Patient Scheduling Clerk

Patient Scheduling Clerk

Under the supervision of the Patient Scheduling Center Manager, the Patient Scheduling Clerk serves as the first point of contact for patients seeking appointments. This role answers a high volume of calls and schedules appointments, instructs and assists patients with regards to appropriate scheduling protocol, maintains a professional and confidential working environment. The Patient Scheduling Clerk assists with training new staff, where needed and uses initiative, sound judgment, and communication skills to enable efficient and effective use of the Patient Scheduling Center and its resources.

Major Duties/Essential Functions

• Handles a high volume of calls, scheduling, rescheduling, confirming and canceling appointments, return all call backs generated in the system.
• Accurately record and communicate scheduled appointments to patients in a courteous and professional manner.
• Assess patient needs, create telephone encounters and forward to appropriate team for resolution
• Control the flow of calls using the TouchPoint desktop application to ensure efficient handling.
• Effectively manage incoming calls across multiple queues, routing them to the appropriate health center or department for resolution.
• Promptly route urgent calls and provide clear SBAR summaries to the appropriate site, advice nurse, or leadership team member.
• Document all calls forwarded to the advice nurse and/or leadership in a detailed log for tracking and reference.
• Collaborate with various departments to resolve scheduling conflicts and improve patient flow.
• Verify and update patient details including demographics and insurance information, ensuring accuracy
• Address patient concerns and frustrations with patience, empathy, active listening, and respectful communication.
• Collaborate with other departments to correct and update patient referrals as needed.
• Fax missed or updated referrals to the ambulatory care center or physician's office to ensure patient can complete their appointment
• Introduce patients to the patient portal, explaining its features and benefits
• Assist patients by enabling web access and resetting locked patient portal accounts upon request.
• Discreetly handles and enters sensitive personal confidential information while adhering to Unity's HIPAA guidelines ensuring the proper handling of sensitive information.
• Serves as liaison between patients, staff and the health center leadership
• Reviews all patient related information for accuracy and completeness and assist the patient where necessary
• Perform responsibilities with the required Customer Service standards
• Performs within expected guidelines regarding talk time and wait time
• Maintains a clean, organized, and safe working environment.
• Maintains files and/or client database
• Meets key metrics important for goals and benchmark data
• Performs other duties as assigned

Minimum Qualifications

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Fluent in both English/Spanish preferred
• Strong attention to detail and accuracy
• Ability to multitask and work efficiently in a fast-paced environment.
• Excellent interpersonal communication, customer service and telephone etiquettes skills.
• Minimum of one-year experience in an office setting, preferably a medical office setting.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong customer service background.
• Some knowledge of medical terminology and EHR systems
• Good oral, written, and telephone communication skills; Bilingual: English/Spanish preferred.
• Ability to work independently or in a team oriented environment and interrelate well with individuals with diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds and needs.
• Basic working knowledge of computers and extended periods of phone use.
• Typing 40 WPM preferred.

Supervisory Controls

The position reports directly to the Director of Patient Access and Scheduling and Patient Scheduling Center Manager

Guidelines

The position abides by all rules and regulations set forth by applicable licensing and regulatory bodies, as well as UHC policies and procedures

Personal Contacts

The position requires contact with staff at all levels throughout the organization. There are also external organization relationships that may be a part of the work of this individual.

Physical Effort and Work Environment

• Must be physically able to sit for prolonged periods of time at a desk, and use the telephone for long periods of time.
• Must be able to bend, and lift.
• Must have visual acuity and the ability to sustain long periods of computer usage.
• The office environment may be stressful with multiple, time-sensitive tasks to be accomplished within a short period of time.
• Must be able to work independently with minimal supervision, be capable of making sound business decisions, and be detail oriented, alert and self-motivated.
• Must be able to effectively manage difficult situations, staff, and customers.
• The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibility and essential functions of this position, but should not be considered to be an all-inclusive listing of work requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned including work in other areas to cover absences or relief to equalize peak work periods or otherwise balance the workload.
• Unity Health Care provides primary health care services to underserved patients in Washington, DC. As a federally qualified health center, there is a commitment to serving traditionally underserved people in the community. Unity seeks to maintain facilities which are safe, sanitary, and serviceable.
• See the ADA Physical Efforts Effort Checklist.

Distinguishing Characteristics

Hours may include some evenings and/or Saturday work. While every effort is made to assign staff to one clinic site regularly, Unity may change the assigned clinic and/or site temporarily or permanently, depending upon the need.

Risks

The position involves everyday risk and discomforts, which require normal safety precautions typical of such places as offices, meetings, training rooms, and other UHC health Care Sites. The work area is adequately lit, heated, and ventilated. The position requires contact with staff at all levels throughout the organization. There are also external organization relationships that may be a part of the work of this individual. All medical services shall be provided according to medically accepted community standards of care. The employee shall provide evidence of a recent (within the past twelve (12) months) health assessment that includes a PPD and/or chest x-ray results.

The statements contained herein describe the scope of the responsibility and essential functions of this position but should not be considered to be an all-inclusive listing of work requirements. Individuals may perform other duties as assigned including work in other areas to cover absences or relief to equalize peak work periods or otherwise balance the workload.