<p class="MsoNormal">The Patient Access Associate (PAA) is a hospital-based, non-clinical healthcare professional who serves as the first point of contact for patients. In this pivotal role, the PAR ensures a positive patient experience during the registration and admission processes by accurately collecting essential demographic and financial information.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 40.5pt">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span>Patient Identification and Documentation:</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Greet patients and visitors courteously and professionally.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Accurately identify patients in the Master Patient Index to reduce erroneous duplicate medical records, maintaining a 98% accuracy rate in medical record creation.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Update demographics per legal identification.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Verify the information on armbands before placing them on patients.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Explain all required documents verbally, obtain signatures appropriately, and document any inability to obtain signatures correctly, including immediate scanning into EMR, per process.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Process all ‘unable to sign’ consents per process, including following legal algorithms to research and communicate with patient contacts to obtain appropriate surrogate; escalate to next steps (Care Management) when unable to find surrogate.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 40.5pt">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span>Patient Registration and Insurance Verification:</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Conduct face-to-face interviews to accurately obtain and process patient demographic and financial information, maintaining a minimum accuracy rate of 97% for error-free registrations.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Process and act on Real-Time Eligibility (RTE) messages, including adding, terminating, and correcting coverages.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Identify all true self-pay patients accurately and forward to Medicaid eligibility and application staff, ensuring only true self-pay patients are screened.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Scan all required documents into patient records and place HAR notes on accounts when necessary.</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Identify and resolve insurance verification issues, informing patients of available options, including financial assistance.</p><p class="MsoNormal"> </p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="margin-left: 40.5pt">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span>Regulatory Compliance and Customer Service:</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Ensure all patients receive necessary regulatory information and enter appropriate documentation in the EMR (e.g., HIPAA, Patient Rights Brochure, IMM, NOOS, ABN, etc.).</p><p class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="margin-left: 1.0in"><span style="font-family: Symbol">·<span style="font: 7.0pt 'Times New Roman'"> </span></span>Explain hospital policies,