A patient service representative, as the name implies, is a member of a health-care team tasked with ensuring the best interests of a health-care provider’s patients. The patient representative works directly with patients, assisting them with tasks such as scheduling appointments and gathering insurance information. A person in this position is also entrusted with tasks such as maintaining patient records and facilitating communication other members of the team. Working in this capacity necessitates a diverse set of abilities, including computer literacy, multitasking, and the ability to work independently.
A patient service representative’s ultimate goal is to make a person’s interaction with her health care provider as easy and pleasant as possible. A person in this position may help a patient with a variety of needs, such as scheduling appointments and checking in and out during visits. She may have to deal with billing disputes from patients or third parties such as insurance companies, and she will almost certainly be the target of patient complaints about the service they receive.
Although some of a patient service representative’s responsibilities entail direct contact with the public, others are carried out behind the scenes. A person working in this position, for example, may be required to act as a liaison between various health-care providers, such as a doctor and a lab technician or a surgeon and an anesthesiologist. Sharp communication skills are required for this job because these individuals will be dealing with a diverse group of clients and coworkers.
The importance of records in medical care cannot be overstated. As a result, the representative is frequently in charge of multiple tasks involving patients’ medical records. He may need to make sure that the appropriate records are on hand in case other members of the team need them. It may be his responsibility to ensure that new information about a patient, such as test results or records transferred from other facilities, is properly filed or forwarded to the appropriate party.
Individuals seeking these jobs should have excellent multi-tasking skills, as patient service representatives may be required to complete multiple tasks for multiple patients. In these positions, professionalism and customer service skills are critical. Furthermore, strong computer skills will be required for many of the tasks that a patient service representative will be responsible for.
This is a job that someone without a higher education degree might be able to get. However, it may be necessary to participate in some type of training program offered the employer. A health-care-related degree, on the other hand, might be useful in this position because it can help an individual communicate more effectively with all parties and give her a better ability to solve problems and address concerns on her own.