Intake Coordinator & Community Liaison

Job Title: Intake Coordinator & Community Liaison Department: Behavioral Health / Detoxification Full Time/PRN: F ull-Time Job Summary: Coordinates administrative intake and admission activities for individuals seeking drug and alcohol detoxification; oversees insurance eligibility, precertification, authorization tracking, claims follow-up and denial appeals in partnership with revenue cycle staff; and develops community referral relationships.

Serves as a communication link among patients, families, payers, referral partners, and the interdisciplinary care team. This position does not provide clinical services or make independent clinical decisions.

Essential Duties

& Responsibilities: Patient Intake and Admission Coordination Serve as the first administrative contact for patients, families, referring facilities and community partners seeking detoxification services. Collect demographic, referral and insurance information and administer approved nonclinical intake questionnaires.

Coordinate clinical screening and assessment by appropriately licensed staff; route urgent safety or medical concerns promptly to clinical personnel. Coordinate administrative admission steps, referral documentation, bed-status communications and follow-up on pending referrals. Maintain accurate referral, admission and outcome logs and protect confidential patient information.

Insurance Verification, Precertification and Claims Follow-Up Verify eligibility, benefits, coverage limitations, network status and payer authorization requirements. Initiate and track precertifications and prior authorizations; document reference numbers, authorized dates, approved days and payer deadlines. Coordinate timely continued-stay authorization requests and obtain required clinical documentation from licensed staff.

Work with utilization review, case management, billing and coding teams to monitor claims status and address administrative deficiencies. Identify, track and coordinate correction, resubmission and appeal of rejected, denied, delayed or underpaid claims within payer deadlines. Communicate with payers and internal departments, maintain detailed follow-up notes and escalate unresolved issues to designated leadership.

Identify recurring denial or authorization trends and recommend process improvements; follow payer contracts and hospital revenue-cycle policies. Community Liaison and Referral Development Build and maintain relationships with hospitals, emergency departments, clinics, behavioral health professionals, law enforcement, recovery programs and community organizations.

Explain program services, admission criteria and referral pathways accurately, without promising admission or insurance approval. Conduct outreach visits, attend community meetings and educational events, and respond promptly to referral partner inquiries. Maintain a referral partner contact list, document outreach activities and identify opportunities to improve access to appropriate treatment.

Coordinate community-facing messaging with program leadership and comply with applicable referral, privacy and marketing requirements. Interdisciplinary Collaboration and Program Improvement Collaborate with nursing, providers, social services, case management, utilization review, registration, finance and hospital leadership.

Communicate referral progress, administrative admission barriers, authorization deadlines and claims concerns to responsible team members. Participate in workflow improvement efforts and maintain reports on referral volume, admission conversion, authorizations, denials and appeal status. Support timely, respectful, patient-centered communication across internal and external teams.

Non-Licensed Scope and Limitations May collect patient-reported information and perform approved nonclinical administrative screening. May not independently diagnose, conduct clinical assessments, determine medical necessity or level of care, develop treatment plans, or make clinical admission/discharge decisions. All clinical judgments and supporting medical-necessity determinations remain with authorized licensed professionals.

Insurance appeals involving clinical judgment must be prepared or reviewed by appropriately qualified personnel. Performance Measures Timeliness and completeness of intake processing; authorization and continued-stay deadline compliance; claims and denial follow-up timeliness; documentation accuracy; referral partner engagement; and appropriate referral/admission trends.

Targets are established by program leadership.

Minimum Qualifications

High school diploma or equivalent required. Strong organizational, communication, and computer skills required . Experience with EHRs, insurance verification, or healthcare administration preferred. Competencies: Organization, attention to detail, communication, multitasking, customer service, insurance verification knowledge, confidentiality, and teamwork.

All candidates must be able to perform the essential functions of this position. The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that reasonable accommodations be made for qualified individuals to help perform the essential functions of the position. South Central Regional Medical Center is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, color, religion, sex, gender, national origin, age, disability, or genetic information.