Practice Assistant II, Pain Call Center

• High School Diploma or Equivalent required.
• Office experience 2-3 years required.
• Proficiency with all Office Suite, Knowledge of office operations and standards, and understanding of office procedures including filing, copying, scanning, printing, and faxing.
• Ability to use the phone system and manage more non-routine phone calls and solve routine issues as appropriate.
• Communicating effectively in writing, as appropriate for the needs of the audience, and talking to others to convey information effectively.
• Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents, to correspond and communicate with others clearly and effectively (including composing/editing e-mail, memos, and letters), and to take complete and accurate messages.
• Managing one's own time and the time of others.
• Well organized and good time management skills to manage multiple tasks effectively, follow established protocols, and work within systems.

Responsibilities:

• Responsible for answering incoming calls in a timely manner so patients, referring physicians, and customers can easily access the practice by phone. Adhere to departmental service standards related to telephone etiquette. Seeks clinical assistance from nurses or MD if phone calls present as an urgent medical situation. Monitors in-Basket for clinical messaging.
• Responsible for scheduling appointments for PMC patients, including initial, follow ups, procedures, ancillary appointments such as: MRI, CT scan, EKG, sleep studies, Indium Study and EMG. Reschedule patients as necessary.
• Follow protocol for scheduling new patients which includes confirming demographic information and insurance, referring provider, reason for visit, and sending out new patient packets. Discusses need for referral and prior approvals for procedures.
• Communicates with Providers and Nursing through clinical messages with questions regarding medication refills, procedures, prior approval, etc. Communicates with PMC Managed Care Coordinator for workman's compensation and for other appointments needing insurance approval.
• Responsible for check out function which includes scheduling patients for follow up appointments and/or radiology tests. Directs patients to radiology or other departments when necessary. Confirms demographic information and inputs PCP and referring Provider information into the LMR.
• Assists in training new staff to following systems: Telephone, EPI, NEHAN, and Patient Gateway/ My Chart.
• Serves as liaison among patients, PMC physicians, referring physicians, and other care providers for such requests as scheduling new patients, urgent appointments, or questions re: procedures, etc. This includes returning phone calls, emails, and clinical messages. Seeks assistances in overriding or double-booking schedules to accommodate patients when urgent appointments are needed. Works as the new patient coordinator.
• Works as part of the PMC team to file, copy, scan medical records, run errands, confirm or change appointments, perform other tasks as required. Assists in patient flow at reception desk and assists in other areas of the PMC as needed.
• Maintains practice service standards with attention to developing staff teamwork, patient, and staff interaction guidelines to continue to improve patients scores.
• Responsible for scheduling New patient referrals through fax, phone calls, emails, and the pain management work queue
• Responsible for calculating the Doctor Totals each week for the upcoming weeks in advance.
• Responsible for scanning New Patients medical records in preparation for upcoming consults
• Other duties as assigned.
• Responsible for supporting pain providers and clinic patients.
• Demonstrates patience, understanding and compassion when working with the challenging population of chronic patient patients.
• Will perform more complex or specialized functions (i.e. surgical scheduling) at hiEnsure daily coverage of BWH Center for Pain Medicine phone lines.
• Obtain and verify patient demographic & fiscal information.
• Verify if active referral is in the system if the appointment requires one.
• Meet eReferral scheduling expectations set by the Hospital.
• Ensure accuracy of all new patient records and testing associated with appointments.
• Perform other duties and tasks as requested by Manager/Supervisor to ensure the efficient overall performance of the Pain Center.
• Perform duties under moderate supervision with intermediate to advanced proficiency in administrative skills.
• Follow HIPAA guidelines for the management of patient privacy and confidentiality.
• Schedule patients for appointments/procedures, confirm appointments/procedures, prepare for patient visits by providing patient with all necessary information and completing all necessary tasks.
• Identifies urgent high risk medical problems during patient calls and obtains appropriate clinical support from nursing or attending physician.
• Participates in prescription management tasks: working with nurse/physician for prescription refills and renewals requiring LIP approval and prior authorizations.
• Completes all necessary paperwork and schedules OR surgical cases.
• Provides administrative support for 5-6 attending physicians.
• Manages provider templates for clinics and OR block time.
• Identify missing or incomplete clinical orders, needed for scheduling purposes.
• Assist with special projects as directed.
• Follow HIPAA guidelines for the management of patient privacy and confidentiality.
• Appropriately utilizes organizational resources including management of time, supplies, equipment and other assets.
• Other duties as assigned.