Virtual Medical Assistant - Ophthalmology Front Desk & Insurance Suppor

Virtual Medical Assistant - Ophthalmology Front Desk & Insurance Support

Schedule: Monday to Friday, 10:30 AM to 5:00 PM Eastern Time

About the Practice

We are hiring a Virtual Medical Assistant to support a growing solo ophthalmology practice in the United States. The clinic needs a dependable, professional, and patient-focused team member who can help manage front desk communication, scheduling workflows, patient requests, and insurance-related support.

This is a patient-facing role. The selected candidate will serve as one of the first points of contact for patients and must be confident, courteous, organized, and highly reliable.

Primary Role Objective

The Virtual Medical Assistant will help reduce the clinic's front desk workload by ensuring that every patient call, voicemail, and request receives timely and accurate attention.

Success in this role means:

• Patients receive professional and responsive assistance.
• Calls and voicemails are answered or returned promptly.
• Patient requests are documented and routed correctly.
• Scheduling follows the clinic's triage protocols.
• No important task or patient concern is dropped.

Core Responsibilities

• Answer inbound patient calls professionally and return missed calls or voicemails promptly.
• Gather accurate patient information and determine the appropriate next action.
• Escalate urgent or clinical concerns appropriately while maintaining a confident and courteous phone presence.

• Create to-do tasks in Practice Plus / Nextech for refill requests, patient concerns, and administrative follow-ups.
• Route messages accurately to the physician, technician, or appropriate team member.
• Monitor pending requests to ensure no patient concern is missed or left unresolved.

• Assist new and established patients with appointment requests using the clinic's approved workflow.
• Complete required triage steps before scheduling patients who require physician review.
• Schedule or reschedule appointments accurately based on approved instructions and urgency guidance.

• Send appointment reminder texts using approved clinic scripts through Reach UC.
• Handle scheduling-related communication professionally and clearly.
• Redirect clinical questions to the appropriate phone or clinical workflow without providing medical advice.

• Communicate clearly with the clinic team through Microsoft Teams regarding breaks, updates, and pending items.
• Submit a daily end-of-day report summarizing completed tasks, unresolved concerns, and escalations.
• Maintain consistent accountability, responsiveness, and schedule adherence throughout the shift.

Additional Responsibilities After Training

As the selected candidate becomes comfortable with the clinic's workflow, responsibilities may expand to include:

• Verifying insurance eligibility and benefits through Medicare and commercial insurance portals.
• Reviewing copays, deductibles, coinsurance, and expected patient responsibility.
• Assisting the clinic in determining amounts to collect at the time of visit.
• Supporting referral processing and patient scheduling from referral sources.
• Following up on claim denials or billing concerns, as assigned.
• Conducting professional balance collection calls for overdue patient accounts.

• At least 1 year of U.S. healthcare administrative experience in a patient-facing role.
• Experience handling patient phone calls, appointment scheduling, and voicemail follow-up.
• Experience verifying insurance benefits, copays, deductibles, or patient responsibility.
• Strong spoken and written English communication skills.
• Professional, warm, and confident phone presence.
• Strong attention to detail when documenting patient information and requests.
• Ability to follow protocols carefully and escalate concerns appropriately.
• Proven reliability, ownership, and follow-through.
• Ability to work independently in a small clinic environment.
• Availability to work the required Eastern Time schedule.
• Reliable internet connection, functional computer, clear headset or microphone, and appropriate backup resources.

• Experience supporting an ophthalmology, optometry, retina, cataract, glaucoma, or eye care clinic.
• Experience using Nextech / Practice Plus.
• Experience using Reach UC or a similar medical phone and texting system.
• Experience with triage-based scheduling workflows.
• Familiarity with Medicare and commercial insurance portals such as Availity.
• Experience supporting referrals, claim denials, or patient balance collections.

Systems and Tools

System / Tool

Purpose

Practice Plus / Nextech

EMR, scheduling, patient records, task management

Reach UC

Patient phone calls, voicemail management, appointment reminder texting

Microsoft Teams

Internal clinic communication and break notifications

Insurance Portals

Eligibility and benefit verification

Online Referral Systems

Referral processing and scheduling

Time Doctor

Productivity and attendance tracking