What are the responsibilities and job description for the Intake Coordinator position at Agrace?
Location: Madison, WI
1.0 FTE (40 hours/week) | Shift | Monday-Friday | 8:30am - 5:30pm
Every 8th Weekend and 1-2 holidays/year
Make a lasting impact with Agrace
Join Agrace, a nationally recognized nonprofit leader in hospice and palliative care. If you are looking for a role that helps support meaningful, patient-centered care, this is your opportunity to make a difference!
How You’ll Make a Difference (Essential Functions)
The Intake Coordinator receives and manages inquiries and referrals for all client/patient facing service lines offered by Agrace. The role serves as a central point of contact for referral partners, patients, clients, families, payers, and Agrace teams. The Intake Specialist acts with urgency, applies sound judgment, and provides clear, compassionate customer service from first contact through referral disposition or admission handoff.
The Intake Specialist maintains ownership of each referral throughout its lifecycle. The role gathers and validates required information, explains Agrace services, coordinates clinical and financial review, schedules timely visits or admissions, documents all activity in designated systems, and communicates status and next steps to those involved.
Key Responsibilities
Receive and manage inquiries and referrals
For more than 45 years, Agrace has been an innovator and leader in both caring for patients and their families, and in educating others about death, dying and grief. We are the largest hospice provider in Wisconsin. Well known for end-of-life care, Agrace also serves people across southern Wisconsin who are aging, seriously ill or grieving.
At Agrace we are strengthened by the unique experiences, cultures and traditions of our staff, patients and clients.
Together, we pursue a vision in which every Agrace staff member is treated fairly, and every patient and client experiences the respectful, individualized care they need and deserve.
We foster a culture of belonging that celebrates people’s uniqueness and leads to meaningful, empathetic connections.
Agrace Health Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.
1.0 FTE (40 hours/week) | Shift | Monday-Friday | 8:30am - 5:30pm
Every 8th Weekend and 1-2 holidays/year
Make a lasting impact with Agrace
Join Agrace, a nationally recognized nonprofit leader in hospice and palliative care. If you are looking for a role that helps support meaningful, patient-centered care, this is your opportunity to make a difference!
How You’ll Make a Difference (Essential Functions)
The Intake Coordinator receives and manages inquiries and referrals for all client/patient facing service lines offered by Agrace. The role serves as a central point of contact for referral partners, patients, clients, families, payers, and Agrace teams. The Intake Specialist acts with urgency, applies sound judgment, and provides clear, compassionate customer service from first contact through referral disposition or admission handoff.
The Intake Specialist maintains ownership of each referral throughout its lifecycle. The role gathers and validates required information, explains Agrace services, coordinates clinical and financial review, schedules timely visits or admissions, documents all activity in designated systems, and communicates status and next steps to those involved.
Key Responsibilities
Receive and manage inquiries and referrals
- Receive, log, prioritize, and track inquiries and referrals from hospitals, physicians, clinics, skilled nursing facilities, patients, clients, families, and community partners.
- Serve as the primary contact for inbound referrals and referral-related questions across Agrace service lines.
- Respond promptly, establish the next action, and maintain ownership until the referral is admitted, transferred, closed, or otherwise resolved.
- Identify and address questions, concerns, and objections that may prevent or delay scheduling or enrollment. Help patients, clients, and families understand available services and the importance of timely follow-up.
- Collect and validate demographic, clinical, payer, physician-order, legal decision-maker, and supporting documentation.
- Review referral information for completeness and obtain missing medical records, medication lists, history and physicals, discharge summaries, orders, advance directives, consents, and other required documents.
- Create and maintain an accurate referral record in the electronic health record, referral-management platform, customer relationship management system, or other designated systems.
- Monitor pending referral queues and follow up consistently to prevent delays or lost referrals.
- Gather information about the patient’s or client’s current condition and goals. Help patients, clients, and families understand which Agrace service may best meet their needs.
- Screen referrals for the requested service line, clinical appropriateness, geographic coverage, capacity, payer requirements, and required level of care within the role’s established scope.
- Coordinate clinical review and admission decisions with nursing, medical services, admissions, scheduling, and operational leaders.
- Identify and escalate complex, high-risk, delayed, or incomplete referrals to the appropriate clinical or operational resource.
- Verify insurance benefits and payer eligibility. Obtain or track prior authorization and related documentation when required, including Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, and commercial plans.
- Obtain information required for hospice certification and coordinate follow-up with primary care and referring physicians within required regulatory timeframes.
- Coordinate pre-admission face-to-face encounters and assessments for health care decision-making capacity when needed.
- Identify services or programs that may affect admission and coordinate resolution with outside health care organizations and Agrace teams.
- Maintain complete, timely, and accurate documentation that meets Agrace standards, payer requirements, HIPAA privacy requirements, and applicable regulations.
- Support monitoring of referral acknowledgment time, review turnaround time, referral-to-admission conversion, lost-referral reasons, time from referral to admission or start of care, authorization delays, documentation completeness, referral-source satisfaction, admission volume, and forecast accuracy.
- Identify recurring barriers, documentation defects, and workflow concerns. Share findings and participate in improvement efforts.
- Participate in intake coverage schedules, which may include evening, weekend, or on-call coverage based on organizational needs.
- Provide job-shadow opportunities and participate in work groups, meetings, and committees related to position responsibilities.
- Provide informational visits or tours to prospective patients, clients, and families when assigned.
- Perform other duties as assigned. The duties listed are representative and are not all-inclusive.
- High school diploma or GED or equivalent combination of education and work experience
- Minimum 1 year Customer Service Experience, Insurance or Healthcare experience preferred.
- Experience in hospice, palliative care, home health, skilled nursing, rehabilitation, hospital care coordination, or another post-acute setting.
- Experience using electronic health records, referral-management systems, customer relationship management systems, Microsoft Office, and electronic document-management tools.
- Strong customer service, verbal communication, written communication, listening, prioritization, and problem-solving skills.
- Ability to develop, maintain, and apply knowledge of Agrace service offerings.
- Ability to maintain professional boundaries with patients, families, and co-workers.
- Ability to manage multiple open referrals accurately in a high-volume environment while adjusting priorities as needs change.
- Ability to work effectively and cooperatively with others.
- Ability to multitask and thrive in a demanding environment.
- Ability to lead conversations and resolve conflicts.
- Ability to maintain organization in handling multiple open referrals.
- Competence in culture/ethnicity, gender, race, age, identification, and educational background diversity
- Proficiency in using Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Office Suite
- Experience with electronic health records (EHR)
- Ability to communicate effectively verbally and in writing.
- Ability to be flexible in time and task to meet organizational needs.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality about patients, families, caregivers, staff, donors, and organizational intellectual property.
- Ability to use proper body mechanics and standard precautions.
- Competitive pay with free parking
- Health, dental, and vision insurance for employees who are hired for 28 hours per week (.7 FTE )
- Retirement plans with employer matching
- Generous Paid Time Off (PTO) and holiday paid time off
- Comprehensive onboarding, mentorship, and career development
For more than 45 years, Agrace has been an innovator and leader in both caring for patients and their families, and in educating others about death, dying and grief. We are the largest hospice provider in Wisconsin. Well known for end-of-life care, Agrace also serves people across southern Wisconsin who are aging, seriously ill or grieving.
At Agrace we are strengthened by the unique experiences, cultures and traditions of our staff, patients and clients.
Together, we pursue a vision in which every Agrace staff member is treated fairly, and every patient and client experiences the respectful, individualized care they need and deserve.
We foster a culture of belonging that celebrates people’s uniqueness and leads to meaningful, empathetic connections.
Agrace Health Inc is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class.