Weekend Intake & Admissions Specialist

Weekend Intake & Admissions Specialist

Location: South Africa – Remote Employment Type: Full-Time Schedule: Thursday–Sunday, 12-hour shifts Hours: Either 10:00 PM–10:00 AM EST or 6:00 PM–6:00 AM EST PTO: 14 days Salary: R 26,500–30,000

About the Role

We’re looking for a compassionate, highly organised Weekend Intake & Admissions Specialist to be the first point of contact for prospective patients and families reaching out for support. This is a phone-focused role where you’ll speak with people who may be distressed, hesitant, or unsure about taking the next step. You’ll need to build trust quickly, understand their situation, gather accurate information, guide them through the intake process, and help move appropriate prospects toward admission. You’ll also be responsible for detailed documentation, CRM/EMR updates, follow-up, and making sure the weekday admissions team receives clear and complete handoffs. This role is ideal for someone who is warm and empathetic but also confident, organised, persistent, and comfortable having difficult conversations.

Key Responsibilities

Intake & Admissions

• Handle incoming calls from prospective patients and families.
• Build rapport and create a supportive, professional experience from the first interaction.
• Ask thoughtful questions to understand the caller’s needs and circumstances.
• Guide qualified and motivated prospects through the intake and admissions process.
• Clearly explain next steps and help callers move forward where appropriate.
• Recognise when a caller needs empathy and support versus when a more direct approach is needed.
• Handle sensitive, emotional, and sometimes difficult conversations calmly and professionally.

Follow-Up & Lead Management

• Follow up consistently with prospective patients who may take several days or weeks to make a decision.
• Maintain accurate lead information and follow-up activity in the CRM.
• Track conversations, next steps, and outstanding information.
• Make sure motivated prospects don't fall through the cracks.
• Maintain persistence while remaining respectful and empathetic.

Documentation & Handoffs

• Enter detailed and accurate notes into the CRM/EMR.
• Keep patient and prospect information organised and up to date.
• Document conversations, relevant information, and next steps clearly.
• Ensure clean and complete handoffs to the weekday admissions team.
• Follow established intake and documentation procedures.

Requirements

You must have previous experience in a phone-based, intake, admissions, healthcare, customer service, sales, or similar role. We're looking for someone with:

• Strong professional phone skills.
• Experience speaking with customers, patients, families, clients, or prospects by phone.
• Strong communication and active listening skills.
• Excellent organisation and attention to detail.
• Experience using CRM systems.
• The ability to learn new CRM/EMR systems quickly.
• Strong documentation and note-taking skills.
• Excellent follow-through and persistence.
• Ability to manage multiple leads and conversations at different stages.
• Confidence handling difficult, emotional, or sensitive conversations.
• Ability to work independently without constant supervision.
• Reliable availability for overnight weekend shifts.

Preferred Experience

Experience in any of the following would be particularly valuable:

• Behavioral health
• Mental health
• Rehabilitation
• Healthcare intake
• Patient coordination
• Admissions
• Case management
• Medical call centres
• Patient/customer support
• Consultative sales
• High-touch customer service

Empathy & Judgment

You’ll be dealing with a sensitive population, so you need to be able to read the situation and understand when someone needs reassurance, patience, and empathy versus when they need clear direction and encouragement to take the next step.

Strong Phone Communication

You should be confident and natural on the phone, able to build trust quickly, ask the right questions, explain information clearly, and guide callers through the intake process.

Organisation & Documentation

You need to be extremely organised. Accurate CRM/EMR notes, clear documentation, follow-ups, and handoffs are a major part of the role.

Persistence & Follow-Through

Prospective patients may not make a decision immediately. You need to be comfortable following up over a one- to two-week period and keeping track of where each prospect is in the process.

Difficult Conversations

You should be comfortable speaking with people who may be upset, distressed, frustrated, or hesitant, while remaining calm, professional, and compassionate.