6 free templates across general, primary care, prior authorization, specialty, and behavioral health practices, plus a small-practice version, with the HIPAA and FLSA guidance the template farms skip. Download as DOCX.
A referral coordinator job description has a clear center and a part the generic templates always skip. The center: in US usage, referral coordinator means the medical or patient referral coordinator, the person in a practice who manages patient referrals to specialists, handles prior authorizations and insurance verification, and keeps the records straight. The HR sense, someone running an employee referral program, barely exists under this term. The part the templates skip: this role handles protected health information on nearly every task, so HIPAA is a core requirement, and the role is almost always hourly and non-exempt. Get the role right and handle those two pieces, and the posting describes the hire you actually want.
At FirstHR, we build templates for the small medical practices that make this hire, including the specialty practices bringing on their first referral coordinator without an HR or compliance department. The six below cover the main practice types plus a small-practice version, with the HIPAA and FLSA pieces built in. The guide to writing a job description covers the fundamentals.
TL;DR
In US usage, referral coordinator means the medical role: managing patient referrals, prior authorizations, and insurance verification, not an HR employee-referral role. It handles PHI constantly, so HIPAA training and a confidentiality acknowledgment are core requirements. The role is almost always non-exempt and hourly, since the duties are administrative. There is no dedicated federal code; it maps to medical secretaries and administrative assistants (median $44,640 a year, about $21.46/hour, May 2024). Download as DOCX.
What a Referral Coordinator Does
A referral coordinator manages and processes patient referrals in a medical practice, working across referral processing, insurance and authorization, scheduling and communication, and records and confidentiality. The emphasis shifts by practice setting.
There is no dedicated federal occupation code for the title; the role maps most closely to medical secretaries and administrative assistants, the administrative, non-clinical category that covers medical-office support roles.
Referral Coordinator vs Related Roles
The most useful thing to settle before writing is that referral coordinator means the medical role, and to distinguish it from a few nearby titles that get confused with it.
Medical Referral Coordinator
The dominant meaning
Manages and processes patient referrals to specialists, handles prior authorizations and insurance verification, and maintains patient records. This is what the term almost always means, and what these templates cover.
Prior Authorization Coordinator
Payer-side focus
A closely related role focused on the insurance side: securing pre-authorizations, verifying eligibility, and managing denials with managed-care plans. Often overlaps with the referral coordinator in a small practice.
Care Coordinator
A broader, different role
Coordinates a patient's overall care across providers, not just referrals. A broader clinical-support role with a different scope and usually a separate hire, though the titles are sometimes confused.
Employee Referral Coordinator
Not this role
Running an employee referral program is an HR and recruiting function, usually handled by a recruiting coordinator, not the medical referral coordinator these templates cover. A different job entirely.
It Is the Medical Role
Referral coordinator means the medical role: managing patient referrals, prior authorizations, and insurance. A prior authorization coordinator focuses on the payer side and often overlaps. A care coordinator is broader, managing overall patient care, and is a separate hire. An employee referral program is an HR function, handled by a recruiting coordinator, not this role.
Referral Coordinator Duties and Responsibilities
A referral coordinator's duties cluster into referral processing, insurance and authorization, scheduling and communication, and records and confidentiality. The emphasis shifts by setting, but these four areas hold across the role.
Referral processing
Process incoming and outgoing referrals
Track referral status
Follow up on results
Insurance and authorization
Obtain prior authorizations
Verify eligibility and benefits
Manage denials and appeals
Scheduling and communication
Schedule appointments and imaging
Coordinate with specialists
Communicate with patients and payers
Records and confidentiality
Maintain accurate EMR records
Protect patient confidentiality (HIPAA)
Handle PHI securely
A primary care role leans on patient navigation; a specialty practice on high referral and procedure volume; an insurance-focused role on prior authorizations. For a structured way to scope the role before posting, the guide to defining job responsibilities walks through the process.
Which Template Should You Use?
Pick the template by practice setting, and use the small-practice version if you are hiring your first referral coordinator. The referral-processing core runs through all six, but the emphasis differs enough that the matched version reads credibly. Use this guide to choose.
General Medical
The core role
The standard medical referral coordinator: referral intake, prior authorizations, scheduling, and records for any practice. The right starting point for most.
Patient Referral (Primary Care)
Primary care / FQHC
For a primary care clinic or community health center, with patient navigation, interpreters, and follow-up across providers.
Insurance / Prior Auth
Payer-side focus
For a role centered on pre-authorizations, eligibility, and denials with managed-care plans, with ICD and CPT familiarity.
Specialty Practice
High referral volume
For orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, sleep, or pain practices, managing incoming and outgoing referrals plus imaging and procedures.
Small Practice (First Hire)
Owner-run, no HR
The flagship version for a small practice hiring its first referral coordinator, who owns the process and helps at the front desk.
Behavioral / Mental Health
Heightened sensitivity
For a behavioral health practice, managing intake and referrals to therapy and psychiatric services, with extra attention to confidentiality.
Match the Template to the Setting
Any practice: General Medical. Primary care or community health center: Patient Referral. Insurance and authorization focus: Insurance / Prior Auth. Orthopedics, cardiology, and similar: Specialty Practice. First dedicated hire at a small practice: Small Practice. Behavioral health: Behavioral / Mental Health. Whichever you pick, name HIPAA and classify the role as non-exempt.
Download all six as a single Word document or copy individual templates. Each follows the same structure: practice overview, position summary, key responsibilities, qualifications, a compliance note, and how to apply. Fill in the brackets, set the practice and reporting line, and post.
Download All 6 Job Description Templates
General, patient, insurance/prior auth, specialty, small practice, and behavioral health referral coordinator. All in one DOCX.
The standard medical referral coordinator: referral intake, prior authorizations, scheduling, and records for any practice. The right starting point for most.
This is the part the template farms skip, and for a referral coordinator it matters more than for most front-office roles, because the job is built around protected health information and is almost always hourly. Here is what belongs in the hiring decision.
HIPAA and PHI handling
A referral coordinator works with protected health information on essentially every task: diagnoses, medical history, and insurance details move with each referral and prior authorization, and that data is sent to specialists and payers. That makes HIPAA the central compliance issue for the role, more so than for many other front-office positions. The new hire should complete HIPAA training before handling records and sign a confidentiality acknowledgment, and the practice should have its privacy procedures in place. Name HIPAA and patient confidentiality in the posting, since it is a core requirement of the job, not an afterthought.
FLSA: usually non-exempt and hourly
A referral coordinator is typically non-exempt, meaning it is an hourly role that earns overtime. The work is administrative and clerical, processing referrals, obtaining authorizations, scheduling, and following procedures, which generally does not meet the FLSA administrative exemption test that requires the exercise of discretion and independent judgment on matters of significance. The learned professional exemption does not apply either, since the role does not require an advanced degree. Classify the role as non-exempt and hourly, track hours, and pay overtime where it applies, while confirming the classification against the actual duties. This is general information, not legal advice.
Confidentiality acknowledgment and BAA
Because the role handles PHI, the onboarding should capture a signed confidentiality acknowledgment, and the practice should understand where Business Associate Agreements apply with vendors that touch PHI, such as referral or fax services and software. For the employee specifically, the key documents are the confidentiality acknowledgment and the record that HIPAA training was completed. Store these signed documents centrally, since they are the records you will need if a privacy question ever arises, and getting them signed on day one keeps the new coordinator compliant from the start.
Standard hiring paperwork
Beyond the role-specific compliance, complete the standard hiring paperwork: Form I-9 for work authorization within the first days, the W-4 and state tax forms, and the basic employment agreement stating the hourly rate and non-exempt status. For a medical practice, pair these with the HIPAA and confidentiality documents above so the new coordinator is both legally onboarded and compliant with patient-privacy rules before handling any referrals. A simple, repeatable checklist keeps nothing from slipping. This is general information, not legal advice.
For the underlying rules, the HHS Office for Civil Rights explains the HIPAA Privacy Rule, and the Department of Labor explains the administrative exemption that a referral coordinator generally does not meet. Classify by actual duties.
HIPAA Is Core, and the Role Is Hourly
A referral coordinator handles PHI on nearly every task, so HIPAA training and a signed confidentiality acknowledgment are essential, and the posting should name patient confidentiality as a core requirement. Separately, the role is almost always non-exempt and hourly, since the administrative duties generally do not meet the FLSA administrative exemption. This is general information, not legal advice.
Requirements and Qualifications
This is an administrative medical-office role. Match the experience to your setting, and treat HIPAA understanding and EMR familiarity as essential rather than optional.
Requirement
What to know
Education
High school diploma or equivalent
Experience
Typically 1+ years in a medical office
Knowledge
Medical terminology, insurance, prior authorization
Systems
EMR/EHR familiarity (such as MyChart)
Compliance
HIPAA and patient confidentiality (essential)
Classification
Non-exempt, hourly (confirm by duties)
Match the requirements to your practice setting. The O*NET profile for medical secretaries covers the related administrative skill set, and the SHRM guide covers the standard sections of a job description.
How to Write a Referral Coordinator Job Description
A strong referral coordinator posting takes shape once you settle the setting, name HIPAA, and classify the role. Here is the process the templates are built around.
1
Confirm the medical role and setting
Referral coordinator means the medical role. Name the setting: primary care, specialty, insurance-focused, or behavioral health. Pick the matching template.
2
List the real responsibilities
Referral processing, insurance and authorization, scheduling and communication, and records and confidentiality, calibrated to your setting.
3
Name HIPAA directly
The role handles PHI constantly, so name HIPAA and patient confidentiality as a core requirement, not a formality.
4
Spell out qualifications
High school diploma, a year or more in a medical office, medical terminology and insurance knowledge, EMR familiarity, and HIPAA understanding.
5
Classify as non-exempt and set hourly pay
The administrative duties usually do not meet an FLSA exemption, so classify the role as non-exempt and hourly, and benchmark pay to your region.
Keep the posting neutral and inclusive, since the EEOC prohibits job advertisements that show a preference based on protected characteristics.
Referral Coordinator Pay and Outlook
A referral coordinator is an hourly role, and because there is no dedicated federal code, the closest benchmark is the medical secretaries and administrative assistants category.
Pay and Demand (BLS)
The closest federal category, medical secretaries and administrative assistants, had a median wage of $44,640 a year, about $21.46 an hour, in May 2024, and held about 850,000 jobs, with employment projected to grow 4% from 2024 to 2034 as the healthcare industry expands (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Pay varies by region, practice type, and experience, with higher-cost metro areas and specialty or insurance-heavy roles tending toward the upper end, and entry-level roles below the median. Because the role is non-exempt, you pay an hourly rate plus overtime when it applies, so describe the pay as an hourly range rather than an annual salary. For a posting, benchmark to your specific region rather than the national figure, since local labor markets vary widely, and include a good-faith hourly range where your state requires pay transparency. National compensation surveys are the right reference for regional and experience-level detail.
Hiring a Referral Coordinator
Hospitals and large groups hire referral coordinators as standalone roles through an HR department. A small practice that reaches the volume to need one, usually a growing specialty practice, hires directly, often without an HR or compliance function, and the person hired takes referrals off the front desk. Here is what actually matters.
Referral coordinator means the medical role, so write it that way
When someone searches for a referral coordinator job description, they almost always mean the medical or patient referral coordinator: the person in a medical practice who manages and processes patient referrals to specialists, handles prior authorizations and insurance verification, and keeps the records straight. The HR sense, someone who runs an employee referral program, barely appears under this term, because in practice that work belongs to a recruiting coordinator. So write the posting for the medical role and name the setting clearly, whether that is primary care, a specialty practice, or behavioral health. There are a few nearby titles worth distinguishing too: a prior authorization coordinator focuses on the insurance side and often overlaps with the referral coordinator in a small office, while a care coordinator is a broader role managing a patient's overall care, not just referrals. This page covers the medical referral coordinator across the main practice types plus a small-practice version.
Larger organizations hire it as a standalone role; small practices often combine it
It helps to be honest about who hires a dedicated referral coordinator, because it shapes your expectations. Hospitals, large multi-specialty groups, health systems, community health centers, and managed-care organizations hire this as a standalone role, often several of them, because their referral volume is high. A small independent practice, especially a solo or two-to-five-physician group, more often folds the referral function into the front desk, a medical assistant, or the office manager rather than hiring a dedicated coordinator. Where a smaller practice does make this a standalone hire, it is usually a specialty practice, orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, sleep, or pain, where the volume of referrals and prior authorizations has grown enough to overwhelm the front desk. If that is you, the small-practice template on this page is written for exactly that moment: your first dedicated referral coordinator, who owns the process and still helps at the front desk.
HIPAA and hourly classification are the parts that actually matter here
Two things separate a careful referral coordinator posting from a generic one, and most templates skip both. The first is HIPAA. This role touches protected health information on nearly every task, since diagnoses, medical history, and insurance details travel with each referral and prior authorization, so HIPAA training and a signed confidentiality acknowledgment are not optional, and the posting should name patient confidentiality as a core requirement. The second is classification. A referral coordinator is almost always non-exempt and paid hourly, because the work is administrative and clerical and generally does not meet the FLSA administrative exemption, which requires discretion and independent judgment on significant matters, so the role earns overtime and you should track hours. Naming both, the HIPAA expectation and the hourly, non-exempt status, makes the posting accurate and sets the role up correctly from day one. This is general information, not legal advice.
After You Hire: Onboarding
The job description is step one, and because this role handles protected health information from day one, the onboarding should put the HIPAA and confidentiality piece first. Start with the employment basics: get the offer or employment agreement signed with the hourly rate and the non-exempt status, complete Form I-9 within the first days along with the rest of the new hire paperwork, and gather tax forms.
Before the coordinator touches any patient records, have them complete HIPAA training and sign a confidentiality acknowledgment, and store both centrally, the kind of structured start the employee onboarding guide describes. Then set them up to do the work: give them access to the EMR and referral systems, walk them through your referral and prior-authorization procedures and the payers you work with most, introduce them to the front desk and clinical staff they will coordinate with, and store the signed onboarding documents centrally.
A documented, repeatable onboarding process matters here, because the HIPAA and confidentiality step has to happen before the coordinator handles any PHI. FirstHR supports it directly: an onboarding wizard and task workflows so each step is tracked, a HIPAA training module with a tracked e-signed confidentiality acknowledgment, document management for referral procedures and signed forms, and a simple HRIS with an org chart as the practice grows. Because pricing is flat rather than per seat, a small practice pays one rate as it scales. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with a payroll provider. Applicant tracking is coming soon to FirstHR.
Key Takeaways
In US usage, referral coordinator means the medical role, managing patient referrals, prior authorizations, and insurance, not an HR employee-referral role.
The role handles PHI on nearly every task, so HIPAA training and a signed confidentiality acknowledgment are core requirements, not formalities.
A referral coordinator is almost always non-exempt and hourly, since the administrative duties generally do not meet the FLSA administrative exemption.
Larger organizations hire it as a standalone role; small practices often combine it with the front desk unless referral volume is high, as in specialty practices.
Match the template to the setting: general, primary care, prior authorization, specialty, behavioral health, or a small-practice first hire.
There is no dedicated federal code; the role maps to medical secretaries and administrative assistants (median $44,640 a year, about $21.46/hour, May 2024).
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a referral coordinator do?
A referral coordinator manages and processes patient referrals in a medical practice. The duties cluster into a few areas: referral processing, including handling incoming and outgoing referrals, tracking their status, and following up on results; insurance and authorization, including obtaining prior authorizations, verifying eligibility and benefits, and managing denials; scheduling and communication, including booking specialist appointments and imaging and acting as the point of contact between patients, providers, and payers; and records and confidentiality, including maintaining accurate records in the EMR and protecting protected health information under HIPAA. In US usage, referral coordinator almost always means this medical role, as opposed to an employee referral program coordinator, which is an HR function. The specifics shift by setting: a primary care clinic emphasizes patient navigation, a specialty practice handles high referral and procedure volume, and an insurance-focused role centers on prior authorizations. This page includes a template for the main practice types plus a small-practice version.
What is the difference between a referral coordinator and a care coordinator?
The two are often confused but have different scopes. A referral coordinator focuses specifically on referrals: processing referrals to and from specialists, obtaining prior authorizations, verifying insurance, scheduling, and tracking referrals to completion. It is an administrative role centered on the referral and authorization workflow. A care coordinator has a broader job, coordinating a patient's overall care across multiple providers and settings, which can include referrals but also care plans, patient education, follow-up on treatment, and sometimes clinical support. Care coordinator roles tend to be broader and are sometimes filled by people with clinical backgrounds, and they are usually a separate, distinct hire. A related title is the prior authorization coordinator, which focuses on the insurance side of the work and overlaps heavily with the referral coordinator, especially in a smaller practice where one person may do both. When you write a posting, describe the actual scope you need rather than relying on the title, since these roles blur together in practice. This page covers the referral coordinator; a care coordinator would be a different posting.
Is a referral coordinator exempt or non-exempt from overtime?
A referral coordinator is almost always non-exempt, meaning it is an hourly role that is entitled to overtime. The work is primarily administrative and clerical: processing referrals, obtaining authorizations, verifying insurance, scheduling, and following established procedures. This generally does not meet the FLSA administrative exemption, which requires that the employee's primary duty include the exercise of discretion and independent judgment with respect to matters of significance. Following payer rules and practice procedures, even skillfully, is usually not the kind of high-level independent judgment that exemption requires. The learned professional exemption does not apply either, since the role does not require an advanced specialized degree. So in nearly all cases you should classify a referral coordinator as non-exempt and hourly, track hours worked, and pay overtime when it applies. As always, classification is based on actual duties rather than the job title, so confirm against the real responsibilities, and treat any unusual case carefully. This is general information, not legal advice; confirm classification with a professional.
What HIPAA and compliance issues apply to a referral coordinator?
HIPAA is the central compliance issue for a referral coordinator, because the role handles protected health information on essentially every task. Diagnoses, medical history, and insurance details travel with each referral and prior authorization, and that information is shared with specialists, imaging centers, and payers, so the coordinator is constantly working with PHI. That means HIPAA training should be completed before the coordinator handles records, and a signed confidentiality acknowledgment should be part of onboarding. The practice should have its privacy procedures in place and understand where Business Associate Agreements apply with vendors that touch PHI, such as referral, fax, or software services. For the employee specifically, the key records are the confidentiality acknowledgment and proof that HIPAA training was completed, and these should be stored centrally in case a privacy question ever arises. Because this is a genuine core requirement of the job rather than a formality, the job description should name HIPAA and patient confidentiality directly. This is general information, not legal advice; consult a professional on your HIPAA program.
Does a small medical practice need a referral coordinator, and is FirstHR a fit?
It depends on referral volume. A solo or small two-to-five-physician practice often folds the referral function into the front desk, a medical assistant, or the office manager rather than hiring a dedicated coordinator, because the volume does not justify a separate role. The practices that do make this a standalone hire tend to be specialty practices, orthopedics, cardiology, gastroenterology, sleep, or pain, where referrals and prior authorizations have grown enough to overwhelm the front desk. When a small practice reaches that point and hires its first referral coordinator, it usually does so without an HR or compliance department, and that is where a tool like FirstHR fits: an onboarding wizard and task workflows for the new hire, a HIPAA training module with a tracked, e-signed confidentiality acknowledgment, document management for referral procedures and signed forms, and a simple HRIS. Because the role handles PHI from day one, the training and confidentiality piece matters immediately. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, so pair it with a payroll provider, and applicant tracking is coming soon.
How do I write a referral coordinator job description?
Start by confirming you mean the medical referral coordinator and name the practice setting, whether primary care, a specialty practice, insurance-focused, or behavioral health, then pick the matching template. Write an honest position summary and list the real responsibilities across referral processing, insurance and authorization, scheduling and communication, and records and confidentiality, calibrated to your setting. Spell out the qualifications: typically a high school diploma, a year or more in a medical office, knowledge of medical terminology and insurance, familiarity with EMR systems, and an understanding of HIPAA. Name HIPAA and patient confidentiality directly, since the role handles PHI constantly and that is a core requirement, not a formality. Classify the role as non-exempt and hourly, since the administrative duties generally do not meet an FLSA exemption, and set compensation as an hourly rate benchmarked to your region. State the reporting line, and in a small practice, be explicit that the role owns the referral process and helps at the front desk. The templates on this page give you a starting structure for each setting with the HIPAA and FLSA pieces built in.
How much does a referral coordinator make?
A referral coordinator is an hourly role, and the closest federal benchmark is the medical secretaries and administrative assistants category, which is where the role maps in the federal occupation system since there is no dedicated code for referral coordinator. That category had a median wage of about $44,640 a year, roughly $21.46 an hour, in May 2024. Pay varies by region, practice type, and experience, with higher-cost metro areas and specialty or insurance-heavy roles tending toward the upper end, and entry-level roles below the median. Because the role is non-exempt, you pay an hourly rate and overtime when it applies, so describe the pay as an hourly range rather than an annual salary. For a posting, benchmark to your specific region rather than the national figure, since local labor markets vary widely, and include a good-faith hourly range where your state requires pay transparency. National compensation surveys are the right reference for regional and experience-level detail beyond the federal median.
What happens after I hire a referral coordinator?
Run a structured onboarding, and because this role handles protected health information from day one, put the HIPAA and confidentiality piece first. Start with the employment basics: get the offer or employment agreement signed with the hourly rate and the non-exempt status, complete Form I-9 within the first days, and gather tax forms. Before the coordinator touches any patient records, have them complete HIPAA training and sign a confidentiality acknowledgment, and store both centrally, since these are the records you will need if a privacy question arises. Then set them up to do the work: give them access to the EMR and referral systems, walk them through your referral and prior-authorization procedures, the payers you work with most, and the specialists you refer to, and introduce them to the front desk and clinical staff they will coordinate with. Set early check-ins so they ramp quickly, and in a small practice where they are building the process, give them a clear picture of how referrals flow today. FirstHR supports this directly with an onboarding wizard and task workflows, a HIPAA training module with a tracked e-signed acknowledgment, document management for referral procedures and signed forms, and a simple HRIS with an org chart as the practice grows. FirstHR does not run payroll or administer benefits, and applicant tracking is coming soon.
