Join the transformative team at City of Hope , where we're changing lives and making a real difference in the fight against cancer, diabetes, and other life-threatening illnesses. City of Hope’s growing national system includes its Los Angeles campus, a network of clinical care locations across Southern California, a new cancer center in Orange County, California, and treatment facilities in Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix. Our dedicated and compassionate employees are driven by a common mission: To deliver the cures of tomorrow to the people who need them today.  Working under the general direction of the Department of Pathology / Laboratory Director and Phlebotomy Supervisor, this position is responsible for performing duties as delegated by the Director in compliance with CLIA Sect. 493.1445(a). The role involves receiving, processing, routing, and storing specimens from all areas of the hospital and providing support within the specimen processing area. As part of the Clinical Pathology team, the incumbent helps fulfill departmental objectives while delivering excellent patient care and maintaining compliance with safety and procedural standards.

The role is responsible for tracking, monitoring, and following up on all orders placed by the community network providers caring for patients at the respective site.  This role ensures patients are informed of test(s) ordered, that test(s) are authorized, scheduled, performed, resulted, and seen by the ordering provider.  Follow up may be necessary in educating the patient on the necessity of the exam and on how to review test results in the patient portal. This role requires a high level of independent judgement in order to successfully coordinate the scheduling of patient appointments across multiple hospital departments and various outside imaging facilities. This individual is expected to utilize telecommunications and EPIC, as their primary tools to track and connect with the patients. Expert knowledge of EPIC records and schedules is important.  This role will need to verify information and contact outside imaging facilities for scheduling and report results. Care coordination prioritization is important and may require scheduling and re-scheduling complex appointments. Communicating with the providers and care team members as well as the patient and documenting those details is vital to the success of this role. This role is best defined as a highly independent and a flexible resource that focuses on system-specific service lines that are in alignment with the patient experience and patient safety initiatives. Furthermore, this role must multi-task between different patient care areas to ensure an extraordinary patient and provider experience and that quality and safety standards are met. Additional duties include but are not limited to: physician to patient communication and serving as an information resource.

As a successful candidate, you will:

• Monitoring and tracking patient orders:
  • Demonstrates an in-depth understanding of the EPIC EMR by generating customized reports on recently placed orders by provider and facility.  Acting upon each of those orders to ensure patient is aware of the test(s) ordered, authorization has been obtained, test(s) have been scheduled, documentation of where and when test will be performed is entered in EPIC and test results are obtained prior to patient’s follow up visit.  Results should be given to the ordering provider and results presented to the patient according to the provider’s direction.  If patients have not performed their test(s), assist patient and/or caregiver in understanding the importance of the test ordered, and how they will assist the patient in getting an appointment scheduled.  Complex scheduling needs to be performed in correct order of importance and re-schedule if necessary. Follow up is also necessary for no-show appointments or on results not received across the clinics, ancillary areas, and hospitals. Proactively coordinates appointments with other functional areas. Maintains department productivity, timeliness, accuracy, and quality assurance standards while performing these duties.  Ensures data is entered accurately for all patient and provider order communications.  Completes all required legal documents and obtains and scans all other related documents.
  • Ensures authorization is obtained and referrals are followed that allow a patient to be tested at an in-network facility by reviewing account documentation. Maintains and applies current knowledge of insurance requirements when verifying eligibility and confirms authorization is secured prior to forwarding patients to service delivery areas. Provides patient with instructions and expectations on sequence of events prior to next follow up appointment.  These may include written instructions for tests and procedures as well as maps to outside facilities. Seeks assistance from Financial Counselors when needed to maintain patient flow while resolving financial issues and ensuring financial clearance of accounts. Provides information and assistance to patients to ensure they understand the Financial Assistance policy and application process. Screens ordered tests and communicates to physician and/or ABN Specialist those tests and/or diagnoses that do not meet criteria to be covered by Medicare.
  • Test results are often released to the patient via MyChart.  This role should be an expert in determining if the patient has viewed those test results and in the use of MyChart so they may work directly with patients and/or caregiver proxies to assist them in locating test results sent to them via the patient portal.
• Customer Service:
  • Ensure a high level of customer service by greeting and being a resource to patients, caregivers, and providers. Serve as a liaison between patients and support staff. Develop effective relationships with colleague, physicians, providers, leaders, and other employees across the organization. Demonstrates genuine interest in helping our patients, providers, and other employees by using excellent communication skills, being polite, friendly, patient and calm under pressure. 
  • Managing multiple, changing priorities in an effective and organized manner, under stressful demand while maintaining exceptional service. Maintain composure when dealing with difficult situations and responding professionally. Independently recognize a high priority situation, taking appropriate and immediate action. Effectively communicates with service delivery and other departments to resolve issues that impact patient care and escalating issues that cannot be resolved in accordance with departmental guidelines.
• Quality Assurance
  • Maintains appropriate and timely level of productivity and accuracy for work performed based on department standards. Maintains thorough knowledge of policies, procedures, and standard work within the department to successfully performance duties on a day-to-day basis.
  • Performs other departmental duties as assigned, such as answering and making phone calls, managing incoming/outgoing faxes, organizing, and filing departmental documents, scheduling patients, mailing test results to patients and data entry, etc.

Your qualifications should include:

• Education:
  • High School or equivalent
•  Experience:
  • Two years related experience registering and scheduling complex patient appointments in a clinic or hospital setting.  Medical terminology experience required.

 City of Hope is an equal opportunity employer. To learn more about our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, please click here.