Registration Specialist

Job Summary:

We are seeking a highly skilled and detail-oriented Registration Specialist to join our team at Planned Parenthood Northern California. As a Registration Specialist, you will play a critical role in ensuring a successful patient experience throughout their visit to our health center. You will be responsible for ensuring the integrity of front desk operations, including insurance verification and registration, charge reconciliation, time of service payment collections, appointment scheduling, billing processes, and quality assurance.

Key Responsibilities:

• Provide exceptional customer service to patients and other individuals who present at the health center.
• Utilize excellent customer service skills to check-in and check-out patients, schedule appointments, answer phones, and enter data proficiently into the Epic EPM/EHR system.
• Greet patients and communicate approximate wait times and walk-in appointment availability.
• Follow office opening and closing procedures daily.
• Communicate with back-office staff regarding walk-in demand and wait times.
• Assess patient eligibility for funding, health insurance programs, and/or fees. Collect payments and complete corresponding online eligibility processes.
• Serve as a patient advocate, ensuring patients are aware of and take advantage of all state programs, such as Medi-Cal, PE, Family PACT, etc., as well as sliding fee discounts based on family size and income, and uncompensated care options.
• Perform financial counseling with patients to ensure they are aware of their insurance coverage and financial responsibility.
• Sign patients up for state-funded programs, such as FPACT and PE, using DHCS portals.
• Negotiate payment plans for patients who cannot afford payment in full using agency-established parameters.
• Refer patients to patient navigators for financial counseling as needed for visit coverage.
• Support pre-registering patients prior to their arrival in the health center.
• Ensure accurate completion and patient understanding of all necessary registration and consent forms.
• Appropriately handle medical record requests for patients and outside providers.
• Strictly adhere to patient privacy laws and internal PPNorCal policies regarding patient privacy and protection.
• Schedule follow-up appointments in a timely manner according to patient and provider schedules.
• Handle incoming and outgoing faxes as needed.
• Proactively communicate identified risks to supervisors to minimize risk when possible.
• Reconcile billing and ensure check-out procedures happen in real time before patients exit the health center.
• Participate in health center efforts to achieve established goals for productivity.
• Participate in health center/affiliate efforts to achieve established revenue cycle goals.
• Remain flexible and available to extend/change scheduled hours as needed to meet the needs of the health center and our patients.
• Follow affiliate-wide protocols, policies, and procedures, and any center-specific policies and procedures.
• Understand and demonstrate, in all interactions, the importance of high-quality care, including accurate charting, filing, and follow-up.
• Participate in maintaining general upkeep of the facility; keep lobbies, reception area, and other rooms tidy.
• Adhere to affiliate goals and policies on professionalism, wait time in-health center, and the system for addressing patient complaints.
• Maintain a professional image through appropriate dress and manner.
• Utilize the principles of trauma-informed care and communication throughout all interactions with other staff and patients at all times, under all circumstances.
• Float Registration Specialist staff are required to travel to multiple regional-based health centers as requested. May be short notice and travel will be greater than 50% of time.

Requirements:

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Education and/or Experience:

• Associate degree (A.A.) or equivalent from two-year college or technical school; or six months to one-year related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Experience working in a receptionist or office setting preferred.
• Knowledge of medical insurance plans preferred.
• Ability to work calmly, efficiently, and represent the organization with a high degree of professionalism.
• Excellent customer service, problem-solving, judgment, organizational, and communication skills.
• Ability to multi-task and to work independently and as a member of the team.
• Flexible and able to work in other health center locations, as requested.
• Willingness to commute to nearby centers as needed.
• Float Registration Specialist must provide proof of reliable transportation, valid CA driver's license, and proof of insurance.
• Must be able to travel to Administration Offices to attend trainings and meetings as needed.
• Bilingual in English and Spanish highly desired.
• Ability to support the provision of receptionist services to socioeconomically diverse populations with cultural competency.
• Ability to support the provision of reproductive health care services with a non-judgmental, patient-centered approach.
• Commitment to quality health care.

Language Skills:

Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, office operating and maintenance instructions, and insurance procedure manuals. Ability to document in medical chart concisely, accurately, and according to PPNorCal protocols.

MATHEMATICAL SKILLS:

Ability to add, subtract, multiply, and divide in all units of measure, using whole numbers, common fractions, and decimals. Ability to compute rate, ratio, and percent and to draw and interpret bar graphs. Ability to manage cash, make change, and balance the daily posts.

REASONING ABILITY:

Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form. Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.

COMPUTER SKILLS:

To perform this job successfully, an individual should have knowledge of basic keyboarding, internet access, and email systems.

PROTECTED HEALTH INFORMATION (PHI) ACCESS REQUIREMENT:

As required for patient treatment and health care operations.

OTHER SKILLS, ABILITIES, QUALIFICATIONS:

• Possess the ability to view services through the patients' eyes to serve patients promptly, competently, and in a friendly manner. Possess the ability to recognize complaints as opportunities to improve service.
• Be capable of working in a busy environment, handling multiple tasks simultaneously without compromising accuracy, attention to detail, and courtesy and respect to patients and staff.
• Through meetings and discussions, help develop ideas for improving services in ways that patients value.

Pay Range: $22.50

Planned Parenthood Northern California is an equal opportunity employer and works affirmatively to include diversity among its staff and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, income, marital status, or any other irrelevant dimension of diversity. PPNorCal values collaboration between employees of diverse backgrounds and experiences.

We provide healthcare and education services to 137,000 adults and youth every year at 17 health centers located throughout 20 Northern California counties. Planned Parenthood Northern California offers high-quality, affordable health care to all, regardless of income, insurance, or immigration status. We care. No matter what.

Our experienced and caring medical staff gives each patient honest information and personal attention. We provide a full range of services, including birth control, breast exams, cancer screenings, medication and in-clinic abortion, pregnancy testing and counseling, prenatal care, PrEP, and nPEP to prevent HIV infection, STD screening and treatment, vasectomy and infertility services, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and more.