Transfer Center Representative : Transfer Center

Job Description

Reporting to the Patient Access Supervisor, the Transfer Center Representative supports hospital-wide patient flow, access, and operational coordination while maintaining compliance with federal, state, and local regulations. This role collaborates extensively with nursing leadership, EVS, central dispatch, staffing office, security, case management, surgical services, and other key departments to ensure seamless patient placement, accurate registration, insurance verification, and timely transfer coordination.

The Transfer Center Representative serves as the centralized communication hub for patient movement across campuses and is responsible for facilitating daily operational meetings, managing bed placement, coordinating interfacility transfers, processing work queues, and ensuring accurate and complete patient accounts. The ideal candidate thrives in a fast-paced, high-acuity environment, demonstrates exceptional customer service, maintains advanced computer proficiency, and consistently supports efficient and safe patient throughput.

Responsibilities

Patient Access, Registration & Billing

• Facilitates the arrival process by creating accounts for initial intake and monitoring queues to ensure timely registration.
• Follows HIPAA protocols and ensures accurate and complete patient registration.
• Verifies insurance eligibility, codes insurance accurately, and supports timely reimbursement.
• Provides patients with insurance and billing assistance and identifies coverage concerns immediately.
• Confirms and communicates registration status, including in-network/out-of-network coverage, and prevents delays in patient care.
• Performs quality audits on accounts and provides staff reeducation based on findings.
• Updates patient accounts to ensure proper billing, documentation, and financial accuracy.
• Meets and exceeds daily productivity expectations.
• Obtains authorizations for out-of-network (OON) admissions.
• Calls and faxes face sheets and clinical documentation to out-of-network case management teams to secure timely authorization.
• Adds COVID billing indicators for patients testing positive.
• Adds and removes No Information billing indicator flags to ensure privacy compliance and accurate account status.

Bed Placement, Hospital Flow & Operational Coordination

• Coordinates room and bed placement for all admission types, including ED, direct admissions, transfers, lateral moves, surgical/procedural patients, booked admissions, and Benefactor Program patients.
• Holds beds the night prior for scheduled admits to ensure seamless direct admissions and smooth throughput.
• Verifies every admission has correct and complete physician orders prior to assignment.
• Tracks surgical admissions, including expected admit times and anticipated times out, to support proactive planning and capacity management.
• Collaborates with charge nurses across all departments to ensure placement aligns with the patient's diagnosis, acuity, isolation requirements, and safety needs.
• Works with surgical and procedural charge nurses to prioritize postoperative and pre-operative bed readiness based on OR schedule, clinical need, and downstream throughput.
• Coordinates with ED charge nurses to review acuity, prioritize patient placement, and support emergency department flow.
• Partners with EVS to expedite room turnover and uses Transfer Centerexclusive access to flag rooms as STAT, dirty, or next-room-clean to optimize bed availability.
• Reviews potential patient holds with Staffing Coordinators and evaluates nursing resource allocation to support balanced staffing across campuses.
• Works with Central Dispatch to prioritize patient transports for admissions, transfers, and discharges, ensuring timely and safe movement throughout the hospital.
• Provides real-time hospital census and capacity updates to house supervisors, nursing leadership, and the staffing office to support operational decisions.
• Reviews patient medical records to ensure appropriate placement based on admitting diagnosis, medical history, and chronic conditions.

Transfer Coordination (Internal & External)

• Coordinates transfers between Hoag Hospital and Hoag Orthopedic Institute (HOI), ensuring seamless communication between the sending and receiving teams.
• Facilitates incoming and outgoing transfers based on clinical need, physician requests, levels of care, patient/family requests, or continuity of care considerations.
• Arranges peer-to-peer discussions between hospitals for incoming transfer requests to support efficient decision-making and timely acceptance.
• Works closely with Case Management to confirm acceptance, review medical necessity, and ensure all requirements are met for safe patient transfer.
• Obtains Transfer-Back Agreements to ensure regulatory compliance and protect patient return rights.
• Requests and tracks Letters of Agreement (LOAs) for out-of-network or single-case agreements to ensure patient financial coverage and prevent delays in care.
• Maintains accurate transfer documentation and ensures all communication is recorded, processed, and escalated as appropriate.

Daily Operations, Reporting, & Meeting Facilitation

• Facilitates the daily interdisciplinary operations huddle, serving as the central point of coordination for communication between clinical teams, leadership, support services, and ancillary departments.
• Leads discussions related to patient placement priorities, unit pressures, staffing considerations, escalation items, and operational barriers.
• Keeps detailed meeting minutes and ensures documentation is uploaded to Teams and SharePoint for access by leadership and upper management.
• Runs and analyzes operational reports related to throughput, capacity, transfers, patient status changes, and outstanding tasks.
• Manages daily work queues (WQs) related to registration, insurance, transfers, and financial clearance.
• Reviews surgical case admission orders to ensure accuracy and prevent delays.
• Proactively identifies barriers to patient flow and collaborates across departments to resolve them.

Quality, Training & Problem Solving

• Conducts regular quality audits on patient accounts, identifying errors, discrepancies, or missing information.
• Provides staff reeducation and process clarification based on audit findings.
• Serves as a resource and mentor to new team members, supporting onboarding and ongoing peer training.
• Demonstrates independent decision-making during routine operations and emergency situations.
• Supports leadership with special projects designed to improve throughput, patient experience, and operational efficiency.
• Escalates issues and concerns to leadership promptly.

Additional Responsibilities

• Maintains knowledge of all patient access roles relevant to supported areas.
• Provides admissions coverage as needed.
• May require local travel between campuses.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Qualifications

Education & Experience

• High school diploma or equivalent required.
• Minimum of one (1) year of general office or customer service experience.
• Proficient keyboarding and accurate data entry skills.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills.
• Advanced analytical, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities.
• Ability to multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to build positive working relationships.
• Strong customer service orientation.

Licenses Required: N/A

Licenses Preferred: N/A

Certifications Required: N/A

Certifications Preferred: N/A

About Us

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian is a nonprofit regional health care delivery network in Orange County, California, consisting of three acute-care hospitals with sixteen urgent care centers, eleven health centers and a network of more than 1,800 physicians, 100 allied health members, 8,000 employees, and 2,000 volunteers. More than 30,000 inpatients and 550,000 outpatients choose Hoag each year.

For over 70 years, Hoag has delivered a level of personalized care that is unsurpassed among Orange County's health care providers. Since 1952, Hoag has served the local communities and continues its mission to provide the highest quality health care services through the core strategies of quality and service, people, physician partnerships, strategic growth, financial stewardship, community benefit and philanthropy.

Hoag offers a comprehensive blend of health care services including six institutes providing specialized care in the areas of cancer, heart and vascular, neurosciences, women's health, orthopedics, and digestive health through our institutes.

Hoag was the highest ranked hospital in Orange County in