Patient Service Representative - Louis A Weiss Memorial Medical Center, LLC

Weiss Memorial Hospital has been serving Chicago’s North Side and surrounding communities providing excellent health care services for over 60 years. We are a 236-bed, Joint Commission-accredited facility providing a full range of health care services to meet the needs of our diverse community. We have grown to better serve our community to include more than 450 doctors representing 42 medical specialties and more than 800 employees, all committed to providing you with personalized care. We are looking for exceptional people who share our mission and values to join our team!

JOB SUMMARY

Reporting to the Practice Manager and/or Office Coordinator and following established procedures, ensures continuity of patient flow from time of registration to time of discharge in conjunction with medical personnel; answer telephones, schedule appointments, register patients, verify eligibility, medical coding, post receipts and other clerical duties as needed. Audit completed daily batches, train new PSR candidates, complete monthly batch reports.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

• Minimum of two (2) to three (3) years of clerical experience in a medical office to obtain knowledge of healthcare including: med/surg and primary care billing, eligibility verification, co-payments, deductibles, CPT and ICD-9 coding preferred.
• Some previous financial and/or accounting experience preferred.
• Evidence of current, formal coding education preferred.
• Level of knowledge normally acquired through completion of High School diploma.
• The interpersonal skills necessary to deal in a courteous and professional manner with patients and co-workers.
• Good organizational skills, ability to handle multiple priorities simultaneously.
• Ability to work with various computer applications (i.e. Excel spreadsheets, Azron Forerunner, or any modified software).

JOB DUTIES

• Realizes that the person in this position is both the first and last person that patients see at their visits. Help to create the most professional and friendly atmosphere possible.  Is a champion for and committed to patient engagement, quality and safety and employee relations.
•  Answers and screens all telephone calls in a prompt and courteous manner.  Either notifies appropriate personnel or takes a message, recording information clearly and accurately.
• Conforms to the established Standards of Behavior.
• Other duties as assigned.
•  Uses the EMR to schedule new and returning patient’s appointments.
• Greets patients and instructs them to complete appropriate forms needed and maintain list of patients to be seen. Obtains copy of current insurance card. Verifies eligibility of patients’ benefits
• Reviews Athena dashboard on a daily basis to ensure resolution of all items in the clinical, administrative, billing and patient task buckets by days end.
• Enters current insurance information in to computer system, verifying correct insurance company name, group and ID information. Analyzes accuracy of insurance information provided.
• Collects co-payments and payments on account from patients at front desk.
• Ensures security of cash collected and houses on site.  Maintains cash in cash box, responsible for accuracy of cash collected and deposit of money daily.
• Balances receipts, makes out deposit slips and prepares cash, checks and charge cards for deposit daily responsible for securing monies until picked up.
• Interprets financial policy to patients and assists patients in processing insurance forms.
• In conjunction with the clinical staff review the quality management tab with each encounter. Proactively reviews outstanding items with the patient or care giver in accordance with the office’s process.
• Ensures reception area is neat and clean in appearance.
• Verifies accuracy of diagnosis codes, physician that was seen; verifies laboratory and other testing done at the visit and bills appropriately using correct CPT codes
• Assists in ordering of supplies for business office area and maintains adequate inventory.
• Audits daily batches. Checks for accuracy including: insurance information, diagnosis, coding, and verification that all billable charges have been entered.
• Trains new candidates for the PSR position.
• Identifies area of opportunity for improvement within the office and proactively addresses them with the manager or office coordinator.
• Follows up with patients and/or third party payors to make certain all the necessary information is in the system, i.e. collection of deductibles, co-pays etc.  Answers patient inquiries regarding charges, information on updates and patient information.
• Follows and processes all the established collection procedures to insure prompt collection of billing.  Maintains proper payor identification of the accounts and resulting correspondence.
• Gathers and verifies all data relevant to the patients’ insurance and billing status, contacts insurance companies to verify level of coverage, obtains patient diagnosis and related medical claim support for inclusion in the billing documentation.
• Conducts follow-up on bills in process, reviews patient files to locate corrected addresses when billing mail is returned. 
•  Identifies delinquent accounts/unpaid accounts and refers patients who may require intervention or payment plan to supervisor.
• Actively participates in all patient engagements initiatives thru the implementation of strategies to improve.
• Meets and/or exceeds established Point of Service Cash Collection Goals.
• Contributes to the medical center’s financial performance through above duties, which demonstrates a decrease or elimination of unnecessary bad debt.

Weiss Memorial Hospital provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.