Patient Access Associate

The Patient Access Associate (PAA) is a hospital-based, non-clinical healthcare professional who serves as the first point of contact for patients. In this pivotal role, the PAR ensures a positive patient experience during the registration and admission processes by accurately collecting essential demographic and financial information.

1.         Patient Identification and Documentation:

·         Greet patients and visitors courteously and professionally.

·         Accurately identify patients in the Master Patient Index to reduce erroneous duplicate medical records, maintaining a 98% accuracy rate in medical record creation.

·         Update demographics per legal identification.

·         Verify the information on armbands before placing them on patients.

·         Explain all required documents verbally, obtain signatures appropriately, and document any inability to obtain signatures correctly, including immediate scanning into EMR, per process.

·         Process all ‘unable to sign’ consents per process, including following legal algorithms to research and communicate with patient contacts to obtain appropriate surrogate; escalate to next steps (Care Management) when unable to find surrogate.

2.         Patient Registration and Insurance Verification:

·         Conduct face-to-face interviews to accurately obtain and process patient demographic and financial information, maintaining a minimum accuracy rate of 97% for error-free registrations.

·         Process and act on Real-Time Eligibility (RTE) messages, including adding, terminating, and correcting coverages.

·         Identify all true self-pay patients accurately and forward to Medicaid eligibility and application staff, ensuring only true self-pay patients are screened.

·         Scan all required documents into patient records and place HAR notes on accounts when necessary.

·         Identify and resolve insurance verification issues, informing patients of available options, including financial assistance.

3.         Regulatory Compliance and Customer Service:

·         Ensure all patients receive necessary regulatory information and enter appropriate documentation in the EMR (e.g., HIPAA, Patient Rights Brochure, IMM, NOOS, ABN, etc.).

·         Explain hospital policies, procedures, and financial responsibilities to patients and their families, providing excellent customer service.

4.       Appointment Scheduling:

·         Schedule appointments, surgeries, and other medical procedures according to patient and provider preferences.

·         Verify insurance coverage and obtain pre-authorizations as needed.

5.       Financial Communication:

·         Communicate financial responsibilities to patients and collect funds in accordance with established protocols.

·         Make referrals to Charity Care and Medical Assistance when needed.

6.       Workflow Management:

·         Answer and direct incoming and external calls promptly.

·         Independently prioritize work, including work queue management, patient registrations, insurance verification, and other assigned tasks to meet performance and productivity standards within department deadlines.

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