Patient Services Coord. III

MG WALTHAM OUTPATIENT SURGERY CENTER

OVERVIEW:

Under supervision of the Practice Manager provides administrative support to the ambulatory surgery center for patient care and other administrative activities. Works with the leadership and the clinical staff members to ensure a quality-based, customer-oriented workflow. Requires discretion and judgment to organize priorities, complete tasks and handle confidential patient information. Functions as the primary interface between the care team and the patients.

PATIENT CARE RESPONSIBILITIES

• Checks-in patients as they arrive in a courteous manner.

• Ensures that all demographic data in patient medical record is current and complete; reports discrepancies to admitting and has information updated as necessary.

• Consistently obtains patient/family signature for billing.

• Verifies NPO status.

• Troubleshoots scheduling issues that require clinical and administrative assimilation for decision making.

• Troubleshoots complex surgical schedules and anticipates impact on ASC case volume.

• Coordinates the block scheduling all surgical patients and assigns caseload to appropriate time slots and rooms.

• Provides surgical scheduling support to surgical office practices in the same function.

• Identifies and communicates issues of process creating inefficiencies within the operation. Assists in their resolution, working within the hospital system and with management for the department.

• Negotiates with physician practices in maintaining daily surgical schedule volume at a level rate; alerts senior unit management with potential problems and proposed resolutions.

• Responsible for the maintenance of the scheduling data base for all operating suites.

• Responsible to ensure that patient demographic information is correct and consistent with the hospital registration system for all surgical patients.

• Responsible for the front-line troubleshooting of all customer service complaints in coordination with the OR and/or PACU facilitator or Nursing Director / Medical Director as needed.

• Unit Timekeeper: Accountable for payroll submission in the Kronos system and maintaining all relative records according to policy.

• Responsible for the safe transport of medical records and laboratory specimens daily.

• Follows up on all cancelled surgical procedures with physicians' offices.

• Assists in analyzing the scheduling data base for quarterly review of efficiency measures including on- time starts, turn over time and man hours per case data.

• Assembles charts and appropriately labels all documents as determined by management.

• Prints and maintains OR Schedules.

• Answers patient/family questions regarding surgical procedure times and pre-operative instructions as appropriate.

• Perform/participate in special projects for Medical Director, Nursing Director, as may arise from time-to-time. Transcribes, proofreads, and edits any documents prepared for the Medical Director/ Nursing Director.

• Interacts in a courteous manner with surgeons, nurses, and other administrative staff within and outside of MGH to coordinate care of patients, provide feedback, and answer questions.

• Schedules meetings as required.

• Answers telephones; arranges for forwarding and removal of telephones to answering service; places/returns telephone calls as requested.

• Retrieves, screens, and triages mail.

• Performs photocopying, faxing, and filing as requested.

• Orders office and clinical supplies and forms, stamps, etc. as needed.

• Cross covers for other staff members for breaks, lunches, vacations, etc. and during variations in work flow as needed.

• Organize materials for presentations.

• Establishes and maintains databases for storage of records, phone lists, mailing lists, etc. according to department's needs.

• Coordinates the admission of outside visitors, vendors, medical students, etc. as requested by surgeon to the ASC.

• Responsible for all requests for access from hospital security for new and temporary employees.

• Participates in monthly staff meetings.

SKILLS, ABILITIES, COMPETENCIES:

• Exceptional computer skills (including word processing, database, electronic mail, internet, and Excel spreadsheets) required.

• Good command of English language, including medical and scientific terminology.

• Exceptional organizational skills and the flexibility to handle multiple tasks and deadline pressures.

• Ability to work independently or in a team environment.

• Excellent interpersonal skills.

• Is knowledgeable and compliant in all hospital, State and Federal regulatory requirements, including hospital policy and procedures (where applicable to the performance of the job), Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA).

WORK CONDITIONS:

Ambulatory Surgery Center- Normal office conditions.

Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required; college education preferred

• Minimum of 2 to 4 years of related experience with transferrable skills.

• Operating Room scheduling experienced preferred.