Patient Access Officer - In-Patient

Job Summary:

The Patient Access Officer - In-patient is responsible for working proactively across all hospital clinical services to ensure all plans  and  arrangements are in place for the patients’ admission, discharge and transfer process in addition to preadmissions' preparations and coordination.

This customer-facing position manages in-patient procedures, comprehends healthcare, and supports quality initiatives in order to maximize patient satisfaction and optimize clinical resources utilization. 

Performs the successful transition of registration and financial processes to meet agreed service levels and to facilitate quality based admission services.  

Main Duties and Responsibilities:
 

1. Preadmission:
   1. Pre-admits patients by receiving bookings from physicians, confirming admitting privileges of physicians, interviewing patients; entering patient information to pre-admissions database.
   2. Assist patients to accurately complete appropriate forms and documents for the required information.
   3. Provides patients with information by explaining hospital admission policies, time of admission, room selection, room rates, billing procedures, restrictions, and other applicable procedures as appropriate and answering patient inquiries
   4. Liaises with the patient financial services team to prepare cost estimates for treatment and deposits requirements.
   5. Informs the patient, discusses the price and the required deposit, down payment amounts collections. 
   6. Identify financial risks pro-actively and communicate these to the patient as per protocol
   7. Secures payments by screening insurance information, identifying patients requiring pre-admission approvals from third-party payers, verifying pre-authorization and approvals with patient financial services team and notifying finance department of self-paying admissions
   8. Collects patient financial responsibility and issues a receipt to each paying patient with collaboration with main cashier office.
   9. Maintain daily lists for pre-admissions and coordinates admission schedules for scheduled elective patients.
   10. Handles and manages the continuous flow of information between doctor’s rooms, patient, OR team and other service providers.
   11. Maintain administrative records into the system and report statistics when required.
2. Admission:
   1. Receives admission information from Pre-admission, physicians, emergency room and patients boarded for elective surgery.
   2. Greets and receives patients to be admitted by conducting personal interviews, entering demographic and insurance information, confirming pre-admission information, obtaining signatures on legal consents and insurance forms, receiving payment and issuing receipts and distributing patient information literature.
   3. Ensures receipt of all necessary documentation form referring department or institution.
   4. Verifies patient identify by checking identification; preparing and placing identification bands.
   5. Maintains filing of all patients seeking admission to facility according to agreed admission plan and bed availability and facility procedures
   6. Communicate with patients, their families and the referring party to verify admission plans, dealing with their concerns in a compassionate and effective manner.
   7. Assist with collection of private funds and co-pay if not collected during pre-admission.
   8. Ensures patient's arrival to hospital room or testing area by assigning patient beds, notifying nursing unit of patient's arrival, calling aid persons to transport the patient to the assigned area. 
   9. Serves and protects the hospital community by adhering to professional standards, hospital policies and procedures, state, and local requirements. 
   10. Coordinates rooms’ allocation designation with nursing department.
   11. Assists in developing admission policy and procedures to ensure that all relevant documents and records are obtained.
   12. Receives discharges, transfers and other changes notifications via hospital computer system.   
3. Discharge & Transfer:
   1. Facilitates safe discharge by coordinating all appropriate procedures in partnership with doctors, nurses, and outside agencies, ensuring that all plans are in place for the time of discharge.
   2. Discusses (in preparation for discharge) plans with the patient and their family ensuring that the patient and family have good understanding.
   3. Makes sure that discharge procedures checklist activated proactively prior to discharge.
   4. Liaises on with UCR and discharge planning teams to facilitate discharge for patients with identified continuing care and complex needs.
   5. Acts as a link to facilitate patients’ discharge/referrals in co-ordination with other teams providing financial clearance to nursing, case management teams and finance department.
   6. Directs cash/co-payment patients to appropriate cashier department to clear invoices.
       

Education / Licensure (essential minimum requirement)

• Bachelor degree in business administration, health administration or related fields.
• Post graduate courses in medical terminologies. 

Professional Experience (essential minimum requirement):

• 2 years professional experience directly related to the duties and responsibilities specified.
• Knowledge of Electronic medical records systems and health insurance plans are preferred. 

Skills and abilities 

• Excellent communication skills.
• Customer Service-Oriented Personality. 
• Ability to resolve customer complaints and concerns, and work under pressure. 
• Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing English/Arabic.