Dialysis Access and Placement Coordinator

Job Title: Dialysis Access and Placement Coordinator

Why work for us?

• Balboa Nephrology is the largest kidney care practice in California and participates in a national Medicare program focused on value-based care.
• Through our joint venture with Evergreen Nephrology we are a growing organization with opportunities for professional and personal growth.
• We will help you grow in your leadership experiences while learning the new value-based care world.
• Comprehensive benefits package that includes medical, dental & vision on the 1st of the month 30 days after hire.
• Employer contribution of up to 7.5% of annual pay for your 401K.
• Generous paid time off plus 8 paid holidays, a birthday float day off and a mental health day!
• Company paid life insurance.
• Join a fast-growing field - employment of medical and health services managers is projected to grow 32 percent from 2020 to 2030, much faster than the average for all occupations.
• Voted 4 years in a row as a Top Workplace of San Diego 2020-2024!

Our Values: Patient-centered I Accountability I Respect I Innovation I Data-Driven

Our Mission: to consistently deliver superior care – Balboa Care – to every patient with kidney disease.

Work Location: Remote in San Diego, California

 
Overview:

The Dialysis Access and Placement Coordinator is part of Balboa Nephrology’s Central Operations Department, a centralized team responsible for coordinating key operational workflows that support timely patient access to care across the organization. Central Operations manages high-volume new patient referrals, outgoing clinical referrals, insurance coordination, and dialysis transition planning in close collaboration with physicians, clinic teams, and external specialty partners. 

Job Description:

The Dialysis Access and Placement Coordinator is a member of the Dialysis Transition Team (DTT) and manages dialysis access referrals and dialysis placements for peritoneal dialysis (PD), hemodialysis (HD) and Home Hemodialysis (HHD) patients, hospitalized and office-based. This role owns each referral from intake to close: tracking the referral, gathering records, coordinating with hospital case managers, surgical partners, and dialysis provider organizations, confirming placement, and communicating the final plan to physicians, case managers, and care teams, and directly to office-based patients and families. DTT is moving referral and placement tracking from Camino into Epic and standardizing workflows with its dialysis partners. The right candidate is comfortable learning new systems, adapts well to process changes, and helps test and refine new workflows as they roll out. 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Referral Intake and Tracking (PD, HD & HHD) 

• Monitor and triage incoming referrals from PerfectServe, Epic Dialysis Access and Placement work queue, MS Teams, email, fax, and phone 
• Identify referral type (AKI, new start ESRD, unit or modality transfer), modality, urgency, and whether the patient is hospitalized or office-based 
• Create, track, and close referrals, documenting every step from start to finish in Camino and Epic; keep both systems accurate during the transition to Epic 

Peritoneal Dialysis (PD) 

• Coordinate all PD access referrals and other dialysis access placement referrals from initiation to completion, including scheduling and follow-up with vascular and surgical partners on procedure dates and operative reports 
• Prioritize urgent-start PD; for non-urgent office referrals, time placement to the scheduled access surgery 
• Coordinate insurance eligibility and prior authorizations for office-based PD access referrals, obtaining authorizations directly or in partnership with the Clinical Referrals team
• Ensure each patient is assigned a unit for home therapy training; if not assigned, coordinate with the dialysis center 
• Track PD high-risk items: documentation needed, flush dates, and unit confirmations 
• Request physician order call-ins to the dialysis center when PD does not start in the hospital 
• Participate in Dialysis Placement meetings  

Hemodialysis (HD/HHD) 

• Coordinate placements for hospitalized and office-based patients 
• Submit placement requests with complete records through the different dialysis admissions portals or faxes and notify admissions contacts per workflow 
• Confirm start date, schedule, shift, and chair with the dialysis provider before communicating the placement 

Records, Documentation, and Communication 

• Pull required records from hospital portals and partners using the standardized records packet, and save to the DTT SharePoint site using naming conventions 
• Serve as the primary contact for hospital case managers using the standard question template and callback expectations; route hospitalized patient communication through the case manager 
• Communicate finalized placements to case managers and physicians via PerfectServe and the Epic in-basket 
• Update Rounder with enrollment, modality, provider, location, schedule, shift, and problem codes to support physician rounding and billing 
• Use Doximity to correspond with office-based patients; use encrypted email and Epic attachments in place of fax where possible 
• Partner with Revenue Cycle to resolve insurance and physician contracting changes 

Workflow Improvement and System Transition

•  Flag workflow gaps and hospital-specific differences, and help keep the DTT Workflow Manual current 
• Cross-train and provide coverage across PD, HD & HHD so the team can cover absences and volume spikes 
• Adopt new systems and workflows as DTT moves from Camino to Epic, including Epic work queues, new order types, and pilot processes 
• Test and give feedback on new tools and pilots  
• Capture data accurately (referral dates, clinical holds, urgency) to support placement-time metrics 
• Escalate delays promptly: unresolved case manager communication, incorrect schedules, missing records, and urgent same-day discharges 
• Other duties required to adequately fulfill the duties of your position include  
• Attend team meetings, phone conferences, and training as needed  
• Know, understand, and follow company guidelines, policies and procedures  
• Consistent, regular, punctual attendance as scheduled 
• Other duties and tasks as assigned 

Required Qualifications:

• High School Diploma or equivalent   
• 2+ years of healthcare experience in referral coordination, care coordination, patient access, or front office, including customer service
•  Proficiency in using EHR software applications and web-based portals 

Preferred Qualifications:

•  Experience improving workflows or processes, such as identifying bottlenecks, testing new tools, or helping roll out system changes
•  Experience using Epic, including work queues and referrals 
•  Experience verifying insurance eligibility and requesting/obtaining authorizations  
• Nephrology, dialysis, or hospital discharge planning experience 
•  Familiarity with PD, HD, and HHD modalities and dialysis provider admissions portals 
• Medical Assistant certification
• Bilingual in English/Spanish 

Required Skills: 

• Excellent verbal and written communication 
• Ability to provide excellent customer service  
• Ability to interpret, adapt and apply guidelines and procedures 
• Ability to use good reasoning and judgement and react appropriately in emergency situations 
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with patients, medical staff and coworkers 
• Comfortable with change: learns new systems quickly and adapts as workflows evolve 
• Ability to manage multiple time-sensitive cases at once and prioritize urgent and same-day discharges 
• Strong attention to detail and consistent documentation across multiple systems 
• Takes initiative to identify problems and suggest practical improvements 

Pay Range: $23.00 - $25.00/hour, depending on experience

Other considerations:

• Background check required
• Travel within San Diego for occasional team meetings and annual training will be required. 
• Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.
• Supervisory duties – No

Language Skills

While performing duties, the employee is regularly required to talk, hear, read, write, type and respond in English and understand clinical/medical vocabulary written and spoken.

Vision Requirements

Vision requirements include close vision, ability to adjust focus, and see color.

Physical Demands

Physical requirements may vary slightly and should be reviewed with your manager. In general, this position requires the ability to lift up to 35 pounds unassisted; ability to stand for extended periods of time and to perform repetitive stooping, walking, stretching, reaching and some sitting; ability to use full range of body motions required to lift patients, wear a lead apron, and lift and move supplies. Must be able to safely ascend and descend stairs as a core part of the job, with or without reasonable accommodation, when no elevator or lift is present.

Work Environment

Job required tasks routinely involve a potential for mucous membrane or skin contact with blood, body fluids, tissues or potential spills or splashes. Use of appropriate personal protection measures is required for every healthcare provider in these positions. Require to routinely use standard office equipment such as laptop, computer, mouse, and photocopier.

About Balboa United

Beginning in 1973, Balboa has grown from two physicians to a comprehensive nephrology team of 52 board certified physicians and 8 advanced practitioners. On January 1, 2018, Balboa Nephrology Medical Group (BNMG) launched Balboa United, a full-service medical practice management services organization. From one small office, BNMG now has 24 clinical offices throughout San Diego, Imperial, Orange and Riverside counties. In addition to office and hospital-based patient care, Balboa physicians manage the dialysis treatments of approximately 4,500 patients at 88 dialysis centers and conduct Nephrology based clinical research at 6 centers throughout Imperial and San Diego counties (California Institute of Renal Research).

• EEO Statement Balboa United is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions on the basis of merit. We want to have the best available person in every job. Our Company policy prohibits unlawful discrimination based on race, color, creed, religion (including religious dress & grooming), sex (including pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions), gender (including gender identity and gender expression), marital status, registered domestic partner status, military status, age, national origin or ancestry, physical or mental disability, medical condition (including cancer and genetic characteristics), genetic information, sexual orientation, or any other basis protected by applicable federal, state, or local law. We also prohibit unlawful discrimination based on the perception that anyone has any of those characteristics or is associated with a person who has or is perceived as having any of those characteristics. The Company is committed to compliance with all applicable laws providing equal employment opportunities. This commitment applies to all persons involved in our operations and prohibits unlawful discrimination by any employee of Balboa United, including managers and co-workers. If you believe you have been subjected to any form of unlawful discrimination, submit a written complaint to your manager or Human Resources (HR). Your complaint should be specific and should include the names of the individuals involved and the names of any witnesses. If you need assistance with your complaint, or if you prefer to make a complaint in person, contact the Company's Human Resources Department. We will immediately undertake an effective, thorough, and objective investigation and attempt to resolve the situation.