Department Assistant - Therapy

Position Purpose

The primary purpose of this position is scheduling therapy services for patients across inpatient, outpatient, long-term care and assisted/independent living settings. This position serves as an important link between patients, residents, therapy staff, nursing, providers, and other departments to ensure therapy services are scheduled efficiently and delivered according to patient needs and established plans of care.

The department assistant will primarily focus on maintaining accurate therapy schedules, coordinating appointments and treatment times, communicating schedule changes, and helping maximize therapist and therapy department efficiency. The position will also provide support with insurance verification, authorization requests, and related administrative processes.

Position Duties 

Therapy Scheduling & Coordination

• Coordinate and maintain daily therapy schedules for inpatients, outpatients, long-term care residents and assisted/independent living residents.
• Schedule physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy services based on therapy orders, plans of care, patient availability, and therapist availability.
• Coordinate therapy treatment times with nursing, dietary, transportation, medical appointments, activities, and other patient/resident needs.
• Communicate schedule changes, cancellations, missed treatments, and other scheduling concerns to appropriate therapy and clinical staff.
• Monitor therapy schedules to identify gaps, conflicts, or opportunities to improve therapist productivity and patient access.
• Assist therapists in coordinating evaluations, follow-up treatments, reassessments, and other therapy-related appointments.
• Coordinate outpatient therapy appointments with patients, families, caregivers, referring providers, and other healthcare facilities as needed.
• Assist with scheduling therapy services for patients transitioning between inpatient, outpatient, long-term care and assisted/independent living settings.
• Maintain accurate scheduling information within the electronic medical record (EMR) and/or scheduling systems.
• Track and follow up on missed, cancelled, or rescheduled therapy appointments.
• Help ensure patients receive therapy services within the appropriate timeframes established by the therapy plan of care and applicable regulations or payer requirements.

Insurance Verification & Authorization Support

• Verify patient insurance eligibility and benefits related to rehabilitation and therapy services.
• Assist with determining applicable coverage requirements, including referrals, authorizations, visit limits, and other payer-specific requirements.
• Obtain and document prior authorizations for therapy services when required.
• Communicate with insurance companies, managed care organizations, referring providers, and other third parties regarding therapy coverage and authorization requirements.
• Track authorization dates, approved visits, expiration dates, and remaining authorized visits.
• Notify therapy staff and appropriate clinical/administrative personnel when additional authorization or updated documentation may be required.
• Assist with gathering and submitting required clinical or administrative information to support therapy authorization requests.
• Maintain accurate documentation of insurance verification and authorization activities.
• Escalate insurance or authorization issues that may affect the patient's ability to receive therapy services.

Administrative & Communication Responsibilities

• Serve as a professional and responsive point of contact for patients, residents, families, therapy staff, nursing staff, providers, and other departments regarding therapy scheduling.
• Maintain confidentiality of patient information in accordance with HIPAA and organizational policies.
• Enter and maintain accurate patient, scheduling, insurance, and authorization information.
• Assist with therapy department reports, logs, census information, productivity tracking, and other administrative duties as assigned.
• Identify scheduling or administrative issues that could delay or interfere with patient care and communicate them promptly to the appropriate staff.
• Maintain a professional, organized, customer-service-oriented approach when interacting with patients, residents, families, and healthcare team members.

Qualifications

Essential Physical, mental, and Emotional Requirements

• The employee must be at least 18 years of age

• The employee must be able to perform multiple tasks simultaneously and be able to work under time and/or deadline pressures.
• Specific vision abilities required of this position include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception, and ability to adjust focus.
• Ability to work in a healthcare environment with frequent interaction with patients, residents, families, and staff.
• Lifting, carrying, pushing, and pulling objects weighing up to 20 pounds.

Education and Experience

Required

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Previous experience in a healthcare, medical office, rehabilitation, long-term care, or scheduling environment preferred.
• Strong organizational and time-management skills.
• Excellent communication and customer service skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities and frequent schedule changes.
• Basic understanding of medical terminology and healthcare scheduling processes.
• Ability to maintain confidentiality and handle sensitive patient information appropriately.
• Proficiency with computers, electronic medical records, scheduling systems, and standard office software.

Preferred

• Experience scheduling physical, occupational, or speech therapy services.
• Experience working in an inpatient, outpatient, skilled nursing, or long-term care setting.
• Experience with insurance eligibility verification and prior authorization processes.
• Familiarity with Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, commercial insurance, and therapy-related payer requirements.
• Experience working with EMR systems and insurance verification/authorization portals.

What We Offer:

Immanuel Living offers a competitive benefits package* that goes above and beyond. Benefits eligible employees can take advantage of:

• Affordable Child Care
• Retirement Savings Program with strong employer match
• Generous paid-time off (PTO) program, earn as you go and carry over from year to year.
• Medical benefits
• Optional dental insurance
• Employee scholarships promoting lifelong learning
• Employee wellness programs
• Free and Discounted employee meals

*Benefits are subject to change without notice. Benefits details dependent on employment status.

Immanuel Living is a drug-free workplace and an Equal Opportunity Employer.

If this sounds like you, then please apply for this position. When applying, please include all work history. List your employers, starting with the most current/recent, including self-employment.