PATIENT EXPERIENCE SUPERVISOR

Department: Operations / Patient Access
Reports To: Chief Financial Officer or Designee
FLSA Status: Exempt
Primary Location: Fort Dodge
Supervisory Responsibility: Fort Dodge Front Desk Staff, Financial Advocate(s), Medical Records Staff, Telephone Operator, and Dayton Front Desk Staff

JOB SUMMARY

The Patient Experience Supervisor provides leadership and day-to-day oversight of the patient-facing administrative functions of Community Health Center of Fort Dodge (CHCFD). This position is responsible for ensuring patients receive a welcoming, efficient, accurate, and consistent experience from their first interaction with the organization through registration, scheduling, financial assistance, medical records services, and completion of their visit.

The Patient Experience Supervisor directly supervises the Fort Dodge front desk team, Financial Advocate(s), Medical Records staff, Telephone Operator, and Dayton front desk staff. The position ensures appropriate staffing, training, accountability, workflow consistency, customer service, registration accuracy, schedule utilization, and compliance with organizational policies.

This position serves as a working supervisor and is expected to maintain a visible presence in patient access areas, identify barriers in real time, support staff during periods of high volume, resolve patient concerns, and proactively identify opportunities to improve patient access and the overall patient experience.

The Patient Experience Supervisor works collaboratively with clinical leadership, providers, billing and revenue cycle staff, operations leadership, Patient Navigators, and other departments to ensure patients can efficiently access CHCFD services.

ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

Leadership and Staff Supervision

Provide direct supervision, leadership, coaching, and support to assigned Patient Access staff.
Establish clear expectations regarding performance, productivity, attendance, professionalism, customer service, accuracy, and accountability.
Conduct regular individual and team meetings to communicate expectations, review performance, address concerns, and identify opportunities for improvement.
Provide timely positive feedback, coaching, redirection, additional training, and corrective action when appropriate.
Ensure staff understand and consistently perform the responsibilities outlined in their job descriptions.
Monitor staff attendance, punctuality, schedules, breaks, lunches, overtime, and timekeeping.
Coordinate staff coverage to ensure appropriate front desk, telephone, financial assistance, and medical records coverage during operating hours.
Arrange coverage for planned and unplanned absences.
Participate in recruitment, interviewing, selection, onboarding, training, competency assessment, performance evaluation, and corrective action of assigned employees.
Promote a positive work environment focused on teamwork, solutions, accountability, respect, and service.
Address interpersonal or performance concerns promptly rather than allowing problems to continue unresolved.
Serve as a role model for professional behavior and organizational values.
Promote teamwork across departments and locations rather than operating in departmental or site-specific silos.

Patient Experience and Customer Service

Establish and maintain high standards for customer service throughout all assigned patient-facing areas.
Ensure patients and visitors are greeted promptly, professionally, and respectfully.
Monitor the patient experience from arrival through departure and identify opportunities to reduce unnecessary delays, confusion, or frustration.
Ensure telephone interactions are handled professionally, efficiently, and according to organizational standards.
Respond to escalated patient concerns and work toward timely, appropriate resolution.
Coach staff regarding de-escalation, communication, professionalism, and service recovery.
Identify recurring patient complaints or service barriers and develop corrective actions.
Promote culturally responsive, respectful, and patient-centered communication.
Ensure language assistance services are offered and utilized appropriately.
Work collaboratively with leadership to monitor patient satisfaction and implement improvement initiatives.
Reinforce the expectation that every interaction with a patient contributes to the patient's perception of CHCFD.

Front Desk Operations

Oversee daily front desk operations at the Fort Dodge and Dayton locations.
Ensure registration, check-in, check-out, scheduling, and related workflows are completed accurately and consistently.
Ensure patient demographic and insurance information is reviewed and updated according to organizational standards.
Monitor registration accuracy and address recurring errors.
Ensure insurance cards, identification, consents, and other required documentation are obtained and maintained appropriately.
Ensure staff collect required copayments and patient payments according to organizational policy.
Ensure appropriate documentation of patient payments and reconciliation of funds.
Monitor waiting areas and patient flow and intervene when delays or operational barriers occur.
Ensure front desk staff communicate delays appropriately to patients.
Maintain consistent front desk processes between Fort Dodge and Dayton while recognizing site-specific operational needs.
Ensure opening and closing procedures are completed as assigned.
Provide direct front desk support when needed to maintain patient flow and service.

Scheduling and Patient Access

Promote efficient use of provider schedules and maximize patient access to available appointments.
Monitor schedule utilization, appointment availability, cancellations, no-shows, and unfilled appointment capacity.
Ensure staff follow established scheduling protocols and provider scheduling guidelines.
Monitor compliance with organizational procedures for unconfirmed appointments, cancellations, no-shows, same-day appointments, recalls, and wait lists.
Ensure canceled appointments are appropriately backfilled whenever possible.
Work with clinical and operational leadership to identify opportunities to improve schedule utilization.
Ensure patients are offered appropriate appointment opportunities across CHCFD services and locations when applicable.
Reinforce cross-department scheduling opportunities when patients need medical, dental, behavioral health, or other CHCFD services.
Identify scheduling barriers and recommend workflow changes to improve access.
Monitor scheduling accuracy and provide additional training when errors are identified.

Financial Advocate Oversight

Provide supervisory oversight of Financial Advocate functions.
Ensure patients receive accurate information regarding available financial assistance resources.
Monitor workflows related to the Sliding Fee Discount Program.
Ensure required documentation is collected and processed according to organizational policies.
Support processes for insurance enrollment and coverage assistance as applicable.
Ensure uninsured and underinsured patients are appropriately identified and referred for financial assistance.
Monitor completion of applications and outstanding documentation.
Ensure patient financial information is handled confidentially and professionally.
Collaborate with billing and revenue cycle staff to address recurring insurance, eligibility, or patient financial issues.

Medical Records Oversight

Provide supervisory oversight of medical records functions.
Ensure requests for health information are processed accurately, timely, and in accordance with HIPAA and applicable federal and state requirements.
Monitor turnaround times for medical records requests.
Ensure appropriate authorization is obtained prior to release of protected health information when required.
Ensure incoming records are routed, scanned, indexed, or otherwise incorporated into the electronic health record accurately.
Ensure subpoenas, legal requests, disability requests, insurance requests, and other specialized records requests are appropriately routed and processed.
Maintain confidentiality and security of protected health information.
Address medical records backlogs promptly and develop plans to prevent recurrence.
Coordinate with Compliance, clinical staff, and leadership when complex release-of-information issues arise.

Telephone and Operator Services

Provide supervisory oversight of the Telephone Operator and related telephone workflows.
Ensure incoming calls are answered promptly, professionally, and routed appropriately.
Monitor abandoned calls, hold times, call volume, or other available telephone performance measures.
Ensure staff utilize appropriate telephone etiquette and scripting.
Identify recurring call-routing problems and work with appropriate departments to improve telephone access.
Ensure urgent patient calls are routed according to established clinical protocols.
Maintain appropriate coverage of primary organizational telephone lines during operating hours.

Registration, Insurance and Revenue Cycle Support

Ensure accurate collection and entry of patient demographic and insurance information.
Promote insurance eligibility verification prior to or at the time of service according to organizational procedures.
Monitor registration-related claim denials and work collaboratively with billing staff to identify root causes.
Develop corrective action and staff education when registration errors contribute to claim denials or delayed payment.
Ensure staff understand the importance of accurate registration to organizational revenue.
Monitor collection of copayments and other patient-responsibility amounts according to organizational policy.
Work with revenue cycle staff to improve front-end processes affecting clean claims and collections.

Performance Monitoring and Accountability

The Patient Access Supervisor will monitor individual and departmental performance using established organizational measures.

Performance measures may include:

Schedule utilization
Appointment fill rate
No-show rate
Cancellation recovery/backfill rate
Registration accuracy
Insurance verification completion
Registration-related claim denials
Point-of-service collections
Sliding Fee Discount Program application completion
Medical records turnaround time
Telephone answer rate and abandoned call rate
Patient wait times
Patient complaints and service recovery
Patient satisfaction
Staff productivity
Staff attendance
Required training completion

The Supervisor will regularly review available data, identify performance gaps, communicate expectations, and develop improvement plans when goals are not met.

Training and Staff Development

Ensure new Patient Access employees receive comprehensive orientation and position-specific training.
Maintain standardized training materials and competency expectations.
Verify employee competency before assigning independent responsibilities.
Provide ongoing education when workflows, policies, payer requirements, technology, or regulations change.
Conduct refresher training when performance deficiencies are identified.
Cross-train staff when appropriate to improve operational coverage and flexibility.
Encourage professional growth and development among assigned employees.

Policies, Procedures and Standardization

Ensure assigned staff understand and follow CHCFD policies, procedures, workflows, and job expectations.
Maintain standardized Patient Access processes across assigned locations whenever possible.
Identify outdated, inefficient, or inconsistent workflows and recommend improvements.
Assist in developing and updating Patient Access policies, procedures, scripts, workflows, and training materials.
Ensure operational changes are communicated clearly and implemented consistently.
Audit compliance with established procedures and provide corrective education when necessary.

Compliance and Confidentiality

Ensure compliance with HIPAA privacy and security requirements.
Maintain confidentiality of patient, employee, financial, and organizational information.
Ensure appropriate handling of protected health information.
Ensure assigned employees complete required organizational and compliance training.
Immediately report suspected privacy, security, fraud, waste, abuse, compliance, or safety concerns according to organizational policy.
Cooperate with audits, investigations, regulatory reviews, and corrective action activities.
Promote a culture in which staff report concerns promptly and appropriately.

Collaboration and Communication

Work closely with clinical supervisors, providers, nursing staff, dental staff, behavioral health staff, billing, care management, outreach, Patient Navigators, Information Technology, Recruitment, Compliance, and organizational leadership.
Participate in operational meetings, huddles, quality improvement activities, and other meetings as assigned.
Communicate operational concerns promptly to appropriate leadership.
Bring forward potential solutions when identifying operational problems.
Ensure information from leadership is accurately and positively communicated to assigned staff.
Support organizational decisions and assist employees in successfully implementing change.
Maintain professional communication and avoid behavior that undermines coworkers, leadership, organizational decisions, or team effectiveness.

Quality Improvement

Identify opportunities to improve patient access, workflow efficiency, customer service, registration accuracy, and staff productivity.
Participate in Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles and other quality improvement initiatives.
Use data to evaluate whether workflow changes achieve desired outcomes.
Monitor improvements for sustainability.
Encourage staff to identify barriers and suggest solutions.
Share successful practices across locations and departments when appropriate.

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

Required

High school diploma or GED.
Minimum of three years of healthcare, medical office, patient access, customer service, or related experience.
Previous leadership, supervisory, lead-worker, or demonstrated team leadership experience.
Strong computer and data-entry skills.
Demonstrated ability to lead employees, manage competing priorities, solve problems, and maintain accountability.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Strong customer service and conflict-resolution skills.

Preferred

Associate's or bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, business, management, or a related field.
Two or more years of healthcare supervisory experience.
Experience in a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), physician practice, dental practice, behavioral health organization, hospital, or other healthcare setting.
Experience with Epic or another electronic health record system.
Knowledge of Medicaid, Medicare, commercial insurance, Sliding Fee Discount Programs, patient registration, medical records, and healthcare revenue cycle processes.
Bilingual English/Spanish skills.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND ABILITIES

The successful candidate must demonstrate:

Strong leadership and supervisory skills.
Ability to positively motivate employees while maintaining clear accountability.
Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills.
Ability to recognize operational problems and develop practical solutions.
Exceptional customer service skills.
Ability to professionally manage difficult or emotionally charged interactions.
Strong attention to detail.
Ability to prioritize multiple responsibilities in a fast-paced environment.
Ability to interpret and use performance data.
Ability to coach and train employees with varying levels of experience.
Ability to maintain confidentiality.
Understanding of healthcare registration and scheduling processes.
Basic understanding of healthcare insurance and revenue cycle processes.
Knowledge of HIPAA and patient privacy requirements.
Ability to learn and effectively utilize electronic health records and other technology.
Ability to communicate expectations clearly and follow through consistently.
Ability to work effectively across departments and locations.
Ability to adapt positively to organizational and operational change.

LEADERSHIP EXPECTATIONS

The Patient Experience Supervisor is expected to:

Be visible. Regularly observe operations rather than managing solely from an office.
Be proactive. Address problems when they occur rather than allowing concerns to accumulate.
Be accountable. Establish expectations and consistently follow through.
Be positive and solution-focused. Identify problems while helping develop workable solutions.
Develop people. Coach, train, redirect, recognize, and support employees.
Think organizationally. Make decisions based on what is best for patients and CHCFD as a whole rather than an individual department or location.
Use data. Understand performance measures and use them to guide decisions.
Communicate. Ensure employees understand what is changing, why it is changing, and what is expected of them.
Lead by example. Demonstrate the professionalism, reliability, teamwork, and customer service expected from the team.

PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS

Ability to sit, stand, and move throughout the clinic during the workday.
Ability to work at a computer for extended periods.
Ability to communicate effectively by telephone, electronically, and in person.
Ability to occasionally lift or move office materials and supplies.
Ability to travel between CHCFD locations as required.

ORGANIZATIONAL EXPECTATIONS

All employees are expected to support CHCFD's mission and demonstrate a commitment to accessible, high-quality, patient-centered healthcare.

The Patient Experience Supervisor holds a leadership position with particular responsibility for creating a culture in which patients feel welcomed, respected, and supported and employees understand that access to care begins before the patient enters an examination room.

The Supervisor is expected to promote teamwork across departments and locations, maintain accountability for assigned responsibilities, communicate professionally, support organizational initiatives, and contribute positively to the culture and success of CHCFD.

OTHER DUTIES

This job description is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all duties, responsibilities, or qualifications associated with the position. Responsibilities may be modified and additional duties assigned based on organizational needs.

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