Coordinator, Appointments & Referrals

Overview

Neighbor Health, formerly East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, is one of the largest community health centers in the country, serving the greater Boston area with a strong commitment to the health and well-being of patients and communities. Whether you are a nurse or physician providing direct care, a manager leading teams, or part of the essential support staff, every role at Neighbor Health is vital.

Interested in this position? Apply online and create a personal candidate account! Current Employees of Neighbor Health — please use our internal careers portal to apply for positions. For more information about working at Neighbor Health and our benefits, please visit our Careers Page.

Time Type: Full time

Department: Referrals

All Locations: 300 Ocean Avenue – Revere

The Appointment and Referrals Coordinator will be primarily responsible for gathering information concerning patients’ medical needs to schedule appointments and secure verification from insurance companies for referral approvals. Acts as the system navigator and point of contact for patients and families seeking questions and raising concerns. May assume an advocate role on the patient’s behalf with the insurance carrier to ensure timely approval of needed services.

Education requirement: HS Diploma/GED and at least 2 years of experience in a healthcare setting with knowledge of EMR systems. Must be able to understand and interpret various managed care insurance benefits and guidelines.

Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 AM–5:00 PM

• Maximize reimbursement to the health center from various managed care payors by scheduling specialty appointments appropriately and communicating the outcome to patients and/or the specialist’s office.
• Establish and maintain professional collaborative relationships with internal and external customers.
• Educate/communicate with patients about their insurance so they schedule specialty appointments within their insurance network and/or understand the financial consequences of seeing providers out of network.
• Provide patients with the highest quality of customer service in accordance with Neighbor Health’s mission and vision.
• Review and address Epic in-basket messages promptly, taking action within 24–48 hours of receipt.
• Schedule external specialty visits for the assigned Referral workqueue per department guidelines and follow up with primary care providers if needed to explore alternatives to secure appointments within the requested timeframe.
• Understand and interpret medical terminology in orders to relate diagnoses to required documentation (e.g., recent lab results or other diagnostic tests).
• Process 65 referrals or more per day for BMC work queues; process 40 or more referrals per day for non-BMC referrals.

High School diploma and related college degree and/or equivalent work experience.

• Experience in a healthcare setting – at least one year.
• Ability to understand and interpret various managed care insurance benefits and guidelines.
• Knowledge of and experience with medical terminology (extremely helpful).
• Working knowledge of the health center’s computer systems for registration, billing, appointment scheduling, and managed care options, including various plan electronic/on-line authorization tools (NHP NET, NEHENLite, WebMD, Tufts, etc.).

• Excellent customer service and interpersonal skills.
• Fluency in English and Spanish preferred.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to communicate effectively with internal and external customers.
• Some medical terminology knowledge.
• Exceptional organizational skills.

• Medical, dental, and vision coverage.
• Life and disability insurance.
• 401(k) retirement plan.
• Tuition reimbursement.
• Flexible spending and transportation accounts.
• Paid holidays, vacations, sick, and personal time.
• Generous staff development benefit.
• Excellent malpractice coverage.
• Pet insurance.
• And much more.

Neighbor Health opens our doors to people from all demographics and cultures. Our workforce is diverse in gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, religion, age, and life experiences.