Patient Services Associate

at  University of Michigan

SUMMARY

University of Michigan Operating Room (OR) and Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU) employees are committed to contributing to an exceptional experience for each patient and family. Ensuring a patient and family centered experience according to the Health Systems Service Excellence Goals is a priority in the care of our patients. The individual chosen for this position will be responsible for meeting the highest standards of customer service including exhibiting a professional and positive image when interacting with patients, faculty and staff. This is a clerical float position for the Operating/Recovery Rooms Department. The candidate will learn all clerical areas (Family Waiting/Check-In, PreOp, Recovery, OR Front Desk and Billing/Scheduling) to provide absentee coverage and other coverage as needed. This coverage may be planned in advance but last minute changes also occur.

REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS*

• High School diploma or equivalent.
• Minimum 2 years of experience
• Knowledge of medical terminology and/or previous experience on an operating room/PACU team.
• Exceptional ability to develop and maintain collaborative and collegial interactions and relationships.
• Ability to work in a fast paced team environment with patients, faculty, residents and staff.
• Ability to keyboard with speed and accuracy and reasonable knowledge of business software and computer applications.
• Excellent communication, organizational and prioritization skills.
• Previous experience demonstrating excellent attention to detail and ability to multi-task.
• Excellent attendance record. Ability to prioritize assignments and workload.
• Ability to provide and receive constructive feedback and to seek constructive approaches to resolving workplace issues.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS*

• Prior Michigan Medicine experience.
• Experience with MiChart.
• Bachelor’s degree.

The overarching role of our team is to support patients and families through the surgical day and to execute clinical tasks enabling medical providers to spend the most time with the patient. The Operating Room Front Desk (ORFD), PreOp and PACU clerical roles are largely ‘behind the scenes’ positions, assisting and coordinating the people, equipment, schedules, etc. that enable smooth operations in and around the operating rooms. The Check-In and Family Waiting staff act as communication liaisons between clinicians and family members by relaying important information in addition to checking patients in for surgery or procedures.

In each of the clerical roles our team is expected to:

• Warmly meet and greet all patients and families while demonstrating service excellence during these important interactions on the patients’ day of surgery.
• Exhibit courtesy, exemplary customer service, and professionalism at all times when interacting in person or fielding and routing phone calls and other communications for patients, families, faculty, staff, etc.
• Act as patient and family advocate; contacting clinicians and others as appropriate to improve the experience. Provide way-finding, resources (security, social work, maps), and comfort to family members and other guests.
• Use multiple software programs and other resources to confirm that patients flow through the system in a timely well-documented manner.
• Provide clerical support when needed; participate in other duties or projects as assigned.
• Identify process improvement opportunities, implement improvements and/or work with teams to implement larger initiatives.
• Communicate, trouble shoot, and escalate concerns and issues.
• Understand and develop competencies related to complaint resolution and service recovery.
• Adhere to high standards of teamwork by demonstrating adaptability, flexibility, courtesy, and respect; consistently share information and resources with others.
• Assist management in the training of new team members and volunteers (including providing timely feedback) and assist in the maintenance of accurate, up-to-date training documentation and checklists.
• Work as a team member to ensure consistency and efficiency.
• Appropriately utilize computers and other University of Michigan and UMHS resources.
• Cultivate an atmosphere of respect, courtesy, and teamwork in speech, manner, and tone.