient, family, and/or co-worker.
• Assist in answering incoming phone calls by providing information or assistance to patients, referring physician offices, and other callers; transfers calls to the appropriate personnel or takes accurate messages as needed.
• Performs general clerical duties such as filing, mailing, faxing and copying.
• Assist in ordering office and medical supplies as requested.
• Maintains current knowledge of hospital and department policies and procedures.
• Receives payments from patients and issues receipts accurately.
• Keeps abreast of pertinent federal, and state regulations and laws and Tift Regional Health System, Inc. (“TRHS”) policies as they presently exist and as they change or are modified.
• Understands and adheres to: TRHS’ compliance standards as they appear in TRHS’s Corporate Compliance Policy, Code of Conduct and Conflict of Interest Policy; and HIPAA and TRHS policies regarding privacy and security of protected health information.
• Demonstrates the ability to perform tasks that meet the age-specific requirements of the persons, patients, vendors, and staff that the employee is charged to interact with as required by the position.
• Offers suggestions on ways to improve operations of department and reduce costs.
• Attends all mandatory education programs.
• Improves self-knowledge through voluntarily attending continuing education/certification classes.
• Maintains required competency levels as identified in written exams, skills checklists, skills labs, annual safety and health requirements as well as service excellence education hours requirements.
• Cross-trains in order to better assist co-workers and to provide maximum efficiency in the department.
• Volunteers/participates on hospital committees, functions, and department projects.
• Manages resources effectively.
• Reports equipment in need of repair in order to extend life of equipment and removes malfunctioning equipment out of service with timely reporting to the appropriate personnel.
• Makes good use of time so as to not create needless overtime.
• Collects and records payments for surgeries and procedures in accordance with established protocols.
• Verifies patient insurance eligibility and benefits prior to scheduled appointments or procedures.
• Ensures all required authorizations and referrals are obtained and documented in the patient record.
• Assists in resolving patient billing questions or concerns, providing clear explanations of charges and payment options.
• Coordinates with Patient Access and Revenue Cycle teams to address registration or billing discrepancies.
• Supports front office workflow efficiency by identifying process improvements or gaps in communication.
• Participates in departmental meetings and contribute to efforts to improve patient satisfaction.
  

* High School Diploma or Equivalent

One year of hospital or physician experience, preferred. Certified Nursing Assistant or Medical Assistant diploma, preferred.