Care coordinator job description and interview questions
Copy the template, ask these questions, then hear every applicant handle a patient chasing an update.
Job description
[Practice name] is hiring a patient care coordinator to keep patients on track between visits. You will call patients, arrange referrals and follow-ups, and make sure nothing falls through the gap between providers.
Responsibilities
- Call patients to check in after visits, discharges and missed appointments
- Schedule follow-ups, referrals, tests and transport
- Review medications and care plans with patients and flag concerns to the clinical team
- Track referrals and results until each one is closed
- Help patients with insurance questions and prior authorisations
- Document every contact in the EHR the same day
- Escalate urgent symptoms to a nurse or provider right away
Requirements
- Two years in care coordination, case management or a patient-facing clinical support role
- Comfortable spending most of the day on the phone
- Organised: can manage a panel of patients without losing track
- Experience documenting in an EHR
- Knows when a conversation needs a clinician
Nice to have
- MA, LPN or social work background
- Experience with chronic care management or remote patient monitoring
- Experience with Medicare patients
Interview questions to ask a care coordinator
- 1
A patient living alone tells you she fell last week but is fine now. What do you ask next?
Listen for: Asks about injury, cause and medications, and escalates instead of moving on.
- 2
A patient has missed three follow-up calls. What do you do?
Listen for: Tries other times and contacts, documents it and follows the outreach policy.
- 3
How do you keep track of referrals that have not come back?
Listen for: A real system: a list, due dates and a regular review.
- 4
A patient says he stopped taking a medication because of the cost. How do you respond?
Listen for: No lecture. Finds out why, tells the care team and looks for a cheaper route.
- 5
Tell me about a time you caught something a provider needed to know.
Listen for: A specific story with what they noticed and who they told.
- 6
A caller asks you whether she should double her dose. What do you say?
Listen for: Does not advise. Gets a nurse or provider involved quickly.
- 7
How do you end a check-in call so the patient knows what happens next?
Listen for: Summarises the plan and confirms the patient understood it.
- 8
You have 30 calls to make and two hours. How do you decide the order?
Listen for: Highest risk first, with a reason.
Answers are rehearsed. A call is not.
GreetAI plays the patient. Every applicant takes the same 5 to 10 minute call, out loud, from a link, before you spend an hour interviewing them. You get a score, a summary and the full transcript.
“The doctor ordered my allergy test two weeks ago and said it needed approval. Nobody has called me. What is happening?”
A strong care coordinator
- Apologises for the silence before explaining
- Says what a prior authorisation is in plain words
- Gives a date for the next update, and who will call
Flagged for you
- Promised an approval they cannot guarantee
- Blamed the insurer or a co-worker
- Ended the call without a next step
$99 a month for 100 applicants, or book a demo
Common questions
What should a care coordinator job description include?
A short summary of the role, the daily responsibilities, the requirements you will really screen for, and the shift. Keep it to what a new hire does in the first month.
How do you test a care coordinator before hiring?
Give every applicant the same realistic situation and listen to how they handle it. With GreetAI, the AI plays a patient whose allergy test has been waiting on prior authorisation, and each applicant comes back with a score, a summary and the transcript.
How much does GreetAI cost?
$99 a month for 100 applicant sessions, or $200 a month for 500. Larger volumes get a custom plan.