Front Office Coordinator- Audiology

## Description

Pacific University achieves excellence and distinction by investing in exceptional people to think, care, create, and pursue justice in our world. We embrace discovery in a close and nurturing environment that leads to genuine transformation. Our community is diverse, sustainable, and dedicated to discovery and excellence in teaching, scholarship, and practice.

At Pacific University, we thrive in an extraordinary environment, surrounded by the beauty of the great Pacific Northwest, with campus locations in Forest Grove and Hillsboro. We humbly acknowledge and thank the original caretakers of the lands on which we live, work, teach, and acquire and share knowledge.

**GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF POSITION:**

Supervise front desk operations and patient registration at Pacific Ear Clinic in Hillsboro. Provide customer service to clients and administrative support to students, faculty, and staff. Support clinic leadership in administrative duties. The Clinic Coordinator is the voice, face, and point person for the people working at or receiving services from the clinic. The position is full time, in person, Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm.

**ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS/MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES:**

**Front Desk and Daily Operations**

• Supervise and oversee day-to-day front desk operations.
• Provide professional service for clients, students, directors, faculty, and supervisors.
• Upon arrival, prepare the clinic for daily business.
• Maintain an organized front office and records room.
• Process and distribute incoming mail and faxes.
• Purchase office supplies and manage leased office equipment and maintenance.
• Update and create office forms and announcements as assigned.
• Perform other related duties as assigned/needed by leadership.
• Attend staff meetings and other meetings as designated by leadership.

**Patient/Client Management and Scheduling**

• Serve as the main point of reception for patients, assisting with check-in and check-out.
• Operate a multi-line phone system according to clinic protocols.
• Manage the clinic schedule for all providers, including EMR templating and appointment scheduling.
• Schedule new and established patient appointments on the computerized scheduling system.
• Triage and accurately document telephone calls from patients, including urgent concerns and general inquiries directing them to appropriate staff/providers.
• Continuously monitor patient flow for optimum efficiency and to reduce patient wait time.

**Registration, Financial, and Billing**

• Manage and oversee registration of all new patients and patient account setup.
• Gather and record required patient information (demographics, insurance, etc.) and record it appropriately.
• Confirm health insurance coverage to ensure accurate billing and effectively communicate financial obligations to patients.
• Responsible for coordination/ obtaining referrals and prior authorizations from insurance.
• Process outgoing patients, including collection of fees, insurance forms, follow-up appointments, EMR portal sign-up, and referral information.
• Reconcile clinic payments and deposits on a daily basis (running EMR end-of-day report, balancing cash/money receipts).
• Process deposits/transmittals to the Business Office; enter patient charges to the Business Office account.
• Manage insurance authorizations, denials, and requests for information.

**Electronic Health Record (EMR) and Data Management**

• Maintain **expert-level EMR** knowledge to help patients and clinical staff with appointments, payments, and secure communication.
• Process incoming patient forms (consents /records, health history) through the EMR system.
• Perform timely EMR scanning of documentation (outside provider records, labs, X-ray/imaging).
• Manage EMR upgrades serving as the designated **“Subject Matter Expert”** for the scheduling module and EMR patient portal.

**Confidentiality and Medical Records**

• Support clinic leadership in all areas of **HIPAA compliance** and ensure the clinic space protects patient privacy by complying with HIPAA and state regulations.
• Serve as the **Medical Records Technician**—process and execute routine Requests for Information (ROI).
• Maintain records on closed files, coordinate file retrieval, and maintain records for files transferred to Iron Mountain Archives.

**Supervision, Training, and Professionalism**

• Lead role on clinical professionalism; assist clinic leadership to train and support students.
• Supervise, train, and schedule the student administrative assistant team (work-study students).
• Assist leadership in tracking student professionalism and compliance with clinic policies.

**Specialized/Other Functions**

• **Bilingual Spanish speaker** to facilitate connections between Spanish-speaking patients and bilingual student clinicians, creating an environment that values diverse perspectives and backgrounds.
• Manage and oversee new patient intakes and connect new patients to providers.
• Performs other related duties as assigned.
• Assist in the maintenance and updating of clinic manuals.

**JOB SCOPE:**

The CC performs duties independently with some supervision, operating from specific and definite directions and instructions. The CC may at times be the only administrative presence at the clinic depending on leadership schedules. Decisions are made within specific operational instructions and departmental guidelines, and work is checked on a frequent basis. Errors in judgment could affect the smooth and efficient operation of the office.

**SUPERVISOR RESPONSIBILITY:**

The CC is responsible for training and supervision of student front desk assistants.

## Qualifications

**EDUCATION AND/OR EXPERIENCE:**

BA degree preferred, administrative experience required. In particular, experience in customer service, managing financial transactions, and knowledge of HIPAA confidentiality standards. Healthcare experience is preferred.

**REQUIRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & BEHAVIORS:**

• Experience preferred with computer programs/applications including Office XP, Word, Excel, Outlook, EMR systems, Box, Google Suite.
• Bilingual Spanish speaker is required.
• Excellent interpersonal skills and the ability to respectfully and effectively communicate with students, faculty, staff, and patients.
• Employees are expected to be at their designated workspace, ready to work, at their scheduled start time each day. Punctuality and consistent, daily attendance are critical requirements for this role.
• Demonstrated ability to format business and professional papers and correspondence, good spelling, grammar, and punctuation skills.
• Demonstrated ability to maintain confidential information according to HIPAA, University, department and professional guidelines.
• Must be self-directed, detail-oriented with demonstrated organizational skills.
• Demonstrates flexibility, resilience, and sound critical thinking skills when managing change and ambiguity.
• Ability to develop and maintain a positive, professional relationship with students, faculty, clients, staff and the general public.
• Able to multi-task, prioritize, be flexible and adjust to changing job demands throughout

• the day.
• **WORKING CONDITIONS:**
• Work environment is centered at the front desk of the clinic but also includes walking around the clinic and to other university departments.
• **PHYSICAL ACTIVITIES:**
• __Climbing __Balancing _X_Stooping _X_Kneeling _X_Crouching __Crawling _X_Reaching _X_Standing
• _X_Walking __Pushing __Pulling __Lifting _X_Grasping _X_Talking _X_Hearing _X_Repetitive motion
• **PHYSICAL REQUIREMENTS:**
• __Sedentary work _X_Light work __Medium work __H