Hospital Patient Representative

Some of the current vacancies for this position are INTERMITTENT. An Intermittent Employee is a person employed for intermittent/temporary work on a day-to-day basis. This position may be assigned shifts that are in the evenings and weekends as well as during the week. 

Under direction, performs a variety of clerical duties in support of a health or medical care delivery office or program. Support activities may include public service, records maintenance, document production and/or case management/processing.

The ideal candidate will be detail oriented with strong organizational, time management, interpersonal and communication skills. They will have experience of hospital and/or medical clinic registration and scheduling used in patient admitting. They will have experience in a variety of automated office equipment, including practice management systems and electronic health records systems, similar to Cerner and PARA HealthCare Analytics systems; and have knowledge of the No Surprises Act and/or experience providing Good Faith Estimates.
 
PAYROLL TITLE:  Medical Office Assistant III

EDUCATIONAL/BILINGUAL INCENTIVE:  Incumbents may be eligible to receive an educational incentive of either 2.5%, for an associate degree, 3.5%, for a bachelor's degree, or 5% for a master's degree that is not required to work in the classification. Incumbents may also be eligible for bilingual incentive pay depending upon operational needs and certification skills.  

AGENCY/DEPARTMENT: Health Care Agency – Patient Access

Medical Office Assistant III is represented by the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and is eligible for overtime.
 
The eligible list established from this recruitment may be used to fill current and future Regular (including Temporary and Fixed term), vacancies for this position only. There are currently two (2) Intermittent vacancies and one (1) Full time regular vacancy.
 
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
OPENING DATE: November 16, 2023
CLOSING DATE:  Continuous and may close at any time

Duties may include but are not limited to the following:
 

• Receives clients and answers phone calls; determines how incoming calls should be routed; directs people to appropriate locations, service or information sources; answers routine questions; explains routine procedures, processes, or departmental activities; schedules appointments; obtains factual information to create or update files and charts; provides assistance in the completion of forms; refers clients/patients to appropriate resources; assures federal and state confidentiality measures are followed;
• Reviews and manages patient schedules to anticipate for missed opportunities, scheduling errors, registration form updates, insurance eligibility, and co-payments;
• Handles high volume of patients, internal/externals customers, and frequent changes, delay, or unexpected events;
• Identifies self-pay patients and provides Good Faith Estimates when the patient schedules an outpatient service (i.e. Lab, Radiology, Cardiology Diagnostic Exams, and Respiratory Diagnostic Exams) in a timely manner;
• Checks patients in-and-out through the practice management system and verifies information such as CPT codes and authorizations for surgical procedures and outpatient services;
• Accurately enters and updates demographic and payer data in practice management system and electronic health records systems, similar to Cerner and PARA HealthCare Analytics systems;
• Verifies coverage and payer eligibility, which may include programs, private insurances, and Medi-Cal. Performs financial screenings for program eligibility. Requests pre-authorizations when needed;
• Prepares, validates, processes and/or checks a variety of documents for completeness, accuracy, and submission standards;
• Types a variety of documents such as correspondence, standard forms, charts, proposals, specifications, and reports from written, recorded, and/or printed sources and/or verbal instructions; proofreads typed materials for correct grammar, spelling, and punctuation; may transcribe medical documents;
• Compiles routine reports, records, and charts by extracting and/or tabulating information from a variety of sources such as files, reports, notes, logs, correspondence, and/or verbal instruction; identifies variations in data;
• Demonstrates culturally sensitivity and competence with patients;
• Transfers professional and technical instructions to patient or program files; researches reference materials to respond to client or coworker inquiries;
• Sorts and/or files materials such as charts, correspondence, and miscellaneous documents; maintains files; conducts systematic search for misplaced materials; maintains cross-reference files or indexes; purges filing systems as directed;
• Operates a variety of automated office equipment including computers;
• Performs cashiering duties and collects co-payments, payments, and outstanding balances;
• Communicates with patient care team to ensure that patient care needs are addressed;
• Assists with pre-visit planning and confirms appointments;
• May provide back-up for basic patient assistance care when required (i.e. patient vital signs or patient emergency or comfort care); and,
• Performs other related duties as required.

These are entrance requirements to the examination process and assure neither continuance in the process nor placement on an eligible list.
 
Education/Experience:
Progressively responsible clerical experience, in a medical service delivery area which has led to the acquisition of the required knowledge, skills, and abilities.
 
The required knowledge, skills, and abilities also can be obtained by:

• Two (2) years of clerical experience
• One (1) year of which must have been in a health care setting that required knowledge and use of medical terminology and procedures.

Necessary Special Requirements:

• Must be willing to work evenings and weekends when necessary
• Specific typing and/or word processing speeds may be required depending on assignments. 

Highly Desired:

• Bilingual (English/Spanish)

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES

Thorough knowledge of: 

• Medical Office operations, methods, and practices;
• Medical terminology and procedures; 
• Filing systems and procedures;
• Record maintenance systems; including practice management systems and electronic health records systems;
• Report compilation;
• Public contact techniques.
• The operations, procedures, and practices used in patient admitting or business office;
• Techniques to expedite or improve clerical tasks and record processing; and
• Correct English usage, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Thorough skill in: 

• Demonstrating a certain prescribed proficiency in typing or equivalent word processing or data entry and/or taking and transcribing dictation.

Thorough ability to: 

• Perform and coordinate difficult and responsible clerical work with little or no direct supervision;
• Set-up and maintain records and filing systems; 
• Extract information from a variety of sources; 
• Operate a variety of automated office equipment; 
• Accurately perform and proof the transfer of information from one document to another, comparing the data from two or more sources for accuracy and completeness; 
• Perform basic arithmetic calculations; 
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships; 
• Demonstrate cultural sensitivity and competence with patients; and 
• Understand, follow, and convey written and verbal information/instructions.

Working Conditions:
 Positions may involve moderate to heavy public contact, including ambulatory or non-ambulatory patients in an outpatient or inpatient medical service delivery area. FINAL FILING DATE:   This is a continuous recruitment and may close at any time; therefore, apply as soon as possible if you are interested. Applications must be received by 5:00pm on the closing date.
 
To apply on-line, please refer to our web site at www.ventura.org/hr. If you prefer to fill out a paper application form, please call (805) 654-5129 for application materials and submit them to County of Ventura Human Resources, 800 South Victoria Avenue, L-1970, Ventura, CA 93009.
 
Note to Applicants: It is essential that you complete all sections of your application and supplemental questionnaire thoroughly and accurately to demonstrate your qualifications. A resume and/or other related documents may be attached to supplement the information in your application and supplemental questionnaire; however, it/they may not be submitted in lieu of the application.
 
NOTE: If presently permanently employed in another "merit" or "civil service" public agency/entity in the same or substantively similar position as is advertised, and if appointed to that position by successful performance in a "merit" or "civil service" style examination, then appointment by "Lateral Transfer" may be possible.  If interested, please click here for additional information.
 
SUPPLEMENTAL QUESTIONNAIRE – qualifying:  All applicants are required to complete and submit the questionnaire for this examination at the time of filing. The supplemental questionnaire may be used throughout the examination process to assist in determining each applicant's qualifications and acceptability for the position. Failure to complete and submit the questionnaire will result in the application being removed from consideration.
 
APPLICATION EVALUATION – qualifying:  All applications will be reviewed to determine whether or not the stated requirements are met. Those individuals meeting the stated requirements will be invited to continue to the next step in the screening and selection process.
 
WRITTEN EXAM – 100%:  A job-related written examination will be administered to test candidates' knowledge of office practices, comparisons, vocabulary, arithmetic, reading comprehension, filing, records management, interpersonal relations, and medical terminology. Candidates must earn a score of seventy percent (70%) or higher to qualify for placement on the eligible list.
 
Applicants successfully completing the exam process may be placed on an eligible list for a period of one (1) year.
 
BACKGROUND INVESTIGATION:  A thorough pre-employment, post offer background investigation which may include inquiry into past employment, education, criminal background information, and driving record may be required for this position.
 
EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY
The County of Ventura is an equal opportunity employer to all, regardless of age, ancestry, color, disability (mental and physical), exercising the right to family care and medical leave, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, political affiliation, race, religious creed, sex (includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, and related medical conditions), and sexual orientation.  

For further information about this recruitment, please contact Erika Ayala at Erika.Ayala@ventura.org or by telephone at (805) 677-5164.

Salary : $43,680 - $56,984