Position Summary
The Patient Care Coordinator is responsible for managing an assigned caseload of patients and ensuring that each patient receives consistent, reliable home care services. The Coordinator is accountable for maintaining patient coverage, maximizing authorized-hour utilization, communicating effectively with patients, caregivers, MLTCs, and internal departments, and ensuring all required reports and follow-ups are completed accurately and on time.
This is a fast-paced position that requires strong communication, organization, problem-solving skills, urgency, and the ability to manage multiple priorities at once.
Key Responsibilities
- Manage an assigned caseload of patients and oversee the day-to-day coordination of services.
- Ensure all patients are appropriately staffed with reliable caregivers who meet the patient's schedule, needs, preferences, and plan of care.
- Proactively address open shifts, call-outs, caregiver changes, and other staffing issues to prevent gaps in patient care.
- Monitor patient utilization percentages and ensure authorized hours are being staffed and utilized appropriately.
- Identify patients with low utilization and take prompt action to improve utilization and resolve barriers to service.
- Maintain regular communication with patients and/or their representatives to confirm satisfaction, service status, and any changes or concerns.
- Maintain professional communication with caregivers regarding schedules, patient needs, attendance, and changes in service.
- Communicate with MLTCs and other payors regarding patient services, authorizations, changes, concerns, and required follow-up.
- Closely monitor the status of patients who are hospitalized, on hold, temporarily suspended, or otherwise not receiving services.
- Follow up promptly and consistently with patients, families, hospitals, MLTCs, and other appropriate parties to determine when the patient is ready to resume services.
- Take ownership of restarting services as quickly as appropriate, including confirming authorizations, coordinating staffing, updating schedules, and ensuring the patient is not left inactive without proper follow-up.
- Maintain accurate tracking of all patients who are hospitalized, on hold, or experiencing service interruptions, and continue follow-up until services resume, the patient is discharged, or a final status is confirmed.
- Follow up promptly on missed visits, uncovered hours, hospitalizations, service interruptions, and changes in patient status.
- Work closely with staffing, intake, nursing, compliance, payroll, and other internal departments to resolve patient and caregiver issues.
- Complete all required reports accurately and within established deadlines.
- Document patient, caregiver, MLTC, hospital, and other communications accurately and timely.
- Escalate urgent patient, caregiver, authorization, or service issues to management when necessary.
- Maintain accurate patient schedules and records within the agency's systems.
- Build strong relationships with patients and caregivers while maintaining professionalism and accountability.
- Meet departmental expectations and performance goals related to staffing, utilization, responsiveness, documentation, patient-status follow-up, and patient satisfaction.
Qualifications & Skills
- Strong verbal and written communication skills.
- Excellent organizational and time-management skills.
- Ability to multitask and manage a high-volume caseload.
- Ability to work effectively under pressure in a fast-paced environment.
- Strong problem-solving skills with the ability to resolve staffing and patient issues quickly.
- Detail-oriented with consistent follow-through on outstanding items.
- Comfortable communicating with patients, caregivers, MLTC representatives, hospitals, and internal departments.
- Strong sense of urgency, ownership, and accountability.
- Ability to prioritize tasks based on patient needs and operational importance.
- Ability to follow up persistently and promptly until outstanding patient issues are fully resolved.
- Comfortable working with reports, scheduling systems, and patient management software.
- Previous experience in home care, healthcare coordination, customer service, scheduling, or a related field is preferred.
Performance Expectations
Success in this role will be measured by maintaining high patient staffing coverage, maximizing utilization of authorized hours, completing reports and documentation on time, responding quickly to patient and caregiver issues, maintaining effective communication with MLTCs and internal teams, and providing a high level of service to patients and caregivers.
Coordinators are also expected to actively monitor patients who are hospitalized, on hold, or experiencing interruptions in service and ensure timely, consistent follow-up until services are resumed or a final patient status is confirmed.