Nicole Starks

Assists in performing a variety of registration, insurance verification, and scheduling duties for outpatient access to medical services. Obtains necessary demographic and insurance information and enters data into computer system.

• Provided comprehensive administrative support and direction to the front-end, patient-facing registration team for all disciplines related to musculoskeletal disorders and ambulatory services including radiology, rehabilitation and special procedures unit) at Long Island and Queens regional outpatient centers.
• Overseeing day-to-day services, fiscal management and contributing to an environment focused on exceptional patient experience.
• Supervised patient access staff, developed and mentored team members, interacted with patients, caregivers, and interfacing between staff, patients/caregivers and related third-parties (i.e. managed care organizations, benefit administrators, etc.). In addition to overseeing the registration activities for all on-site services, partners with the Site Director and Clinical Coordinator to ensure seamless operation of the related facility. Provided overall site leadership in the absence of the Site Director and in partnership with the site’s Clinical Coordinator. Promoted a professional atmosphere through courteous communication, cooperation and respect for patients, visitors and members of the healthcare team.
• Tracked project costs and other financial metrics to maximize profitability for a multi-phase expansion project.
• Established and maintained relationships with vendors to source affordable and high quality materials and equipment for multi-million dollar construction projects.
• Assisted in recruiting, hiring and training of team members.
• Conducted daily site audits in accordance with Joint Commission standards for hospital services to identify successes and failures and formulate improvement plans.
• Launched staff engagement, gender diversity and cultural programs in addition to robust reporting tool that increased operational quality.
• Trained and guided team members to maintain high productivity and performance metrics.

• Managed daily operations of multi-physician practice(s)/hospital services for Department of Urology in areas of business operations; financial management; regulatory and financial compliance as it relates to research initiatives; flow and appropriateness of HIPPA information; organizational governance; patient care systems; quality management; and risk management.
• Troubleshoot equipment issues and oversaw preventive maintenance of equipment; monitors supplies inventory levels.
• Supervised, hired, trained, disciplined and evaluated the performance of staff; ensured performance appraisals were completed in a timely manner.
• Ensure delivery of quality care and promoted excellence in the patient experience; handles patient issues and complaints that arise.
• Facilitated appointment scheduling and itinerary coordination for VIP clients and personnel; interpreter requests.
• Improved inbound patient volume metrics by implementing workflows that resulted in first call resolution, reduction in handle time and abandoned calls as well as overall patient satisfaction.
• Assisted in the acquisition of a private Urology practice
• Established workflow processes, monitored daily productivity, and implemented modifications to improve overall performance of registrar personnel.

• Ensured and coordinated daily operation of system centralized call center and customer satisfaction goals were met.
• Lead and guided customer service staff in the performance of duties.
• Addressed and resolved complex customer inquiries and issues.
• Patient scheduling, registration, and verifying insurance.
• Collaborated with team leadership with the initiation of the Special Ops department and creation of the team's training guide.
• Triaged specific in-depth inquiries to appropriate resource (clinical call center, billing call center, etc.);
• Participated in training new staff members and ongoing educational programs for staff;
• Assisted in prioritizing, scheduling, assigning and monitoring work to optimize operational service; improve the patient care experience by enhancing and simplifying access to the appropriate physician or service within the health system.
• Provided technical and electronic access to patient’s health information online; deliver service and support resolution to end-users by resolving connectivity issues, application navigation and troubleshooting access, redirect and/or escalate problems to appropriate source; stay current with system information and updates.

• Evaluated medical guidelines and benefit coverage to determine appropriateness of services.
• Trained and supervised new intake staff to deliver high-quality client care.
• Coordinated multidisciplinary teams to facilitate and deliver necessary client services.
• Submitted cases for criteria failures and helped facilitate resolutions and approvals.
• Facilitated utilization review of medical status, type of care needed, discharge planning and future care needed by performing data collection and effectively communicating with Nurse Case Management in regards to individual workers compensation cases and commercial groups
• Performed prior authorization review of services requiring notification.
• Oversaw the dispensing of credentials for physicians and other members of a health care facility's workforce and that credentials are accurately distributed, verifying the accreditation of doctors and medical personnel.
• Answered phone calls and provided new clients with required paperwork to initiate service.
• Documented patient medical information, case histories, and insurance details to facilitate smooth appointments and payment processing.
• Obtained authorizations from multiple insurance carriers for various levels of care.
• Liaised between clients and healthcare providers to maintain continuity of care.

• Planned, organized, managed and evaluated the day-to-day activities of patient’s chart information.
• Completed registration of direct, emergency and scheduled admissions.
• Gathered documentation and required signatures within compliance of state and insurance funding for in-patient and out-patient locations, acknowledged all HIPAA and Patient’s Bill of Rights policies and procedures.
• Verified patient details and insurance coverage and collected co-pays.
• Arranged forms and charts for each patient.
• Handled admission processes and discharge procedures to transfer patients from hospital to home care, extended facilities, and expirations.
• Remained calm and productive during life-threatening situations to maximise positive outcomes.
• Communicated openly and collaboratively with all healthcare staff to organize successful patient care.