Patient Services Specialist, College of Health Sciences

PAY GRADE: 28N

CONTEXT OF THE JOB:

The Patient Services Specialist provides high-functioning administrative and operational support for UD Health and supports front- and back-office functions. The incumbent is responsible for evaluating effectiveness, identifying gaps, and recommending or implementing process improvements to ensure efficient operations and a high-quality patient experience. The incumbent applies established policies, procedures, and guidelines to address patient service and administrative issues, escalating complex matters as appropriate, and determines appropriate responses to inquiries from patients, families, leadership, insurance providers, and community partners. The position also supports patient intake processes, including medical billing information, insurance verification, and financial coordination. Operating with minimal supervision, this role requires initiative, problem-solving, and the consistent discretion and independent judgment on clinic related matters. May require travel between UD Health clinic locations based on business needs.

 MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Independently determine and modify intake and scheduling frameworks to ensure equitable access, operational efficiency and regulatory alignment.
• Review, process, and verify financial and non-financial patient documentation, including processing co-pays, daily billing, reviewing patient accounts, identifying delinquent accounts, and collecting due amounts.
• Communicate department practices and procedures to patients and families with clarity and empathy, using active listening and supportive communication techniques. 
• Administer and coordinate appointment scheduling utilizing EMR systems and workflows, ensuring appropriate prioritization, compliance, and efficient utilization of resources. 
• Communicate with staff and follow special instructions related to patient appointments. 
• Input patient documentation and add correspondence into the electronic medical record. 
• Analyze waitlist data, access trends, and scheduling bottlenecks; generate regular reports; and recommend operational adjustments. 
• Handle highly sensitive and confidential information. Follow HIPAA privacy rights, where applicable. 
• Evaluate non-routine or complex service access issues and determine appropriate administrative escalation or resolution pathways.                   
• Optimize clinical workflow by managing provider schedules, analyze impact of scheduling trends on clinic productivity, implementing solutions to improve patient throughput.
• Assess operational gaps related to front-of-office coverage and service access and recommend adjustments to administrative workflows or coverage models as needed. 
• Resolve administrative and service-access issues, determine appropriate responses, and independently implement solutions; escalating only issues involving policy deviation or significant institutional risk. 
• Coordinate administrative components of projects and initiatives, including scheduling, sequencing, and resource alignment, with discretion to determine appropriate administrative approaches. 
• Perform other job-related duties as assigned. 
  
  

QUALIFICATIONS:

• High school diploma or GED and four years of administrative, healthcare support, patient services, customer service, or related experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience. 
• Proficiency in Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, Word, Outlook) and Google Drive apps, e.g., docs, sheets, slides and forms.
• Experience with electronic medical records and scheduling.
• Effective interpersonal, oral and written communication skills.  
• Effective organizational skills, attention to detail; ability to manage high-volume workflows. 
• Ability to collaborate and work successfully in a team environment.  
• Ability to ensure compliance with established policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
• Knowledge of federally mandated policies.  
• Ability to analyze administrative operations, identify risks or inefficiencies, and recommend or implement process improvements. 
• Experience in data collection, including collecting, compiling and maintaining data from multiple sources such as files, records, databases, staff or others. 
• Ability to handle confidential information.

Special Requirements:

• May require schedule flexibility to support operational needs. 
• Ability to travel to various clinic locations to support patient volume and coverage fluctuations as needed.