Medical - Lead Patient Engagement Coordinator (on-site)

Lead Patient Engagement Coordinator

We are an FQHC community health center dedicated to embodying the values central to American Indian cultures. This includes respect for our patients, acknowledgement of the whole person, and a focus on working together to ensure health for the individual, and therefore the community. This position coordinates daily workflows, prioritizes outreach activities, monitors assigned patient lists and engagement outcomes, and provides guidance and support to Patient Engagement Coordinators and other designated staff. The Lead Patient Engagement Coordinator works closely with clinical departments, Patient Services Representatives (PSRs), care coordination teams, and organizational leadership to identify and address barriers that may prevent patients from accessing timely care.

The position supports the organization's FQHC mission by promoting patient-centered, culturally responsive, and equitable access to medical, dental, behavioral health, and supportive services. The Lead Patient Engagement Coordinator ensures that patient interactions are timely, professional, appropriately documented, outcome-driven, and aligned with organizational access, quality, productivity, and patient experience standards.

In addition to lead responsibilities, this position is expected to perform Patient Engagement Coordinator duties and is cross-trained in Patient Services Representative functions to provide operational support during periods of increased patient demand, staffing shortages, or other operational needs.

The individual must demonstrate the knowledge, skills, judgment, and competencies necessary to perform all assigned responsibilities effectively.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Lead Role Expectations:

The Lead Patient Engagement Coordinator serves as an operational lead and resource to the team. Depending on organizational structure, the position may provide work direction and coaching but does not independently exercise authority for hiring, termination, formal corrective action, compensation decisions, or other management functions unless specifically delegated by management.

The Lead is expected to:

1. Model organizational values and service expectations.
2. Promote consistent application of departmental workflows and procedures.
3. Address routine workflow and service issues in real time.
4. Provide constructive coaching and support to team members.
5. Escalate employee relations, performance, compliance, or disciplinary concerns to the appropriate manager and/or Human Resources.
6. Maintain appropriate professional boundaries and confidentiality regarding employee and patient matters.
7. Promote collaboration between Patient Engagement, Patient Services, clinical departments, and support services.

Team Leadership and Daily Operations

1. Serve as the primary day-to-day resource for Patient Engagement Coordinators and designated patient access staff.
2. Provide workflow guidance, coaching, training, and operational support to ensure consistent execution of patient engagement activities.
3. Coordinate and prioritize daily outreach assignments, patient lists, scheduling activities, and follow-up responsibilities.
4. Assist with distributing workload and adjusting assignments based on patient volume, staffing levels, organizational priorities, and departmental needs.
5. Monitor completion of assigned outreach activities and follow up on outstanding or unresolved patient engagement needs.
6. Promote accountability for productivity, documentation, patient service, and established performance expectations.
7. Identify workflow barriers, recurring patient access issues, and operational concerns and escalate them to management as appropriate.
8. Support the onboarding and training of new Patient Engagement Coordinators and cross-trained staff.
9. Reinforce departmental procedures, workflows, scripts, service expectations, confidentiality requirements, and documentation standards.
10. Provide ongoing feedback to management regarding team performance, training needs, workflow challenges, and opportunities for improvement.
11. Serve as a positive role model by demonstrating professionalism, teamwork, accountability, and a patient-centered approach.

Patient Engagement and Outreach

1. Lead and perform proactive patient outreach through telephone, text messaging, patient portal, and other approved communication methods.
2. Contact patients regarding appointment scheduling, preventive and follow-up care, referrals, care coordination needs, and other approved clinical or operational outreach initiatives.
3. Conduct targeted outreach to patients who are overdue for care, have missed appointments, have not completed recommended follow-up, or may be at risk for becoming disengaged from care.
4. Support re-engagement efforts for inactive patients and patients experiencing interruptions in care.
5. Assist patients with navigating available medical, dental, behavioral health, and supportive services.
6. Identify barriers to care, including scheduling, transportation, communication, financial, language, or other access challenges, and coordinate with appropriate internal resources.
7. Use culturally responsive, respectful, trauma-informed, and patient-centered communication practices when interacting with patients and families.
8. Escalate urgent patient concerns or potential clinical issues to appropriate licensed or clinical staff in accordance with established procedures.

Scheduling and Access to Care

1. Facilitate timely appointment scheduling and follow-up across organizational service lines.
2. Review provider schedules and available appointment capacity to support timely patient access and maximize appropriate utilization.
3. Assist with filling open appointment slots resulting from cancellations or schedule changes through approved waitlists, recall lists, cancellation lists, and outreach workflows.
4. Support efforts to reduce appointment gaps, missed opportunities, and unused provider capacity.
5. Monitor patients requiring follow-up appointments and assist with timely scheduling and re-engagement.
6. Place particular emphasis on walk-in patients, helping ensure they are promptly assessed for scheduling needs and connected with the appropriate department or next available appointment.
7. Collaborate with Patient Services, clinical teams, and department leadership to address scheduling barriers and improve patient flow.
8. Support organizational initiatives designed to improve third-next-available appointment, appointment adherence, continuity of care, and other access-related measures.

Patient Retention and No-Show Reduction

1. Coordinate outreach to patients with missed, cancelled, or incomplete appointments.
2. Support implementation of strategies to reduce no-show rates and improve appointment adherence.
3. Identify patterns or recurring reasons for missed appointments and communicate findings to management.
4. Conduct follow-up outreach based on established departmental and organizational protocols.
5. Support recall and re-engagement campaigns designed to retain patients within the health center.
6. Assist with monitoring whether outreach efforts result in successful patient contact, scheduling, completed appointments, or other defined outcomes.

Quality, Productivity, and Reporting

1. Document patient outreach attempts, communication, scheduling activities, outcomes, and follow-up needs Monitor team workflow and assigned outreach activities to support established productivity and performance expectations.
2. Assist management with tracking key patient engagement indicators, which may include:
• Outreach attempts and successful patient contacts
• Appointments scheduled
• Re-engagement rates
• Missed appointment/no-show follow-up
• Appointment conversion rates
• Open scheduling opportunities
• Patient retention
• Preventive and follow-up care outreach
3. Completion of assigned patient lists
4. Review documentation for completeness, accuracy, and consistency with established procedures.
5. Assist in identifying trends, workflow gaps, and opportunities to improve patient access and engagement.
6. Participate in quality improvement initiatives related to patient access, continuity of care, patient experience, and organizational performance.
7. Provide management with routine updates regarding outreach outcomes, unresolved barriers, productivity, and operational concerns

Documentation and Confidentiality

1. The Lead Patient Engagement Coordinator is cross-trained in Patient Services Representative functions and may provide coverage based on operational needs.
2. Responsibilities may include:
• Answering and routing incoming patient calls.
• Scheduling, rescheduling, and cancelling appointments.
• Registering new patients and updating existing patient demographic information.
• Verifying required patient information and documentation.
• Assisting patients with general questions regarding appointments and available services.
• Supporting patient check-in/check-out workflows when needed.
• Providing support during staffing shortages, high call volume, increased patient demand, or other operational needs.
• Maintaining a professional and welcoming patient experience during all interactions.

Minimum Qualifications: