Erie County is an Equal Opportunity Employer and committed to workplace diversity.

Residence Requirements:

THERE ARE NO RESIDENCY REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION IN THIS EXAMINATION.  There is one anticipated vacancy at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation.

A promotion examination will be held at the same time as this examination. The list resulting from the promotion examination will be used first but appointments from this open competitive examination are anticipated. Use of the list may be suspended after it is one year old for any position which it is practical to fill through a new promotion examination.

Examples of Duties:

A Patient Access Services Representative performs a variety of clerical functions related to the registration of patients for clinical, surgical, inpatient and ancillary departments at the Erie County Medical Center Corporation;

Pre-registers and/or registers patients for various locations throughout ECMCC such as Emergency Room, clinics, inpatient, surgical and ancillary services using computer information systems;

Schedules patient appointments, gathers demographic information including payer information and inputs into computer information systems;

Obtains insurance information required for hospital billing, including completion of the Medicare Secondary Payer Questionnaire; performs work related to patient health insurance eligibility such as obtaining and verifying preauthorization approval for procedures, receiving authorization errors and making corrections to error; inputs information into the electronic computerized system;

Verifies third party payers using telephone or online verification systems;

Determines insurance co-payments due from patient at time of service; collects required amounts at time of pre-registration and/or registration and issues receipts;

Identifies and interview patients without insurance to assess qualifications for government entitlement programs or uncompensated charity care programs in accordance with hospital policy; Obtains signatures on various forms; Maintains and updates patient records in computer information systems;

Provides feedback to appropriate person of missing/incorrect information so it can be obtained at the point of service;

Provides patients with information and responds to inquiries regarding appointment scheduling, registration, payment, repayment services, etc.;

Identifies related issues and works with other departments and outside entities to resolve;

Refers patient to staff responsible for developing contractual payment plans;

Operates bed board system assigning beds appropriate to specifications, hospital transfers, direct admissions and various bed board functions;

Complies with applicable federal and state regulatory agency guidelines, including Health information Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) privacy standards, established departmental policies and procedures, objectives, quality assurance, safety, environmental, infection control standards, etc.;

Performs a variety of related clerical duties as required

Qualifications:

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS:  Candidates must meet one of the following requirements on or before the date of the written test:

Graduation from high school or possession of a high school equivalency diploma and one (1) year of clerical experience* in patient admissions, patient registration, patient appointment scheduling, health insurance verification, health insurance eligibility or health insurance processing in a healthcare services setting (e.g. pharmacy or medical testing) or third party payer setting.

Notes:

1. *Graduation from a regionally accredited or New York State registered college or university with a Bachelor’s Degree may be substituted for the required qualifying experience.

2. Verifiable part-time and/or volunteer experience will be pro-rated toward meeting the full-time experience requirement

3. Your degree and/or college credit must have been awarded by a regionally accredited college or university or one recognized by the New York State Education Department as following acceptable educational practices.  A grade of "D" or better is necessary for a course to be credited as successfully completed.  If your degree and/or college credit was awarded by an educational institution outside of the United States and its territories, you must provide independent verification of equivalency.  You can write to this Department for a list of acceptable companies providing this service; you must pay the required evaluation fee.

Notice to Candidates:  Transcripts will now be accepted by the Department of Personnel ONLY at time of application.  

All subsequent transcripts must be submitted at time of interview.

The New York State Department of Civil Service has not prepared a test guide for this examination. However, candidates may find information in the publication 'General Guide to Written Tests' helpful in preparing for this test. This publication is available on line at:https://www.cs.ny.gov/testing/testguides.cfm.

Subjects of Examination:

Scopes / Subjects of examination: A test designed to evaluate knowledge, skills and /or abilities in the following areas.

Name and number checking

These questions test for the ability to distinguish between sets of words, letters, and/or numbers that are almost exactly alike. Material is usually presented in two or three columns, and you will have to determine how the entry in the first column compares with the entry in the second column and possibly the third. You will be instructed to mark your answers according to a designated code provided in the directions.

Understanding and interpreting written material

These questions test for the ability to understand and interpret written material. You will be presented with brief reading passages and will be asked questions about the passages. You should base your answers to the questions only on what is presented in the passages and not on what you may happen to know about the topic.

Arithmetic computation with calculator

These questions test for the ability to use a calculator to do basic computations. Questions will involve addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. You may also be asked to calculate averages, to use percents, and to round an answer to the nearest whole number. You should bring with you a hand-held battery- or solar-powered calculator for use on this test. You will not be permitted to use the calculator function of your cell phone.

Interviewing

These questions test for knowledge of the principles and practices employed in obtaining information from individuals through structured conversations. These questions require you to apply the principles, practices, and techniques of effective interviewing to hypothetical interviewing situations. Included are questions that present a problem arising from an interviewing situation, and you must choose the most appropriate course of action to take.

NOTICE TO CANDIDATES:  It is recommended that candidates use a quiet, hand held, solar or battery powered calculator.  Devices with typewriter keyboards, "Spell Checkers", “Personal Digital Assistants", "Address Books", "Language Translators", "Dictionaries", or any similar devices are prohibited.  You may not bring books or other reference materials.

**IMPORTANT APPLICATION FEE - READ CAREFULLY**

A $20.00 filing fee is required for this exam. The required fee must accompany your application. Send or bring check or money order made payable to Erie County Personnel Department and write the examination number(s) on your check or money order. Do not send or bring cash, as the County cannot be responsible for cash payment. As no refund will be made, you are urged to compare your qualifications carefully with the requirements for admission and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified.