Access Specialist I

General Summary of Position
Under General Supervision acts as the first welcome at the MedStar Care Connection Contact Center for the caller on behalf of physician practices instilling loyalty and anticipating needs while providing efficient effective customer relationship management. Elicits and records patient information and inquiries by following established protocols to schedule patient appointments for specified practice groups and/or multiple locations. Facilitates communication between patients and practice staff. Advocates on the caller/customer behalf to ensure their needs are met and to promote the perfect patient experience. Demonstrates ability to establish and maintain effective relationships with patients and their families through active listening empathy courtesy and professionalism. Regular consistent attendance is an essential job function.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Contributes to the achievement of established department goals and objectives and adheres to department policies procedures quality standards and safety standards. Complies with governmental and accreditation regulations.
• Assists and troubleshoots during the process of scheduling appointments and selecting physicians by subspecialty or location.
• Completes call processing in an efficient manner. Remains aware of call volumes and works to handle the peak call volumes.
• Cross sells the multiple locations or physicians available with sub-specialty per protocol.
• Demonstrates behavior consistent with MedStar Health mission vision goals objectives and patient care philosophy.
• Demonstrates expert functional knowledge of resources such as Centricity Business MedConnect EMR and other applications as required to assist with the callers needs.
• Develops and distributes weekly reports of activity to assigned parties.
• Displays characteristics of inquiry empathy courtesy and respect during communication with customers. Ensures complete communication (closes the loop and follow up) between key customer groups including internal and external customers in an appropriate and timely manner.
• Facilitates new patient registration and updates current registration.
• Maintains protocol knowledge base and skill set for scheduling across multiple subspecialties or locations and meets established goals for scheduling accuracy.
• Participates in meetings as required including training with physician secretaries regular staff meetings and/or other training classes as directed.
• Participates in multidisciplinary quality and service improvement teams as appropriate. Participates in meetings serves on committees and represents the department and hospital/facility in community outreach efforts as appropriate.
• Proactively reads emails daily and reviews other written sources to keep up to date on all communications changes within the protocols and the Contact Center. Responsible for keeping up to date on all communication/changes within the Center.
• May follow up with callers to determine level of satisfaction with service provided.
• Responds to telephone inquiries from patients physicians employees and other callers regarding appointments referrals provider messages and services within MedStar in accordance with established guidelines.
• Utilizes physician protocols to schedule appointments for multiple subspecialties or locations and meets established performance goals.
• Validates and verifies the insurance carriers to the MedStar Employed Physician Participation Listing.

Minimal Qualifications
Education

• High School Diploma or GED required
• Associate's degree preferred

Experience

• 2 years customer service experience preferably within a healthcare setting required and
• Experience working in a hospital or medical office scheduling environment preferred

Licenses and Certifications

• No special certification registration or licensure required

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Able to work in a complex work environment with heavy call volume that involves coordination and support with various departments patients healthcare providers and system. Ability to type 40 WPM accurately Computer literate and able to navigate among varied systems and the Internet. Must show aptitude in learning and using scheduling and electronic health record software. Ability to operate standard office equipment. Excellent interpersonal skills and telephone/written communication skills. Committed to providing excellent service to MedStar customers and ability to display strong listening skills and empathy to MedStar patients and co-workers. Must be able to work in a fast-paced often high-pressure environment with proven ability to maintain composure in stressful situations and manage and diffuse angry or upset patients. Must be self-directed and able to multitask.