Medical Assistant Patient Services Rep

Dignity Health Medical Foundation, established in 1993, is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation with care centers throughout California. Dignity Health Medical Foundation is an affiliate of Dignity Health – one of the largest health systems in the nation - with hospitals and care centers in California, Arizona and Nevada. Today, Dignity Health Medical Foundation works hand-in-hand with physicians and providers throughout California to provide comprehensive healthcare services to the many communities we serve.

Patient Service and Appointment Management

• Schedule and register patient appointments for multiple providers, and process cancellations.
• Answer, screen, and process a high volume of incoming calls in a professional manner.
• Process all communication requests (phone, fax, email, and other channels) with an emphasis on efficiency and accuracy.
• Provide patients with information for other requests, such as addresses/directions, phone numbers, hours of operation, and contact information for other departments (e.g., billing).
• Utilize and adhere to phone scripts, clinical decision trees, and scheduling criteria following department guidelines.
• Use independent knowledge and training to determine the appropriate appointment type and urgency, routing the call or scheduling the patient to the appropriate resource.
• Update patients on the status of their referral or authorizations.
• Send accurate and complete communication to physicians or other healthcare providers.
• Document clinically relevant findings in the patient's record following approved protocols.
• Provide laboratory and radiology results to patients via phone or electronic communication when within approved policy guidelines and scope of practice.

Issue Resolution and Contact Control

• Determine the reason for the call and assist the caller with their questions or concerns with a primary focus on first-call resolution.
• Maintain control of the call by effectively de-escalating issues.
• Clearly articulate a response to the patient using appropriate voice modulation to instill confidence that a resolution has been or will be found.
• Facilitate patient issue-resolution by appropriately referring the matter to the RN, physician, supervisor, or issue/content expert.
• Escalate matters to a supervisor, or request/take appropriate action to enable the issue expert to effectively resolve the matter.
• Support other team members with escalation concerns, guiding them in the correct process.

Skills and Abilities

• Exceptional ability to comprehend and communicate clearly and effectively (both verbally and in writing across all communication platforms) with medical center staff, patients, families, and other internal and external customers.
• Exceptional patient/customer service skills, including effective and efficient problem-solving and analytical skills.
• Ability to perform essential job functions with a high degree of independence, flexibility, and creative problem-solving.
• Ability to provide ongoing support for other team members in effectively utilizing communication tools and documenting interactions in applicable systems.

Required

• High School Graduate or High School GED 
• Vocational School Grad Satisfactory completion of a formal Medical Assistant program pursuant to theDivision of Allied Health Professions or military training that is equivalent to anaccredited Medical Assistant program (determination by Dignity Health Medical Foundation H.R. department in conjunction with the State Division of Allied Health Professions.) 
• Other Minimum of 6 months experience scheduling patient appointments, either in-person or via phone.
• and Experience with computer systems, including office windows based programs and web based applications.

Preferred

• Certified Medical Assistant AAMA

**This position is represented by the SEIU-UHW.**

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