Job Summary: The Referral Intake Specialist serves as the first contact/voice of the organization, for those seeking hospice care. Their communication must be courteous, professional, and knowledgeable of the specifics of hospice care as well as the broader scope of the organization in its entirety. The Referral Intake Specialists, working within the Contact Center, is the “front door” for patient care within our organization and must exemplify our mission of “Every Person, Every Time”, in everything they do.

Essential Functions:

• Processes all referrals coming into the organization via phone, fax, email and extended care information network (ECIN).
• Provides to callers/customer the welcoming, supportive environment within each contact, from an organization fully prepared to respond to their needs, both routine and those critical in nature.
• Proactively responds to crisis calls, taking appropriate action to resolve the situation for a positive outcome.
• Responsible for accurate data entry of referrals, and detailed, specific coordination with numerous internal departments and outside agencies, that directly affects the delivery of care to patients and families
• Collaborates with the Field Staff Scheduler, Manager or designee to identify interdisciplinary team staff, if available, to facilitate patient admissions.
• Exercises a high level of critical thinking/decision to maximize the use of organizational resources, providing assistance, as needed, to support field clinicians in completing work that may be time sensitive or challenging due to outside factors.
• Stays in tune with departmental and organizational changes that affect the delivery of care.
• Reviews and analyzes patient files, various reports, incoming paperwork associated with the intake of a new patient. Also copies, faxes and or/emails various documents as needed that support the efficient day-to-day operations of the referral/intake process.
• Collaborates with families, guardians, clinicians and administration to assist in the complete of remote consents.
• Adjusts to changes in workload and schedules based on changing departmental and organizational priorities.
• Adheres to organizational Code of Conduct, policies, procedures, processes and all regulatory and legal requirements.
• Adheres to the NorthStar standards to care for every person, every time, 100% of the time.

Qualifications:

• Associate’s degree in a business related or social services field or a minimum of (five) 5 years of full time health care, hospice care and/or business operations work required; Bachelor’s Degree preferred.
• A minimum of two (2) years of telephone-related experience required; experience within a health care environment highly preferred.
• Must demonstrate strong proficiency in Microsoft Office products. Intermediate to advanced experience with Excel spreadsheets and database management.
• Must possess excellent interpersonal skills, sound judgement, effective organizational, prioritization and follow-through skills, attention to detail, tact, dependability, emotional intelligence and the ability to promote positive, constructive relationships with communication and collaboration at all levels with the ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Must be able to read, write and speak English and be able to effectively communicate orally and in writing in internal and external relationships for all essential job functions.
• Must be familiar with and have operational knowledge of standard office business machines.
• Must be able to coordinate several tasks simultaneously while maintaining a high degree of efficiency and accuracy. Must possess the ability to function under stress.
• The physical demands of the position include: vision, effective speech and hearing for extensive telephone contact; repetitive motion; driving or riding in a motor vehicle; standing, sitting, walking bending, reaching and stretching; and lifting up to twenty-five (25) pounds unassisted.
• Must be able to work variable hours/shifts and/or days, including holidays and weekends. Must have the ability to occasionally work extended days, as necessary.
• Must have reliable transportation.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States.