For questions that you may be asked at an interview for a surgery scheduler position, here is a set of possible questions along with appropriate answers.
Surgery Scheduler Interview Questions and Answers
1. What particular duties are specific to a surgery scheduler’s position?
As a surgery scheduler, one has to interview patients to derive past surgery and medical information, order lab, and radiology tests and expedite them, and ensure that appropriate measures are taken so that surgical procedures are scheduled in a time-efficient manner. Additionally, a surgery scheduler needs to coordinate with insurance companies and ensure that post-surgery appointments are scheduled on time.
2. Surgery scheduling is hardly a walk in the park. What specific skills do you need to be good at handling this work?
Scheduling surgery is probably not as easy as it seems. It requires a lot from the person performing it, including organization, adaptability, discipline, self-motivation, coordination, and of course, the ability to multitask. Apart from possessing all these, I am well-versed in handling surgery scheduling-related paperwork, ordering and following up on tests such as bone scans and MRIs, and can easily assess tests to determine if patients are ready to undergo a surgical procedure.
3. As far as your work is concerned, how important is patient education?
Patient education is critical. That is especially true where surgeries are concerned as both patients and families often feel unsure and scared. Providing them with information on what to expect puts their fears at ease.
4. As a patient scheduler, how often do you have to coordinate activities with external facilities?
Establishing relationships with external facilities is quite the norm in my work. One has to contact insurance companies, speak with PCPs that may not work at one’s own facility, and make arrangements for tests that the hospital may not offer. This is all in a day’s work for us.
5. What are your skills as far as technology is concerned?
I am experienced in handling ICD-10, and CPT-4 coding, and my knowledge of medical terminology is exceptional. I can manage popular word processing software and possess outstanding expertise in using MEDIC software.
6. Recount a time when you felt accomplished while performing your work duties.
There was a time when I had scheduled back-to-back surgeries for 3 days, and a new case came up. Since I always left a slot or two for emergency cases, I managed to book the patient in and have his surgery done just in time. I felt accomplished because had I not kept vacant slots on a daily basis, the patient’s life might have been put in danger.