Position Summary
The Patient Service Manager is responsible for overseeing all front-end patient access and support operations across the organization, including reception, scheduling, call center, patient intake, referrals, and administrative workflow functions. This leadership role is responsible for driving operational efficiency, enhancing the patient experience, improving workflow processes, and ensuring consistent performance standards across all patient service teams.
The Patient Service Manager serves as a key operational leader who combines healthcare operations knowledge, leadership experience, analytics, and EMR expertise to support data-driven decision making and continuous improvement initiatives. This role works closely with physicians, clinical leadership, business office teams, and executive leadership to optimize patient throughput, scheduling efficiency, communication workflows, and overall clinic operations.
This position directly oversees Healthcare Support Specialists, Team Leads, Patient Care Representatives, and other patient access staff.
Location: Orthopaedic Associates – Multiple Locations ( Fort Walton Beach, Destin and Crestview and other offices as needed)
Key Responsibilities
Leadership & Team Management
- Provide direct leadership and oversight for all Patient Service, Reception, and Call Center staff.
- Recruit, train, mentor, coach, and evaluate team members to ensure high performance and professional development.
- Establish performance expectations, productivity standards, and accountability measures for all front-end operations.
- Conduct regular staff meetings, training sessions, and workflow reviews.
- Foster a culture of teamwork, professionalism, accountability, and exceptional customer service.
- Address escalated employee and patient concerns in a timely and professional manner.
Operational Oversight
- Oversee daily front office and patient communication operations to ensure efficient clinic flow and patient access.
- Monitor scheduling templates, appointment utilization, cancellation rates, wait times, and patient throughput metrics.
- Optimize provider scheduling workflows to maximize efficiency and patient access.
- Ensure accurate scheduling, registration, insurance verification, referrals, and authorizations.
- Collaborate with clinical leadership to improve operational workflows and reduce bottlenecks within the clinic.
- Maintain standardized workflows and operational consistency across all clinic locations.
- Assist with implementation and optimization of operational initiatives, policies, and process improvements.
Reporting & Analytics
- Utilize Athenahealth EMR and reporting tools to generate operational reports and dashboards.
- Monitor KPIs including:
- Call abandonment rates
- Scheduling utilization
- New vs. established patient access
- Appointment lag times
- No-show and cancellation rates
- Patient throughput metrics
- Front desk productivity metrics
- Patient satisfaction trends
- Analyze operational data and make recommendations to leadership for workflow improvements and staffing optimization.
- Develop and maintain reporting tools that support operational and strategic decision-making.
Patient Experience
- Ensure a high level of patient satisfaction and service excellence across all patient interactions.
- Serve as an escalation point for complex patient service concerns and complaints.
- Promote a patient-first culture focused on professionalism, empathy, communication, and responsiveness.
- Monitor patient feedback and implement service improvement initiatives.
EMR & Technology Management
- Serve as a super-user and operational resource for Athenahealth EMR workflows.
- Support training and adoption of scheduling, registration, messaging, and workflow processes within the EMR.
- Collaborate with leadership and IT teams on workflow optimization and operational system enhancements.
- Ensure accurate documentation and compliance with organizational standards.
Compliance & Administrative Responsibilities
- Ensure compliance with HIPAA, organizational policies, and healthcare regulations.
- Maintain confidentiality of patient, employee, and financial information.
- Assist leadership with budgeting, staffing models, operational planning, and performance improvement initiatives.
- Support communication and coordination between front office operations, clinical staff, referrals, billing, and executive leadership.
Required Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Healthcare Management, or related field required.
- Minimum of 1–3 years of healthcare operations or medical office management experience required.
- Minimum of 2 years of leadership or supervisory experience in a healthcare setting prefered.
- Strong working knowledge of medical office workflows, scheduling operations, insurance verification, referrals, and patient access functions.
- Experience with Athenahealth EMR strongly preferred.
- Orthopedic or specialty medical practice experience preferred.
- Strong proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, reporting tools, and operational analytics.
Skills & Competencies
- Strong leadership and team development skills
- Excellent communication and interpersonal abilities
- Data-driven mindset with strong analytical and reporting capabilities
- Ability to identify workflow inefficiencies and implement operational improvements
- Strong organizational and problem-solving skills
- Ability to multitask in a fast-paced healthcare environment
- Professional demeanor with excellent customer service skills
- Ability to manage change and lead process improvement initiatives
- High attention to detail and operational accountability
Work Environment & Physical Requirements
- Primarily office and clinic-based environment.
- Ability to sit, stand, and walk for extended periods throughout the workday.
- Occasional travel between clinic locations may be required.
- Ability to manage multiple priorities and deadlines in a fast-paced healthcare setting.
- Regular, reliable attendance is essential.
