Administration Officer, – Patient Administrative Support Services

Organisation: Queensland Health – Prince Charles Hospital

Job Title: Administration Officer, – Patient Administrative Support Services

Location: Chermside 

Dear Selection Panel

Re: Administration Officer, Patient Administrative Support Services (Referral Centre)I refer to your advertisement for the available within your departments for the ‘Administration Officer, Patient Administrative Support Services (Referral Centre)’, with great interest and enthusiasm, as my skills and qualification match your requirements for this position.  Therefore, I am submitting my resume for your review and consideration. Please allow me to briefly explain the contribution I would make within your organisation.

I have been successful in my current position within QSuper and my previous position as an Assistant Practice Manager.  Largely due to my knowledge of, and ability to quickly acquire knowledge of, various computer systems and issues.  I have been quick to learn the various processes, procedures and controls of my positions and I always aim to learn how my work is impacted by, and impacts on, various areas of the business units.  This enables me to carry out the work efficiently.

In my current role at QSuper and previous experience within the Medical field, I have developed exceptional skills in identifying and finding solutions to non-compliance areas, as well as identifying ways to improve existing business processes.  Furthermore, I am experienced and confident in attending to complaints, providing information, liaising with internal and external stakeholders, have the ability to solve complex issues, know the importance of business mandates and most importantly confidentiality in relation to member/clients records.

I believe that my processing speed and high level of accuracy is at a high level and that I am able to handle both the day to day simple tasks as well as the complicated irregular tasks.  Furthermore, my high level of speed and accuracy allows me to offer assistance to other team members so we are able to reach out team objective and mandates for the day.

I also had the opportunity to work with the Member Reporting team for a 3 months working as a project officer.  In this role I was responsible for ensuring that all verifiers were meeting their obligations and timeframes for the production of the Member Benefit Statement and Product Disclosures.  If verifiers were unable to meet the mandate, I had to negotiate and appropriate time when it had to be completed. If the verifier was unable to meet this deadline further action was taken – Often I would have to escalate this matter with the verifiers supervisor/manager as this was a vital task so that members would receive their member benefit statements and product disclosure in a timely manner. Whilst working in this team, I was also responsible to arrange/attend meetings with external and internal departments in regards to the production of these documents

I also coordinated the End of Year Job Schedule. This involved liaising with all departments across Operations including finance and ICT and producing a spreadsheet which outlined all reports and transactions which needed to be run throughout May to August 2009.   This also involved making sure that no reports /jobs or ICT maintenance and power outages clashed.  A lot of negotiation was required for this task as a lot of reports were required to be run during the end of year period. This meant scheduling time with ICT to have report run after hours and in which order reports needed to be run – so that reports weren’t clashing and the correct out put was maintained.  Throughout this process I developed very proficient skills as I was able to get people complete their tasks within mandate.

In my role within the Allocations Team, I have assisted Member Services in identifying issues of concern in relation to contributions allocated to members accounts incorrectly.  I actively dealt with their concerns by using the following steps:-

• Listened carefully to the problem
• Repeated what they has said to ensure correct understanding of the situation
• Retrieved original paperwork to help in determining correct answers
• Search Acurity and/or Receipting Systems for information
• Informed Technical Officer/Team leader of the findings
• Determined what actions were required. E.g. necessary transaction to rectify this error or an alternative solution to the issue
• Advised the rest of the team of the outcome
• Forwarded correspondence sent to member out lining details of the error and how it was rectified.

I use these steps of communication to help me determine answers quickly, accurately and efficiently and they lead to excellence in customer service.

I have extensive experience in co-ordinating clinical appointments for up to eight doctors on any one day, plus co-ordinating appointments for onsite specialists and dieticians.   I also have experience in managing waiting lists and referrals for each individual doctor, specialists and dieticians on a daily basis.  During the years I worked within this medical practice as an assistant practice manager I became proficient in handling not only the day to day requirements of running the medical centre but, also dealt with a diverse range of emergencies and issues that occurred within the practice on a daily basis.

I have been successful in my current position within QSuper, largely due to my knowledge of, and ability to quickly acquire knowledge of, various computer systems and issues.  I have been quick to learn the various processes, procedures and controls of my positions and I always aim to learn how my work is impacted by, and impacts on, other sections of the office.  This enables me to carry out the work efficiently.

Knowledge of systems and procedures has been a very important part of my work.  I am an experienced operator of the Acurity systems and this allows me to process Transactions and generate reports to reconcile daily for cashflows so they can report to QIC. I am also experienced in using Lotus Notes, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, and the Receipting System.

I am also proficient in using Pracsoft – using this software for making appointments, billing and balancing.  I also am experienced in using Medical Director and MYOB. I am also proficient and have an understanding of how the Medicare Schedule of Benefits is used and am aware of several item numbers.

In my role with the Allocations Team -Allocating of receipts and daily balancing and generating reports must be completed within specific timeframes each day so that monies can be transferred to QIC to be invested.  I have proven I have the ability to prioritize workloads in order meet deadlines so that other business units can achieve their deadlines. Examples of important deadlines that I am required to meet are as follows:-

• Assist with the checking of data entered by Australia Post onto the spreadsheets to balance Cash By Post
• Assist with entering incoming cheques into the receipting system and allocating a Cash By Post number
• Assist with coding and receipting of incoming cheques
• Accurately allocating receipts to members accounts
• Checking the data entry of other staff who have allocated receipts
• Balance receipts that have been allocated for the day for both plans – Accumulation and Defined Benefit.

I am committed to the success of QSuper and achieving the Business Objectives set by the Operations Branch by participating in the following activities:-

• I participate in multi-skilling in the Allocations and Employer Services Unit to assist other staff members with their workloads when required so that the team deadlines can be met.
• I participate in team meeting and one on ones performance management sessions.
• I actively address problems as they arise and liaise with my Technical Officer / Team Leader to ensure he/she is aware of any issues.
• I participate in reviewing and updating office procedures to ensure efficient and effective business operations.

In order to meet deadlines with allocating it is important that I manage my time efficiently.  I do this by:

• identifying the volume of receipts to be allocated onto members’ accounts the following day;
• organizing my workload to ensure that adequate time is assigned to checking the details and preparing of these receipts for allocation to members’ accounts;
• arriving early the next day to complete receipting as soon as possible to enable the checking officers to complete their work within deadlines for cashflow balancing;
• planning certain times in the day to contact members or rollover institutions regarding any problems I need to solve.

When a high volume of receipts require checking I formulate steps to organize my work by:

• running extra reports to esure complete accuracy before end of day balancing;

liaise with other sections regarding their cashflow

• reports to acquire these as early as possible to minimize any delay at end of day balancing.

During Peak periods e.g. end of financial year when workloads are very high I demonstrated initiative by:

• providing input into strategies to complete receipting within designated timeframes;
• offering support to team members who needed assistance with balancing of other accounts if errors occurred;
• liaising with my team leaders to keep them informed of progress and if extra help is needed.

An example of this is when on a busy day, where more than 230 receipts were received, the majority of the Allocations Team were absent and the only resource available was one staff member who was fairly new to the team and had limited experience in allocating and balancing.  In order for the team to meet the required deadline I allocated the majority of the accumulation receipts and also some of the defined benefit receipts. I also balanced both the accumulation receipts and defined benefits receipts by 1pm so that reports could be given to the Cashflows Team by the required mandate.  I was commended for my efforts and was presented with am “On the Spot Award” for Delivery

As a Technical Officer/Project Officer I had the opportunity to work with the Member Reporting team for a 3 months working as a project officer where my role was heavily involved completing the risk and compliance requirements for a successful member benefit statement output and product disclosure statement. In this role I was responsible for ensuring that all verifiers were meeting their obligations and timeframes for the production of the Member Benefit Statement and Product Disclosures.  If verifiers were unable to meet the mandate, I had to negotiate and appropriate time when it had to be completed.  Whilst working in this team, I was also responsible to arrange/attend meetings with external and internal departments in regards to the production of these documents.  Furthermore, I was involved in the testing of these documents.  I also have experience in generating manual member benefit statement for the previous financial year.  I coordinated the End of Year Job Schedule. This involved liaising with all departments across Operations including finance and ICT and producing a spreadsheet which outlined all reports and transactions which needed to be run throughout May to August 2009.   This also involved making sure that no reports /jobs or ICT maintenance and power outages clashed

I believe the most important aspects of being a team member is to be:

As a member of the ARC team I am enthusiastic, hardworking and loyal.  When given a specific task I planned and prioritized my workload to maximize efficiency and I am committed to achieving the goals I set.

Apart from my personal goals, I am aware of the goals of my team and in section meetings I:

• communicate openly and honestly discussing any problems or conflicts within the team;
• offer suggestions to improve efficiency.

At times due to heavy workload we work together as a team to process increasing workloads. As a member of this team I am committed to achieving this and I:

• arrive early each day to complete allocating transactions;
• offer assistance to other team members with their workloads resulting in meeting deadlines;
• when experiencing concerns with my workload, liaise with my team leader and kept her up to date with the situation.

As a result of planning and working together as a team, we achieved our goal.

In summary, I possess a professional work ethic, adaptability and flexibility.  I constantly strive to learn new information and assist team members wherever possible.  I am highly motivated and organized, always ensuring that my workload is prioritized.  I demonstrate the ability to work harmoniously with staff from diverse backgrounds and cultures.  I have worked with many client bases and colleagues in the past and treat all with the same respect, professionalism and courtesy.  This is a fundamental requirement in ensuring that the highest level of client service is achieved and customer satisfaction maintained