Practice Coordinator
UC San Francisco (UCSF) · San Francisco, California, United States
Job Summary
Student Mental Health and Wellbeing (SMHW) provides health care for all UCSF students, enrolled scholars & researchers, and enrolled adult dependents. The Practice Coordinator 3 (PC3) is primarily responsible for representing the administrative team as the public face of Student Mental Health and Wellbeing and works closely with the administrative, clinical and management teams to support practice operations and customer service recovery and intervention efforts. This position directs the workflow for all presenting students and enrollees. This position provides support to all functions of the administrative teams including but not limited to: client appointment scheduling, client and insurance registration, check-in, client messages, client secure messages, telephone encounters, referrals, EMR Admin in-basket, scanning, filing, authorizations as well as coordination of healthcare services for care outside SMHW (i.e. specialty referrals, imaging referrals, diagnostic labs, etc.).
The PC 3 position must accurately triage all client requests for care or information to the correct clinical provider, manager, or assist the students themselves when needed. This position will assist students with all policy and procedure questions, insurance and billing issues, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health insurance questions. This position also serves to educate new and continuing students on immunization health requirements as well as to inform students enrolled in the UC Student Health Insurance Plan (UC SHIP) on how to access care and adjudicate claims.
The PC3 is responsible for the maintenance of all routine clerical operations and communications. They adhere to the UCSF House and Telephone Standards and is sensitive to the needs of clients, staff and providers at all times. The PC3 is a team player who works closely with others and who is flexible in dealing with the changing priorities. The PC3 is a self-reliant individual who synthesizes their knowledge of practice operations in order to problem-solve, prioritize and facilitate complex transactions in the course of their daily activities.
This position makes a difference for clients in an outpatient care unit by providing excellent customer service, facilitating and ensuring the accuracy of the information flow within SMHW as well as between SMHW and UCSF Health specialty departments to maximize efficiency.
As a student-focused center, this position exists to enhance the health and well-being of students through client care and education. Success in this mission requires a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. UCSF Student Mental Health and Wellbeing seeks staff that are committed to the values of professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence that are integral to our mission.
%
of time
Essential Function (Yes/No)
Key Responsibilities
(To be completed by Supervisor)
35
YesClient Scheduling and Check-in:
- Creates a professional and positive first impression for clients and referring physicians. Demonstrates good judgment and common sense.
- On a daily basis, schedules and registers clients by telephone or in person before first appointment meeting established accuracy and performance standards. Completes appropriate practice intake paperwork and follows established practice guidelines to ensure clients are seen within prescribed timelines. Communicates any problems with the schedule with supervisor.
- Registers new clients and confirms existing client demographics by collecting client detailed information including personal and insurance information.
- Understands eligibility of each client and what level of service their coverage allows (UC SHIP, non-UC SHIP, reciprocity, dependent, couples, etc.).
- Verifies students who have waived UC SHIP to confirm they have active coverage and make them aware of their client responsibility.
- Protects clients' privacy by maintaining confidentiality of personal and financial information and all PHI/ePHI.
- Gives priority to the timely registration of clients on check-in and is aware of the necessity of maintaining practice flow, paying careful attention to the performance improvement initiatives to reduce delays.
- Promotes efficient workflow by making sure students are checked-in properly, all pre-visit requirements are completed such as filling out health history/questionnaires and checking eligibility, and that the rest of the care system functions efficiently. Communicate about any delays to the student and communicate with other staff if the workflow is disrupted to resolve.
- Ensures consent forms have been completed for any health care service requiring consent and provide client with information handouts as appropriate.
- Communicates with clients in a confidential professional manner using tact and diplomacy.
- Answers phones while maintaining a polite, consistent phone manner using proper telephone etiquette.
- Observes the waiting area and performs customer service intervention when clients have been waiting a long time or are not receiving adequate service.
- Notifies providers of client delays and service issues. Acts and advocates for clients to help facilitate provider punctuality in seeing clients according to schedule.
- Addresses and resolves escalated issues of day-to-day operations (e.g. customer service, provider complaints, cross departmental communication or coordination problems, etc.)
- Obtains and evaluates all relevant information to handle inquiries and complaints.
- Handles front line client complaints with the support of the Practice Manager
- Serves as first line of triage (non-clinical) for all presenting students, visitors, vendors or non-SMHW university employees. This requires knowledge of space access policies, in-depth knowledge of all functions of the practice to assist students in obtaining care, and high-level customer service skills.
- Be able to interact with anxious clients in a comforting manner and work to alleviate anxieties by providing clear, concise information and when needed facilitating access to the appropriate clinical provider.
- Seeks clinical input when appropriate.
- Helps clients in mental health distress by escalating care to the triage practitioner.
- Offers suggestions for change or improvement in clinic/practice operations.
- Secures outside medical records, review them for completeness, and makes a determination as to which physician can best evaluate the client.
- Understands, upholds and explains all departmental policies and procedures in clear and concise manner. Recommends changes or updates to policies and procedures or new policies and procedures based on observed needs.
- Reports systems issues to management for process improvement or review.
- Identifies students’ needs by formulating appropriate questions to assess and resolve the issues or concerns.
- Secures outside medical records, i.e. CD’s of scans or other records; reviewing them for completeness; and ensuring it is given to the appropriate provider.
40
YesAdministrative and Client Care Coordination Responsibilities:
- Coordinates appointments with multiple providers as required.
- Discusses practice policies and procedures with clients and referring physicians.
- Answers questions about provider schedules and acts as a resource to other medical center practices and ancillary service administrative staff.
- Has a keen awareness of the need to provide prompt and convenient appointment access to clients.
- Adheres to the provider productivity standards as established in EMR templates for the practice and schedules appointments with the appropriate appointment type.
- Triages all telephone calls, screening for emergencies and routing all messages, requests for same day appointments, refill requests, etc. to the appropriate box.
- Follows practice procedure for follow-up of missed appointments.
- Works elect