Referrals, Diagnostics and EHR Coordinator

Description

HealthFirst Family Care Center is seeking an organized, detail-oriented Referral, Diagnostics & EHR Coordinator to join our Health Information Management team.

This is a great opportunity for someone who understands how all the moving pieces of a busy healthcare environment fit together — and enjoys making sure those pieces actually keep moving.

The Referral, Diagnostics & EHR Coordinator plays an important role in supporting timely patient care by managing and monitoring referrals, diagnostic services, prior authorizations, and related EHR workflows. This position works closely with providers, clinical teams, patients, insurance companies, diagnostic facilities, specialists, vendors, and other healthcare organizations to resolve barriers, obtain needed information, and help ensure that referrals and diagnostic testing are completed appropriately.

In addition to day-to-day coordination, this position helps identify workflow issues and opportunities for improvement, supports EHR processes, and provides cross-coverage to our Medical Records team as needed.

What You'll Do

Manage referrals, diagnostics, and prior authorizations

• Monitor referral, diagnostic, and prior authorization work queues for aging, incomplete, or unresolved items.
• Prioritize follow-up based on urgency, age, patient impact, and established organizational standards.
• Obtain missing documentation, test results, and other information from patients, providers, diagnostic facilities, insurance companies, and other healthcare organizations.
• Assist with denied, delayed, or unresolved authorization requests and help coordinate the information needed to move requests forward.
• Follow up with outside specialists, imaging centers, laboratories, hospitals, and other diagnostic facilities to support timely completion of patient services.
• Identify and escalate recurring barriers or significant delays that may affect patient care.

Keep patients, providers, and outside partners connected

• Serve as a key point of contact between HealthFirst and external vendors and diagnostic service providers.
• Communicate  with patients regarding outstanding referrals, testing, documentation needs, and authorization status.
• Help patients navigate administrative barriers that may delay their care.
• Keep providers and care teams informed regarding outstanding items, results, and resolution status.
• Build positive working relationships with outside organizations to support efficient and consistent workflows.

Support EHR workflows and closed-loop care

• Help ensure referrals and diagnostic orders are followed through to completion, including receipt and routing of consultation reports, test results, outcomes, and follow-up documentation.
• Accurately  document follow-up activities, communications, and outcomes in the electronic health record.
• Monitor for recurring documentation gaps, workflow failures, payer barriers, vendor issues, and other sources of delay.
• Work collaboratively with leadership and affected teams to develop practical, sustainable workflow improvements.
• Assist  with quality improvement reporting, data collection, audits, and workflow monitoring.
• Develop a strong understanding of HealthFirst's EHR system and assist management with schedule templates, clinical forms, documentation templates, and other system needs.

Provide Medical Records and team support

• Provide cross-coverage to the Medical Records department as needed.
• Process medical records requests in accordance with HIPAA requirements and organizational policies.
• Scan, index, upload, retrieve, and maintain patient documentation within the EHR.
• Work closely with providers, nurses, medical assistants, and other members of the HealthFirst team.
• Assist  with staff training and orientation related to referral, diagnostic, vendor coordination, and EHR workflows.
• Participate in multidisciplinary meetings and quality improvement initiatives.

Why This Role Matters

Getting an order placed is only the beginning.

Patients depend on referrals being scheduled, authorizations being completed, diagnostic testing occurring, results being returned, and information making its way back to the appropriate care team. When one of those steps stalls, care can stall with it.

The Referral, Diagnostics & EHR Coordinator helps close those loops.

This position is ideal for someone who enjoys solving problems, noticing when something isn't working the way it should, and collaborating with others to find a better way forward. Your work will directly support patient access, continuity of care, accurate documentation, and more efficient clinical workflows across HealthFirst.

About HealthFirst

HealthFirst Family Care Center is a Federally Qualified Health Center committed to providing high-quality, accessible healthcare to the communities we serve.

Our mission is simple: Through dedication, respect, and compassion for our patients and one another, we aim to inspire hope and to advance the health and well-being of our patients, community, and staff.

If you're looking for a role where attention to detail, persistence, problem-solving, and teamwork can make a meaningful difference in patient care, we'd love to hear from you.

Requirements

 What We're Looking For 

The right person for this role is someone who is comfortable managing multiple priorities and following an issue through until it is resolved. You don't need to know everything on day one, but you should be curious, resourceful, organized, and willing to ask questions and dig into a problem.

Required qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• At least two years of experience working in a medical office setting.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Ability to prioritize multiple competing tasks and follow through on outstanding items.
• Clear, professional written and verbal communication skills.
• Strong customer service skills.
• Basic proficiency with Microsoft Word and Excel.
• Ability to work collaboratively with both clinical and non-clinical team members.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and appropriately handle protected health information.

Experience that would be especially helpful:

• Referral coordination.
• Prior authorizations.
• Diagnostic or imaging coordination.
• Medical records or Health Information Management.
• Working with insurance companies, specialty practices, hospitals, laboratories, or imaging facilities.
• Experience using an electronic health record system.
• Experience with athenaOne is strongly preferred.