Authorization Coordinator

Please note: this is a temporary assignment with potential to extend.

UCSF's Temporary Employment Program (TEP) recruits and hires temporary employees for immediate clerical and technical support services to UCSF Departments and various off-campus locations. UCSF departments deploy temporary employees to work on special projects, fill in for regular employees who are on vacation or leave, or to temporarily fill a vacant position during recruitment. Frequently temporary employees become successful candidates for career and limited appointment positions.

The Practice Coordinator 3 serves as the face of the Practice, collaborating with administrative, clinical, and management teams. Responsible for seamless operations and exceptional customer service, this role handles scheduling, referrals, revenue cycle management, and patient care coordination

New Patient Scheduling and Processing:

• Manage referral work queues and act as the primary contact for referring physicians and new patients.
• Schedule and register patients accurately, ensuring compliance with guidelines and collecting necessary information.
• Explain first appointment procedures to patients in understandable terms and manage patient expectations.

Advanced New Patient Scheduling and Coordination:

• Secure outside medical records, prioritize scheduling for complex patients, and inform patients about treatment options.
• Coordinate care with various clinical disciplines and external providers to optimize schedules and expedite services.

Surgery Scheduling and Advanced Surgery Scheduling:

• Coordinate outpatient and inpatient surgeries, ensure proper communication with patients, physicians, and hospital staff.
• Manage complex scheduling, secure authorizations, and coordinate post-surgical appointments and paperwork.

Revenue Cycle:

• Perform cash collection, communicate financial policies to patients, and obtain insurance authorizations.
• Monitor provider open charts, work on denials, and secure complex authorizations.

Administrative and Patient Care Coordination:

• Schedule patient appointments, triage telephone calls efficiently, and collaborate with clinical staff in problem-solving patient needs.

APeX and IT Specific Skills:

• Perform APeX-specific tasks, manage referrals, appointments, and utilize various functionalities for patient care coordination.

Environmental Responsibilities, General Performance, and Customer Service Outreach:

• Maintain workplace safety, patient confidentiality, participate in team building, and handle customer service inquiries and complaints.

Lead Role Duties:

• Resolve escalated operational issues, provide guidance for process improvements, and act as a primary resource within the department.

The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy.

To see the salary range for this position (we recommend that you make a note of the job code and use that to look up): TCS Non-Academic Titles Search (https://tcs.ucop.edu/non-academic-titles)

Required:

• High School graduate or equivalent with four years related experience; or college degree and 6 months related experience; or equivalent combination of education and experience.  
• Experience with in-person client service
• Scheduling patients
• Strong computer skills, including basic keyboarding skills, and experience with at least two Office-type software programs (i.e., Outlook, Word and Excel). Proven ability to navigate through multiple patient records systems. Able to sit at a computer terminal with telephone headphones for extended period of time.
• Ability to analyze situations, prioritizes, and develops solutions and makes recommendations.
• Ability to work with minimal supervision
• Ability to use good judgment and work independently, at times under the pressure of deadlines
• Ability to access situations prioritizes workload, develop solutions and make recommendations.
• Excellent customer service and communication/interpersonal skills, both over the telephone and directly.
• Able to sit at a computer terminal with telephone headphones for extended periods of time.
• Basic math skills required.
• Proven ability to deal with a wide variety of individuals;
• Ability to deal sensitively and effectively with patients.
• Excellent organizational and problem-solving skills.
• Strong writing skills to include the ability to compose, edit, and proof a wide variety of documents.
• Demonstrated administrative/office coordination skills.

Preferred:

• EPIC/APeX strongly preferred.
• Experience in healthcare, including patient scheduling, insurance verification, and medical record data abstraction.
• Experience in ambulatory settings. 
• Prior experience with appointment, ancillary service, or surgical scheduling.