Identifying (and becoming) a strong candidate for an enrollment position
Healthcare institutions seeking to execute efficient, high-caliber credentialing and enrollment processes must enlist high-performing professionals. All too often, however, there are no specific job eligibility criteria for provider enrollment positions other than the ability to type and follow instructions. These scant requirements stand in sharp contrast to the vital part that enrollment professionals play in the revenue cycle management process.
To avoid this potentially costly oversight, healthcare institutions must create specific, detailed job descriptions that attract individuals with the right mind and skill sets and retain these key contributors by providing professional recognition, career development opportunities, and competitive compensation.
Two basic barometers that employers and candidates can use to assess job fit are aptitude and affinity for traditional credentialing. “If you don’t like credentialing, then you’re not going to like provider enrollment,” says Angelia Guthrie, CPCS, professional services supervisor for ARcare, a federally qualified health center with locations throughout Arkansas, Kentucky, and Mississippi. “If you are not succeeding as an MSP, then you will not succeed at provider enrollment because they require the exact same skill set.” To assess a candidate’s qualifications in these regards (and to evaluate your own merit for an open position), experts recommend identifying the following characteristics and competency requirements in job descriptions and resumes:
- Organized.
- Detail- and deadline-driven.
- Customer service–oriented (to assist providers).
- Demonstrated competence in core credentialing concepts. Additionally, for advanced positions, consider establishing minimum education and certification requirements. “Most of the time, when you get to this level, you’re going to put [those] in your job description because you’re committed to the profession and the certification,” says Carol Cairns, CPMSM, CPCS, advisory consultant with The Greeley Company and president of PRO-CON, an Illinois-based medical staff services consulting group.
- Flexible. Candidates should be able to adapt quickly to accelerated onboarding; changes in regulations, standards, documents, guidelines, and requirements; and other enrollment-related challenges.
- Strong multitasking skills. “If you cannot bounce from one thing to the next, you will be frustrated and miserable,” says Guthrie.
- Patience and strong communication skills. Although a sense of urgency is crucial, MSPs must also exhibit a great deal of patience when communicating with practice managers, recruiters, practitioners, health plans, Medicare Administrative Contractors, and the like.
- Billing expertise.
- Ability to read contracts and understand contract negotiations.
- Analytical skills (e.g., able to investigate enrollment delays and issues and report findings to other stakeholders).
- Tech savvy. Basic computer literacy won’t cut it. “You need to be comfortable with computer programs and be able to pick up on things quickly,” says Guthrie. “You need to be able to move with these companies and organizations because they change, and when they change, they change quickly.”