Patient Support Specialist

The Patient Support Specialist provides superior service and support to all patients calling Optum TriState’s Contact Center.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities (including but not limited to the following):

• Receives and appropriately handles 85 calls to schedule appointments for physicals, office and sick visits, consults, hospital follow ups, annual wellness exams and CDL exams across Internal Medicine and Clinical Specialties.

• Maintains proficient knowledge of physician scheduling guidelines and preferences, utilizes all resources available; including iCare and www.Caremount.com and is well versed in all services provided by Optum to provide callers with accurate and appropriate information.

• Maintains general insurance knowledge, utilizes appropriate resources to evaluate insurance participation and escalate issues to Patient Assistance as necessary.

• Registers new patients, verifies accuracy of information and updates patient contact and account information per policy and procedures.

• Utilizes AIDET to enhance patient experience and provide exceptional care by achieving one-call resolution through expert scheduling capabilities, in a courteous and professional manner.

• Collects pertinent details and communicates effectively to create concise tasks to clinical team members.

• Handles urgent/emergent calls according to specified procedures.

• Researches, troubleshoots and resolves scheduling issues and patient complaints, taking all necessary steps to resolve and ensure full resolution. Reports scheduling/patient/operational issues to Leadership team and proactively makes recommendations/suggest solutions.

• Takes initiative to collaborate with Leadership team and participates in cross functional focus groups for opportunities to cross-train and advance in skill/career development.

• Completes daily administrative tasks, including; BMB’s, voicemail retrieval, Patient Portal, Patient Contact Preference and Scheduling Support mailboxes and possess solid knowledge of Saturday operational workflow.

• Participates in weekly huddles and team meetings for updates and refreshers on call center processes, procedures and systems.

Performance Requirements:

• Knowledge of telecommunication system and call management application(s) (Cisco Finesse).

• Ability to communicate verbally, and through written communications with patients, physicians, and other clinical/non-clinical staff in an effective and efficient manner.

• Ability to navigate a computer while on the phone

• Maintain appropriate physical workspace requirements.

• Meet expectations for information security, HIPAA and PCI compliance and ensure the protection of proprietary company and patient information accessible from remote office

• Ability to speak clearly and concisely with a professional and pleasant telephone voice.

• Ability to problem solve for best resolution/patient experience.

• Ability to adapt to frequent changes in scheduling protocols.

• Ability to answer 85 inbound calls per day.

• Ability to de-escalate problem situations in a professional manner and utilize appropriate service recovery techniques.

• Ability to handle stressful situations and act accordingly.

• Ability to work in a team environment and establish and maintain effective working relationships with physicians, co-workers and other departments and teams.

• Maintain proficiency within NextGen EPM/EHR and other applications required for patient care.

• Adhere to all applicable company policies and procedures.

• Complete all mandatory compliance and safety training.

Typical Physical Demands:

• Work requires sitting for long periods of time.

• Requires the extensive use of office equipment including computer, telephone, and telephone headset.

Typical Working Conditions:

• Involves frequent phone contact with patients.

• Work may be stressful at times, and interaction with others is ongoing throughout the day.

Qualifications:

• Proven record of meeting key performance metrics in a work from home environment

• Superior customer service skills.

• PC proficiency with Microsoft Office and Outlook.

• Self-starter with the ability to work independently.

Experience:

• One year of contact center experience in a large call center environment preferred.

• Large multi-specialty group medical practice experience is preferred.

Education:

• High School diploma or equivalent/GED.

Full COVID-19 vaccination is an essential requirement of this role. Optum will adhere to all federal, state and local regulations as well as all client requirements and will obtain necessary proof of vaccination prior to employment to ensure compliance.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, or protected veteran status. CareMount is an EO employer – M/F/Veteran/Disability