PRACTICE CRD 3

Job Summary 

As a patient-focused organization, UCSF Medical Center exists to enhance the health and well-being of people through patient care, research and education. Success in this mission requires a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. UCSF Medical Center seeks faculty and staff that are committed to the values of professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence that are integral to our mission.

The Practice Coordinator 3 is primarily responsible for representing the administrative team as the public face of the Practice and works closely with the administrative, clinical and management teams to support practice operations and customer service recovery and intervention efforts. S/he provides support to all functions of the administrative teams including but not limited to: CRM messages, telephone encounters, referrals, APeX in-baskets, scanning, filing, authorizations, and billing.     

The PC 3 is responsible for the maintenance of all routine clerical operations and communications. S/he adheres to the UCSF House and Telephone Standards and is sensitive to the needs of patients, staff and providers at all times.  The PC 3 is a team player who works closely with others and who is flexible in dealing with the changing priorities.  S/he is a self-reliant individual who synthesizes his/her knowledge of practice operations in order to problem-solve, prioritize and facilitate complex transactions in the course of his/her daily activities.

This position makes a difference for patients in an outpatient care unit by providing excellent customer service, facilitating and ensuring the accuracy of the information flow between medical, hospital staff and departments to maximize unit efficiency. The PC 3 is required to work at any UCSF campus as needed and scheduled.

The Acute Patient Care coordinator will handle emergent patient calls and work collaboratively with the Nursing team to ensure appropriate and timely care is achieved. The Patient Care coordinator is the point of contact for the central call center and will serve as the subject matter expert for Ophthalmology scheduling via the call center. The Acute Patient Care Coordinator will work closely with administrative supervisors, Nurses, Practice Assistant and authorization team to ensure acute patients are triaged according to departmental policy and with adherence to medical center standards.

Responsibilities

New Patient Scheduling and Processing   25%

• On a daily basis reviews and works referral workqueues documenting activities within the referral record. 

• Acts as the primary contact for referring physicians and new patients
• If practice utilizes a mirror system for external referrals, such as an electronic log, maintains electronic log but also creates referral record for accurate tracking and documenting of external referrals.
• Assigns new patients to providers as required, taking into account scheduling issues.

• Schedules and registers patients by telephone or in person before first appointment meeting established accuracy and performance standards.  Completes appropriate practice intake paperwork and follows established practice guidelines to ensure new patients are seen within prescribed time lines. Communicates any problems with the schedule with supervisor.

• Collects and verifies insurance and referral/authorization information for first appointment ensuring referral records and Hospital Accounts Records (HARS) are created and assigned to the appointment. 
• Schedules and coordinates any pre-appointment tests or appointments.
• Explains first appointment procedures in layman’s terminology to patient including required records, pathology slides and radiology films to bring or send prior to the first visit; prepares and mails New Patient Packet or sends through MyChart; provides other information requested by patient. 
• Gives directions and instructions to patients before the first appointment.  Manages patient expectations by providing practice-specific guidelines related to service/visit.  Seeks clinical input when appropriate.
• Creates a professional and positive first impression for patients and referring physicians.  Demonstrates good judgment and common sense.

Advanced New Patient Scheduling and Coordination   25%

• Secures outside medical records, CD’s of scans and pathology slides; reviewing them for completeness; and making a determination as to which physician can best evaluate the patient. 

• Understands and is able to prioritize new patient scheduling based on diagnosis and current treatment status to ensure complex patients are scheduled according to practice priorities (e.g. someone newly diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer is seen within the week vs. a second opinion currently receiving treatment is seen within 3 weeks). 

• Informs patients about possible treatment scheduling options, clinical trials and screening is coordinated with appropriate research personnel and the appropriate physician.  As indicated upon screening, if the patient would benefit from a consultation with other clinical disciplines consults with the appropriate department and will work to coordinate care, to optimize schedules, and expedite services. 

• At new patient visits, as appropriate meets with patient after the visit to explain how care is coordinated with possible clinical trials, testing, surgical procedures and care within other departments (e.g. general surgery, cardiology) and with other external providers.

Revenue Cycle    1%

• Communicates Medical Center administrative and financial policies clearly to patients, answering patient account questions and knowing when to refer patients to financial counseling, billing agents, patient relations or other support departments for additional help.
• Obtains and documents insurance authorizations for established patient visits, referrals and procedures or ancillary services. Communicates clinical information from medical records authorization requests to insurance companies. 
• Demonstrates competency working with CPT codes and ICD-9 and ICD-10 for the purpose of scheduling and securing authorization.
• Works with patients and staff to confirm availability and accuracy of medical information within APeX and to ensure compliance with all hospital policies and procedures.

Administrative and Patient Care Coordination Responsibilities    10%

• Schedules established patient appointments using Apex and its related components. 
• Understands the distinction of each medical practice and how care is delivered in each setting.
• Coordinates appointments with multiple providers as required.
• Discusses practice policies and procedures with patients and referring physicians.
• Answers questions about provider schedules and acts as a resource to other medical center practices and ancillary service administrative staff. 
• Has a keen awareness of the need to provide prompt and convenient appointment access to patients.
• Adheres to the provider productivity standards as established in APEX templates for the practice and schedules appointments with the appropriate appointment type.
• Triages all telephone calls, screening for emergencies and routing all messages, requests for same day appointments, refill requests, etc. to the appropriate box.
• Utilizes legacy systems and Apex to retrieve pertinent patient data.
• Follows practice procedure for follow-up of missed appointments.
• Covers Apex in-baskets and phone messages when other members of the team are absent.
• Demonstrates an ability to adjust priorities as required for smooth operation of the practice and notifies the clinical staff.
• Provides administrative support to providers in coordination of patient care (i.e. sending patient letters, educational materials, results of lab tests, etc.)
• Schedules procedures and tests providing appropriate instructions to patients.
• Collaborates with clinical staff in problem-solving patient needs and requests for same day appointments and other appointments requiring care coordination.  Works together with the clinical staff in the processing and follow-through of urgent patient needs.
• Demonstrates courtesy and overt helpfulness in all interactions.  Collaborates with Practice Supervisor and Administrative Director in the resolution of patient complaints.
• Assists in maintaining current filing and scanning.
• Must have an understanding of multiple clinical symptoms and their associated escalation level with a common sense approach for when it is appropriate to escalate or take action to speed along a process within the practice or to obtain immediate clinical intervention. 
• Advanced customer service skills in working with and providing exceptional customer service to patients who are medication dependent and may exhibit challenging behaviors.  This includes understanding how to deescalate a difficult encounter and also when to seek additional support from leadership and to protect the safety of the work environment.

Moderate Complex Administrative and Patient Care Coordination Responsibilities    10 %

APeX and IT Specific Skills   5 %

• Performs the following APEX specific Patient Care Coordinator (PCC) functions as appropriate to completion of APeX PCC training and job duties: 
  • Enter new incoming referrals entering authorization information as appropriate
  • Updating and closing CRM messages and converting CRM messages into telephone encounters if practice is serviced by the Ambulatory Services Call Center  
  • Open, document within, route and close telephone encounters.  Able to accurately utilize documentation steps when leaving a telephone encounter open pending further communications with the caller.       Able to utilize smart text logic to document patient phone screening as associated with complex appointment scheduling.
  • Works applicable APeX workqueues to address patient care and service matters
  • Create and send administrative communications via MyChart
  • Create SmartPhrase templates associated with administrative functions
  • Create and route patient letters associated with administrative matters
  • Perform enter/edit outside test results following established workflow and steps
  • Open, document within, route and close telephone encounters.  Able to accurately utilize documentation steps with leaving a telephone encounter open pending further communications with the caller.       Able to utilize smart text logic to document patient phone screening as associated with complex appointment scheduling.
  • Works applicable APeX workqueues to address patient care and service matters
  • Encourage use of the check in kiosk and trouble shoot technical or customer service issues 

Moderate Complex APeX and IT Specific Skills   5 %

• Pend orders (including med refills, referrals, procedures etc.) associate with a diagnosis and route to provider for review and signature (from preference list only)

  • Pend Smart Sets with proper orders and diagnosis and route to provider for review and signature

  • Modify order class of labs from lab collection vs. clinic collection or UCSF Collect vs. External Collect.

  • Perform advanced appointment scheduling using complex scheduling protocols from a variety of ancillary and subspecialty services some of which will require authorization. 

  • Support Patient-Centered Medical Home, Standard 1 guidelines that require patients have daily available appointment access to the practice and if no appointments are available coordinate them at another site or within Adult or Pediatric Urgent Care. 

Advanced General Performance   4%

• Facilitates Float coverage as needed for practice (e.g. when float is assigned, work with float to ensure successful coverage of work)
• Serves on and contributes documentation to the Patient Centered Medical Home application workgroup 

Environmental Responsibilities:   5% 

• Reports any malfunctioning of equipment.
• Complies with recommendations made by ergonomic specialists to avoid workplace injury
• Complies with infection control policies related (e.g. does not eat at the front desk or in patient care areas)

Customer Service Outreach   10% 

• Deals directly with patients either by telephone, electronically or face to face while consistently following EVERYDAY PRIDE principles in verbal and written communications
• Responds promptly and courteously to internal and external inquiries.  Stays logged into appropriate APeX Pools and In Baskets.
• Handles front line patient complaints with the support of the Practice Supervisor / Administrative Director
• Supports all performance improvement initiatives as outlined by the Medical Center leadership through active participation and initiation
• Obtains and evaluates all relevant information to handle inquiries and complaints 
• S/he is a strong team player, has a dedicated work ethic, and is willing to learn and adapt to new tasks when asked.  S/he is comfortable building rapport with patients quickly and is able to work effectively with and without supervision and remain calm and friendly in all interactions with patients 
• Notifies providers of patient delays and service issues.  Acts and advocate for patients to help facilitate provider punctuality in seeing patients according to schedule.
• Communicates provider delays with front office team and makes regular announcements to waiting room as needed when delays are over 30 minutes.
• Offers suggestions for change or improvement in clinic/practice operations.   
• S/he leads by example in the areas professional appearance, demeanor and body language, making eye contact with patients and internal customers, exhibits a friendly demeanor to put patients at ease.     
• Seeks opportunities to improve patient convenience.  Utilizes service recovery amenities as appropriate.  Contributes to the development of a patient-focused environment.

Living Pride Standards

Service Excellence

1. Demonstrates service excellence by following the Everyday PRIDE Guide with the UCSF Medical Center standards and expectations for communication and behavior.  These standards and expectations convey specific behavior associated with the Medical Center’s values: Professionalism, Respect, Integrity, Diversity and Excellence, and provide guidance on how we communicate with patients, visitors, faculty, staff, and students, virtually everyone, every day and with every encounter. These standards include, but are not limited to: personal appearance, acknowledging and greeting all patients and families, introductions using AIDET, managing up, service recovery, managing delays and expectations, phone standards, electronic communication, team work, cultural sensitivity and competency.   
2. Uses effective communication skills with patients and staff; demonstrates proper telephone techniques and etiquette; acts as an escort to any patient or family member needing directions; shows sensitivity to differences of culture; demonstrates a positive and supportive manner in which patients / families/ colleagues perceive interactions as positive and supportive. Exhibits team work skills to positively acknowledge and recognize other colleagues, and uses personal experiences to model and teach Living PRIDE standards. 

• Exhibits tact and professionalism in difficult situations according to PRIDE Values and Practices
• Demonstrates an understanding of and adheres to privacy, confidentiality, and security policies and procedures related to Protected Health Information (PHI) or other sensitive and personal information.
• Demonstrates an understanding of and adheres to safety and infection control policies and procedures.
• Assumes accountability for improving quality metrics associated with department/unit and meeting organizational/departmental targets. 

Work Environment

• Keeps working areas neat, orderly and clutter-free, including the hallways.      Adheres to cleaning processes and puts things back where they belong. Removes and reports broken equipment and furniture.
• Picks up and disposes of any litter found throughout entire facility. 
• Posts flyers and posters in designated areas only; does not post on walls, doors or windows.
• Knows where the Environment of Care Manual is kept in department; corrects or reports unsafe conditions to the appropriate departments. 
• Protects the physical environment and equipment from damage and theft.

OTHER FUNCTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Demonstrates innovation and flexibility regarding the modification of tasks or workflows within assigned duties and job functions

• Perform other duties as assigned

• Other clerical duties as assigned

Qualifications

Required Qualifications 

• High School graduate or equivalent with four years related experience; or college degree and 6 months related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.   
• Successfully passes fingerprinting protocol and is approved to be a cash collector
• Strong computer skills, including basic keyboarding skills, and experience with at least two Office-type software programs (i.e., Outlook, Word and Excel). Proven ability to navigate through multiple patient records systems. Able to sit at a computer terminal with telephone headphones for extended period of time. 
• Ability to analyze situations, prioritizes, and develops solutions and makes recommendations. 
• Ability to work with minimal supervision 
• Ability to use good judgment and work independently, at times under the pressure of deadlines 
• Ability to access situations prioritizes workload, develop solutions and make recommendations. 
• Excellent customer service and communication/interpersonal skills, both over the telephone and directly. 
• Able to sit at a computer terminal with telephone headphones for extended periods of time. 
• Basic math skills required. 
• Proven ability to deal with a wide variety of individuals; 
• Ability to deal sensitively and effectively with patients. 
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills. 
• Strong writing skills to include the ability to compose, edit, and proof a wide variety of documents. 
• Demonstrated administrative/office coordination skills. 
• Demonstrated knowledge of medical practice terminology. 
• Within six months of start date, based upon completion of training, the Supervisor, completes the proficiency checklist with the employee. This includes the following areas if applicable 
  • Referrals       (Incoming referral entry) and handling all referral WQs
  • Pend orders
  • Pend smart sets
  • Schedule surgeries
  • Work applicable work queues
  • Enter/edit outside test results
  • Messaging (CRM)       if applicable
  • 2nd calls in CRM  if applicable
  • Telephone encounters
  • My open encounter
  • Staff message
  • New message
  • Route Patient advice request to providers (My Chart) 
  • Patient Schedule (My Chart)
  • Letters
  • Pools
  • Patient look up
  • Check in process
  • Check out process
  • Comment field
  • Quick note

  • Scanning

Preferred Qualifications 

• Demonstrated experience in health care (may include medical, dental or veterinary) in the following areas:  patient scheduling, insurance verification, medical record data abstraction, or patient financial services. 
• Prior experience with appointment, ancillary service or surgical scheduling or a combination of all three.  
• Bi-lingual or multi-lingual capability (Spanish, Cantonese, and Russian) strongly preferred.  
• Prior experience with EPIC. 
• Demonstrates knowledge and understanding of basic ophthalmic terminology
• Prior experience in Call center/ Academic Ophthalmic Support Role 

About UCSF

The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a leading university dedicated to promoting health worldwide through advanced biomedical research, graduate-level education in the life sciences and health professions, and excellence in patient care. It is the only campus in the 10-campus UC system dedicated exclusively to the health sciences. We bring together the world’s leading experts in nearly every area of health. We are home to five Nobel laureates who have advanced the understanding of cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, aging and stem cells.

Pride Values

UCSF is a diverse community made of people with many skills and talents. We seek candidates whose work experience or community service has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence – also known as our PRIDE values.

In addition to our PRIDE values, UCSF is committed to equity – both in how we deliver care as well as our workforce. We are committed to building a broadly diverse community, nurturing a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and engaging diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery, and patient care. Additional information about UCSF is available here.

Join us to find a rewarding career contributing to improving healthcare worldwide.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected status under state or federal law.

Salary Information

The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy.

Your placement within the salary range is dependent on a number of factors including your work experience and internal equity within this position classification at UCSF. For positions that are represented by a labor union, placement within the salary range will be guided by the rules in the collective bargaining agreement.

To learn more about the benefits of working at UCSF, including total compensation, please visit: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html