Patient Services Specialist

At Houston Methodist, the Patient Services Specialist is responsible for providing customized concierge assistance to patients serving as the primary point of contact for all inpatient, outpatient, and physician office facilitation for their specific patient populations. This includes maintaining relationships with key stakeholders in the community and system-wide. The Patient Services Specialist facilitates services for patients from the beginning to the end of their medical journey; thereby enhancing the reputation of Houston Methodist and is a fundamental contributor to an unparalleled patient experience.

FLSA STATUS
Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree

EXPERIENCE

• Five years of experience in a hospital setting required, preferably within a patient services environment where routine resolution was required and knowledge of operations was critical

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
• Proficiency in oral and written Spanish or Arabic
• Proficiency in medical terminology
• Comprehensive knowledge of physician referral protocol and hospital policies and procedures

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Serves as main point of contact for all inpatient, outpatient, and physician office facilitation to include routing and handling requests appropriately. Applies in depth knowledge of hospital services as well as an ability to handle multiple tasks at once in a fast moving and dynamic environment
• Cultivates relationships with physician offices, professional services, and other hospital departments to ensure seamless coordination of patient encounters.
• Enhances patient experience by providing customized concierge assistance to each patient throughout the patient’s entire visit

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Delivers prompt and personalized service to patients, handles multiple requests including but not limited to information, medical appointments, rescheduling, cancellations, etc. while delivering culturally appropriate high-end concierge service to each patient. Develops creative, meaningful solutions for patients and family members. Will provide language assistance as needed
• Proactively resolves patient concerns to reach resolutions in a swift manner to avoid interruptions of services
• Communicates effectively with patients, family members, co-workers, medical staff hospital personnel, and all other clients; treats all individuals with dignity and respect and participates in activities to improve working relationships within the department
• Stays abreast of hospital services offered to better assist patients

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Provides appropriate and accurate documentation/tracking in (CRM) systems for each patient
• Partners with Finance to ensure an efficient and complete patient registration process
• Understands legal and liability considerations of maintaining confidentiality and addressing situations of necessary information disclosure; including confidentiality and mandated reporting of information to include federal, state, and organization

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Enters basic insurance and demographic information into appropriate data systems to streamline patient processing
• Provides support on auditing patient types such as International, International 1, Platinum, and/or Corporate patient information and collecting referral information on all patients whose services are facilitated at our hospitals

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Engages in special projects and committees as assigned by manager
• Seeks opportunities to drive new initiatives when needed and assumes alternative roles and responsibilities within the office as needed

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS
WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: No
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* No

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area No
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree

EXPERIENCE

• Five years of experience in a hospital setting required, preferably within a patient services environment where routine resolution was required and knowledge of operations was critical