Referral Specialist

Camino Health Center•San Juan Capistrano, CA

14h

About The Position

Under the direction of the Population Health Manager, the Referral Specialist works as part of a patient care team to provide high quality, efficient and service oriented patient care while demonstrating the health center’s core values. Working alongside physicians, mid-level providers, registered nurses and medical assistants, the Referral Specialist is responsible for receiving, processing, scheduling, and following up on all medical referral requests, including in-house and outside referrals for diagnostic testing, medical specialists, or other providers. The Referral Specialist also assists in the coordination and organization of patient care services. Ensure that the core values of Camino Health Center – Service, Dignity, Justice and Excellence are carried out within daily tasks. Essential Values-Based Competencies: Demonstrates values-based competencies in line with the four core values that are the foundation of all activities performed by employees in order to achieve the mission of the Camino Health Center. Dignity: Demonstrates competence in communication and interpersonal relation Excellence: Demonstrates competence in continuous improvement, continuous learning, and teamwork/collaboration Service: Demonstrates competence in customer/patient focus, adaptability, and shaping change Justice: Demonstrates competence in community orientation, stewardship, and strategic planning and action

Responsibilities

Work diligently, cooperatively, and effectively with patients, medical providers, health center staff and community stakeholders in all aspects of patient care and care coordination.
Provide positive, supportive and caring behavior in all communications to patients, community stakeholders and staff.
Maintain patient confidentiality and HIPAA practices at all times.
Obtains and processes referrals from providers and communicates authorizations with patients (via phone & mail) and medical staff in a timely manner.
Prepares, processes, and completes referrals accurately and in a timely manner, including urgent and stat referrals for assigned members.
Tracks referrals in the electronic medical records (EMR) system; Follows up on submitted authorization requests and maintains consistent status updates via EMR.
Monitors and reports on statuses of authorization requests; escalates issues as necessary until fully resolved and referral loop is closed.
Communicates referral and authorization information and pertinent medical information to the patient and specialty providers.
Manages the need for redirection across all clients and payers by working with clinical teams to ensure timeliness of re-authorization ahead of expiry to avoid lapses in authorization or delays in patient care.
Reviews consultation reports for needed follow up requests and works with providers to ensure timely processing of all follow ups.
Works with the health information (medical records) department to ensure timely retrieval of consultation reports.
Assists patient with scheduling appointments with the specialist should the patient express any challenges in accomplishing this themselves.
Submits retro-authorizations and distinguishes between primary care and internal specialty visits.
Participates in daily morning care team huddles and scheduled department meetings.
Screens and answers related referral calls by telephone, patient portal, patient walk-in and/or by mail.
Serves as the main point of contact for providers and clinic staff regarding referrals, authorizations, and appointment scheduling.
Shares accountability of overall participant health outcomes, working in coordination with care teams.
Advocates and discusses with participants all aspects of the referral process as needed or requested by the treating provider.
Arranges transportation for participants to medical appointments at Camino Health Center and other organizations.
Documents all actions taken in the participant medical record in accordance with current Clinic, DHCS and CMS regulations/guidelines.
Acts as a liaison between participant, clinic/providers, specialty care providers, hospitals, and other community resources.
Must have reliable transportation to report for scheduled shifts.
Must be able to work at various health center locations.