MightyRecruiter MightyRecruiter
HomeJob Description Samples & ExamplesPatient Advocate Job Description Template

Patient Advocate Job Description Template

Writing a good job description is a critical piece of the hiring puzzle for finding the best performers. Recruiters or hiring managers don’t have time to waste sorting through hundreds of applicants who miss the mark. A well-written position description enables you to weed out unqualified applicants or those not interested in joining your team. Taking the time up front to write a spot-on posting before the resumes begin flooding your inbox will save you hours of time. To help you write a good job description, below is a Patient Advocate job description sample.

Want to use this job description?     Use template

Patient Advocate Job summary

You will meet one-on-one with patients to help them understand healthcare, insurance, and cost of procedures. You may connect patients with doctors and specialists, review options for treatment, and discuss financial responsibilities. You will assist clients with applying for benefits through hospital charity assistance programs, Social Security, and Medicaid to ensure that all types of eligible funding for health care services is available for patients. This includes assisting the patients and others to complete forms, applications, and other paperwork.

Patient Advocate Job Responsibilities and Duties:

  • Interact with recently admitted patients
  • Provide a copy of the patient’s rights information pamphlet
  • Record, review, and take steps to follow-up on and resolve patient complaints
  • Analyze complaints to enhance overall quality of care
  • Gather and examine patient information to determine eligibility for financial assistance
  • Create and maintain record keeping files and systems.
  • Liaison with claims department staff
  • Assure confidentiality of paperwork, documents, and calls
  • Handle calls from providers and plan members regarding balance inquiries and generate appropriate resolutions
  • Offer negotiation services after exhausting all other provider balance billing alternatives
  • Provide physical assistance within the site when needed
  • Coordinate with office staff to adequately communicate estimated wait times
  • Maintain timely communication with patients
  • Project an approachable and professional image
  • Work on special projects as assigned

Patient Advocate Skills and Qualifications

  • High school diploma, GED, or equivalent
  • 2+ years of experience with patient advocacy in the health insurance industry
  • Proficiency handling multi-line telecommunications systems and electronic documentation software
  • Knowledge of ICD9 and CPT coding
  • Excellent written and verbal customer service skills
  • Organizational, decision-making, and problem-solving abilities
  • Ability to work independently or on a team
  • Capability to maintain and respect confidentiality and HIPAA guidelines

Company Profile

At Stonegate Healthcare Solutions, we are dedicated to offering affordable, quality health coverage that respects and responds to our patients’ fundamental needs. Our employees champion care by forecasting, reacting, and taking the initiative to resolve issues based on our values and mission. The result is a meaningful and productive career at Stonegate. We take great pride in our long and prosperous history, and in the employees whose compassion, expertise, and knowledge continue to contribute to our future success.

Writing a Job Description Best Practices

  • While the above is an ideal Patient Advocate job description sample, there are situations where you won’t have an example or template to follow. We have listed some basic best practices for those times, along with helpful dos and don’ts, to ensure that you write the post accurately the first time, and save yourself the chore of sorting through piles of unqualified candidates.

    • Do write the posting in your business’s voice. Match the tone and style based on the nature of your organization.
    • Do describe what it’s like to work for your company. Create a picture for job seekers who are deciding if the workplace style matches theirs.
    • Don’t forget to discuss potential hires. While your posting should be about the job and working for your company, it should also describe the ideal candidate.
    • Do include specific contact information. It will help the potential candidate personalize and properly tailor a cover letter.
    • Do mention the amount of travel and location of the job. Also, consider including whether compensation is available for relocation.
    • Do include an introduction. Try to summarize the job accurately in one to two sentences.
    • Don’t list too many requirements. Focus on the five or six most critical skills or qualities needed to successfully perform the job.

      The Patient Advocate job description sample above is an excellent example of a standout posting that can help you attract the top talent for your organization. Investing the time it takes to write a good position description upfront turns into a solid return later when you add the brightest and freshest members to your team.

Want to use this job description?

Use template

View All Job Descriptions

Patient Advocate Job Responsibilities

The resumes you receive for a job often mirror what the applicants find in the job posting. For the patient advocate job description, the meaty responsibilities section pairs with the work experience section of a resume. The responsibilities you include here should be a comprehensive outline of what you expect a new employee to do every day or on some other regular time frame.

It’s important to keep your job responsibilities section written as bullet points with clear and specific content that numbers no more than eight items. Think about what you want to see in a resume and translate that into your patient advocate job responsibilities section.

When you put together these responsibilities, make them as clear as possible, using active verbs to enhance your writing. This lets a jobseeker picture performing these tasks as a way to decide whether to apply for the open position.

Use these sample responsibilities as a starting point for crafting your patient advocate job description:

  • Coordinate activities across multiple teams to promote positive patient outcomes
  • Establish and maintain a relationship of trust and respect with patients
  • Communicate clearly to patients about their wellness goals and answer any questions that arise
  • Provide emotional support for patients and their families
Patient Advocate Job Specifications

A good patient advocate job description needs to include a clear job qualifications and skills section. While this is the shortest section of the job description, it is by no means the least important. Including the minimum you expect from a jobseeker means you will have fewer resumes from unqualified candidates.

When you realize that the patient advocate job specifications are companion to the skills section of a resume, then you can craft this part of the job description to mirror what you want to see from applicants. If you need a better idea of what a new employee needs to complete their daily duties, such as education, training, skills and more, check with a manager or hiring committee. This person or group likely has a list of criteria you can work with. If there’s no way to shorten this list to between six and eight points, try splitting items into “required” and “preferred.” This makes the patient advocate job description easier to read.

For some inspiration, read these common patient advocate skills and requirements:

  • Excellent oral and written communication skills
  • Sensitive to social situations
  • Good listener with the ability to de-escalate tense situations
  • Bachelor’s degree or 4 to 6 years’ experience

Making better hires starts with building better job descriptions

• Browse 100s of templates across 40+ industries

• Customize your template with your company info & job requirements

• Post it to 20+ job boards in seconds – for FREE!

Get a professional, candidate-centric job description quickly & easily with MightyRecruiter

Use template

Writing Your Patient Advocate Job Description: Dos and Don’ts

As more and more jobs are created to meet demands in the public and private sectors, the best candidates will be overwhelmed with various career opportunities from which to choose. However, tailoring a position description to hire and retain the best performers and getting them to apply for your opening is doable. After you finish writing the position description, follow these simple dos and don’ts to help ensure it is correct.

• Do use accurate adjectives.
• Don’t use language or words that raise discrimination questions.
• Do provide specifics to spell out the position’s requirements.
• Don’t list unreasonable expectations or excessive qualifications.
• Do let applicants know what it’s like to work for your organization.
• Do focus the list of requirements to six or less.

The simpler it is for job seekers to submit a resume and find answers to questions, the more apt you are to bring the top talent to your team. The result is making your job of hiring the right person for a Patient Advocate position easier when you post a clear job description.