Patient Access Lead

• Patient Access Lead, Rockford, 2nd Shfit, 80 Hrs/2 wks

Plans and supervises activities within the Office of Patient Access Management. Develops and updates department workflows and expectations. Assigns work and coordinates activities to maintain efficient workflow. Monitors quantity and quality of work performed. Interviews, trains, supervises and evaluates employees. Maintains equipment and supplies for the department. Participates in process improvement activities and makes recommendations for new/revised policies, procedures and workflows. Considers impacts and anticipates barriers and develops alternatives. Must have knowledge of all software systems. Must understand Mercyhealth policies and procedures pertinent to operations and must understand revenue cycle operations. Assigned Departments include all access areas (Hospital Registration, Financial Resource Specialists, Registration Specialists, Precertification Specialists, Patient Access Specialists, Training Specialists, Seniors Program Coordinators etc.) This position will also provide dotted line oversight to other front-end operations such as reception and patient service representative in conjunction with clinic and hospital leadership.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Organizes work to achieve maximum efficiency.
• Plans work assignments to meet deadlines and priorities.
• Monitors quality of work by conducting audits of departmental outputs and ensures all associated processes are followed.
• Monitors and ensures that all workqueues related to department functions are worked within the established guidelines.
• Monitors petty cash, deposit pickups and change requests and ensures that all cash handling and compliance procedures are being followed.
• Revises, develops and implements policies and procedures to maintain proper workflow for Patient Access teams.
• Assists supervisor or manager in educating staff of any changes pertinent to their roles.
• Completely performs functions of the assigned staff and is a subject matter expert for frontline access operations.
• Provides department orientation and coordinates training for all new or established partners within the Patient Access team.
• Thinks critically about department operations and implements improvements.
• Participates in process improvement activities and makes recommendations for new/revised policies, procedures and workflows. Considers impacts and anticipates barriers and develops alternatives.
• Collaborates and communicates with other departments to solve cross-departmental issues and conflicts.
• Provides daily oversight of activities of partners and provides input to performance evaluations. Conducts employee review with presenting and discussing pertinent review findings and recommendations. When deficiencies are noted, monitors employee performance to assure that corrective action is taken.
• Provides high level service recovery to assist with the follow up on patient billing concerns/complaints.
• Coaches and supports Patient Access team members on analysis and decision-making methods and tools.
• Conducts ongoing training sessions for employees related to Patient Access and front-end operations.
• Evaluates training needs and registers staff as needed
• Approves ordering of supplies.
• Provides advice and consultation to employees concerning office objectives and policies.
• Reviews and updates educational material to ensure partners have current resources.
• Provides feedback to outside departments related to Patient Access and Revenue Cycle policies and procedures.
• Maintains department schedules, staff time off and attendance, approves payroll

Education and Experience

High school diploma or equivalent preferred.
Associates degree in a business or healthcare field preferred.
Two years of patient access, revenue cycle or other healthcare experience required, with emphasis in access services, POS collections, registration, scheduling, insurance verifications/authorization or customer service preferred.
One year prior leadership related experience required.

Certification and Licensure

Healthcare revenue cycle related certification or an equivalently designated certification approved by management required within 1 year.

Skills and Abilities
Strong interpersonal/oral/communication skills
Analytical skills
Keyboard and typing skills
Ability to handle stress
Knowledge of PPM and STAR billing systems desirable
Microsoft Word and Excel experience desirable

Special Physical Demands

The Special Physical Demands are considered Essential Job Functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations.
Patient Registration Lead can be required to perform with the same special physical demands of Patient Registrar. This includes medium work exerting 10 to 25 lbs of force frequently and 25 to 60 lbs of force occasionally. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is frequently required to sit, handle, finger, feel, reach, talk and hear. The employee is occasionally required to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch and crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include frequent close vision and ability to adjust focus and occasional distance vision. Prolonged sitting. Manual dexterity needed to operate telephone and keyboard. Must be able to push patient in wheelchair.

Level of Supervision

Responsibilities include training employees; planning, assigning, and directing work; assisting with appraising performance; rewarding and disciplining employees; addressing complaints and resolving problems.

Supervises

Supervisory responsibilities are conducted in accordance with directives of management, the organization's policies, and applicable laws.

Mercyhealth offers a generous total rewards package to eligible employees including, but not limited to:

* Comprehensive Benefits Package: Mercyhealth offers a retirement plan with competitive matching contribution, comprehensive medical, dental, and vision insurance options, life and disability coverage, access to flexible spending plans, and a variety of other discounted voluntary benefit options.

* Competitive Compensation: Mercyhealth offers market competitive rates of pay and participates in various shift differential and special pay incentive programs.

* Paid Time Off: Mercyhealth offers a generous paid time off plan, which increases with milestone anniversaries, to allow employees the opportunity for a great work-life balance.

* Career Advancement: Mercyhealth offers a number of educational assistance programs and career ladders to support employees in their educational journey and advancement within Mercyhealth.

* Employee Wellbeing: Mercyhealth has a focus on wellbeing for employees across the organization and offers a number of tools and resources, such as an employer-sponsored health risk assessment and a Wellbeing mobile application, to assist employees on their wellbeing journey.

* Additional Benefits: Mercyhealth employees have access to our internal and external employee assistance programs, employee-only discount packages, paid parental and caregiver leaves, on-demand pay, special payment programs for patient services, and financial education to help with retirement planning.