Our team has a high bar and a proven process that we use to find the best virtual intake coordinators for healthcare providers:
Read more about our vetting process: Why Most Global Hiring Fails, And How the Ataraxis Vetting Process Fixes It
George was professional, responsive and a pleasure to work with throughout the hiring process. He took the time to understand my needs and connected me with an excellent candidate. I truly appreciate his support and would highly recommend his recruiting services.
As a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner running a solo telehealth and in-person practice, I needed a virtual medical assistant who could manage patient scheduling, EHR workflows, and front-office coordination with minimal oversight.
My VA through Ataraxis has been exactly that. She handles new patient intake, manages our scheduling and messaging, and keeps everything running while I focus on patient care. What surprised me most is how she’s become a real thought partner. I’ll ask her to review a conversation or an email and she gives me a straight, honest read. That kind of judgment is hard to find. She’s now taking on more responsibilities as we expand our services, and she told me she’s in it for the long haul.
I only wish I had done this sooner. If you’re a mental health provider considering a HIPAA-compliant virtual assistant, don’t wait.
We’ve had an excellent experience working with Ataraxis and are so impressed. Their virtual assistants are professional, reliable, and highly skilled. The onboarding process was smooth, communication is consistent, and they truly understand how to match the right assistant to the right business needs.
They’ve helped us streamline operations and stay organized without the overhead of hiring in-house. I highly recommend them to any business looking for dependable virtual support.
I made a hire through Ataraxis a few months ago.
As it goes in any hiring process, when you meet the right person, you know immediately. I knew when I met the 5th candidate that she’d be the one.
3 weeks into her job she had a fundamental mastery of her own responsibilities. 2 weeks later, she assumed a whole new set of responsibilities on top of that. And now she’s a fully integrated part of my team.
10/10 will work with Ataraxis again.
We’ve had a really good experience working with Ataraxis. They make it easy to find talented healthcare virtual assistants, who have great attention to detail, at affordable rates. The team is very easy to work with and keeps in touch regularly, checking in to make sure everything is running smoothly and that we’re satisfied with our assistants. Overall, it’s been a smooth, professional experience from start to finish.
George has been a great help throughout this process, which was new to us. His team sourced some great candidates for us to choose from, and we are really happy with our hire. George has also conducted regular check-ins and follow-ups. He is happy to share his personal insights and experience around structuring the job description, onboarding, and getting the best out of this recruitment process. I would definitely recommend George and his business for VA solutions.
George and his team did a fantastic job placing a Talent Sourcer on my team. She’s smart, communicates well, works diligently, and is a self-starter. Bonus points, her background (10 years!) is in an industry directly adjacent to ours. As such, she was able to catch on extremely fast and onboarding her was a breeze. My only gripe is that I wish I had taken this on sooner. Thanks Ataraxis!
George reached out to me on LinkedIn, and while I rarely respond to cold outreach offering services, his approach felt thoughtful and genuine, so I decided to explore what his firm had to offer. We’ve been considering offshore talent for several years but hadn’t made the leap, as we hadn’t found the right offshore partner. Recently, we started working with Ataraxis, and it’s been a fantastic experience—they quickly sourced an exceptional contractor for our recruiting team and ran a smooth, efficient process from start to finish.
Highly Recommend!
I had the absolute pleasure of working with George, and I can confidently say that his expertise and guidance have been game-changing for my business. On our first conversation, George provided clear, actionable strategies tailored to my recruitment challenges. His deep industry knowledge, tested outreach methods, and data-driven approach set him apart.
If you’re a recruiter or business owner looking for expert-level guidance on client acquisition, outreach, and recruitment processes, I highly recommend working with George. His advice is practical, results-driven, and delivered with professionalism and genuine care for your success.
Thank you, George, for your time, insights, and the motivation to push forward with confidence!
I was pretty hesitant about hiring people offshore, but had a fantastic experience working with Ataraxis to hire a virtual recruiter for my business. They connected me with Anabel, who’s based in the Philippines and has been incredible—she’s extremely hard-working, quick to learn, and always brings a great attitude to her work. Now I’m thinking about how I can build a team around her.
The entire process with Ataraxis has been seamless, and they regularly check in to make sure I’m happy with the service they’ve provided. It’s clear they truly care about their clients’ success. I highly recommend Ataraxis to anyone looking to grow their team with quality talent!
Intake sounds simple until you’re the one running it. Someone has to answer the inquiry quickly, collect accurate demographic and insurance information, explain what to expect, verify eligibility, and get the right paperwork in front of the right person before the first visit. Miss a step and you get a denied claim, a frustrated new patient, or a no-show before the relationship even starts.
A well-staffed intake process is one of the clearest predictors of whether a prospective patient actually becomes an established one. And it’s also one of the first things to break down when call volume spikes and your front-office team is stretched across scheduling, billing questions, and everything else that lands on their desk.
A Virtual Intake Coordinator from Ataraxis owns that first-touch process from start to finish, so your clinical and administrative staff aren’t pulled off their core responsibilities every time a new inquiry comes in.
No long-term contracts.
Hiring a virtual intake coordinator through Ataraxis delivers reliable, HIPAA-aware intake support at a fraction of U.S. salaries, handling inquiries, eligibility checks, and pre-visit paperwork while keeping overhead low.
Offshore staffing through Ataraxis costs a fraction of what a comparable U.S. hire runs once you factor in salary, benefits, payroll tax, and recruiting overhead. There are no upfront fees, no lock-in contracts, and no billing surprises. The numbers below show exactly what you pay and what you save.
174 hrs · $11/hr all-in
87 hrs · $12/hr all-in
vs. $60–97k for a U.S. hire
2–3 vetted candidates
Here’s how virtual intake coordinator companies like Upwork, Fiverr, OnlineJobs.PH, and Ataraxis compare on key hiring criteria.
Intake is one of the first places PHI enters your practice, and often the place where the most data changes hands in the shortest window of time. Whether your coordinator is confirming a date of birth, pulling insurance details, or logging a chief complaint, HIPAA applies from the first message onward.
At Ataraxis, every virtual intake coordinator signs a Business Associate Agreement (BAA) before day one. They’re trained on HIPAA requirements and PHI handling best practices, work through secure, encrypted connections, and follow access protocols that limit PHI exposure to only what’s needed for the task at hand. Your practice remains the covered entity. We make sure your virtual staff holds up their end of the obligation.
This is not a checkbox exercise. It’s how we protect your patients, your license, and your practice.
Healthcare Operations & Intake Coordinator | Philippines
$11/hr for full-time ($1,950/month), $12/hr for part-time ($1,100/month) | US hours | Available now
Maria is a Philippines-based Healthcare Operations Coordinator and Intake Specialist with 5+ years of direct US healthcare experience and fluent, native-level professional English. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from a respected Manila-based medical and health sciences college and is a Registered Psychometrician licensed by the Philippine Professional Regulation Commission, giving her a clinical-adjacent academic foundation that sharpens her patient communication and documentation accuracy.
For over three years she served as Intake Coordinator for a US-based Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) provider in New York, acting as the primary contact for families of children with serious emotional disturbance, developmental disabilities, and medically fragile conditions. She handled intake assessments, Medicaid and HCBS eligibility verification, prior authorizations, provider onboarding, OIG screenings, appeals, and HIPAA-compliant documentation. Previously she spent three years at a US hospice, palliative, and primary care provider managing referrals, insurance verification, scheduling, and EMR records.
EMR/software: Athenahealth, Azalea Health, MicroMD, SimplePractice, Dragon Medical, Availity, NaviNet, ePACES, RingCentral, Dialpad
Reference (10/10 re-hire): A former Operations Supervisor confirmed her assessment and described her as dependable, highly organized, and proactive, exceeding expectations.
Best fit for: Behavioral health practices, pediatric and HCBS providers, hospice teams, and telehealth platforms needing a HIPAA-compliant intake and care coordination VA.
Medical Virtual Assistant & Healthcare Admin Specialist | Kenya
$11/hr for full-time, $12/hr for part-time | US hours | Available now
Joyce is a Kenya-based Medical Virtual Assistant with 3+ years of direct US healthcare experience, a BS in Foods, Nutrition & Dietetics and fluent professional English developed through years of client-facing roles with US and international organizations. Her clinical academic background gives her a meaningful edge in understanding medical context, patient communication, and documentation accuracy.
She spent nearly three years as a Medical VA for a US family practice, where she was managing physician calendars, patient scheduling, EMR documentation (Accuro and OSCAR), lab and pharmacy coordination, insurance inquiries, and prescription follow-ups. Most recently she supported small mental health counseling practice as a Practice Assistant, handling TherapyNotes, insurance verification, claims submission, payment processing, and intake workflows.
EMR/Software: Accuro, OSCAR EMR, TherapyNotes, RingCentral, Square, Notion, Google Workspace, Microsoft Office, Canva, Slack
References (10/10 and 10/10 re-hire): Both a supervising Office Manager and a Media Manager independently confirmed she consistently exceeded expectations, maintained zero connectivity issues, and proactively created systems that improved team efficiency.
“She is absolutely wonderful and a joy to work with. I wish I had more for her to do and would give her a high recommendation to another employer. She is quick to respond, great with questions, very well organized and has great communication skills. If there is some way I can be a formal reference for her I am more than happy to do so.”
Best fit for: Family practices, behavioral health therapists, and telehealth platforms needing a HIPAA-aware, US-experienced Medical VA for scheduling, EMR management, patient communication, and insurance follow-ups.
A Virtual Intake Coordinator is a remote specialist trained to manage the first-touch process for new and returning patients. They handle inbound inquiries, collect demographic and clinical intake information, verify insurance eligibility, explain practice policies, and get new patients scheduled and prepped for their first visit, working inside your existing EHR and intake systems so nothing falls between the cracks.
Ideal Candidate Qualities
A Junior Virtual Intake Coordinator typically has 0-2 years of experience and handles essential first-touch duties such as responding to new patient inquiries, collecting basic demographic information, and scheduling initial appointments. They’re familiar with EHR systems, medical terminology, and HIPAA compliance requirements.
A good fit for solo practitioners or small practices that need reliable, consistent handling of new patient inquiries without a lot of hand-holding on the basics.
With 2-5 years of experience, a Mid-Level Virtual Intake Coordinator manages a broader intake workflow, including insurance eligibility verification, benefits breakdowns, intake form processing, and coordinating between multiple providers or locations. They work independently within EHR platforms and can flag issues before they become scheduling or billing problems.
Well-suited for multi-provider practices or clinics with steady new patient volume that need someone who can own the intake pipeline end-to-end with minimal oversight.
A Senior Virtual Intake Coordinator brings 5+ years of experience and typically oversees the full intake function, including complex eligibility and authorization cases, cross-team coordination, and intake process optimization. They often train junior staff, refine intake SOPs, and serve as the point person when an inquiry doesn’t follow the standard path.
A strong fit for larger practices, group clinics, or healthcare organizations that want someone to own the intake function end-to-end, including workflow design, escalations, and reporting on intake-to-scheduled conversion rates.
Many of our virtual intake coordinators have graduate degrees, so you’ll have access to high-level expertise, without the price tag.
These roles get confused often, but they cover distinct parts of the patient journey. Here is the short version:
| Role | What They Handle |
|---|---|
|
Virtual Intake Coordinator |
Owns the first-touch process for new patients. Inquiry response, demographic and clinical intake collection, insurance eligibility verification, and getting the patient scheduled and prepped before their first visit. |
|
Front-of-house patient contact for existing and new patients alike. Answering calls, scheduling and rescheduling, managing the waitlist, and handling basic intake as one part of a broader front-desk role. |
|
|
Manages inbound and outbound referrals between providers, tracks authorizations tied to those referrals, and coordinates care transitions once a patient is already established in the system. |
If none of these three is quite the fit, our full breakdown of healthcare VA roles covers everything from billing and coding to scribing and prior authorization.
Switching platforms is not the solution. Your virtual intake coordinator integrates directly into the EHR you already use. Our candidates are screened for familiarity with the major systems healthcare practices run on. Below are the platforms we actively recruit for. If you are running something not listed here, let us know and we will screen specifically for that experience.
Scheduling, notes, billing, and telehealth support.
Documentation, scheduling, and billing workflows.
Integrated clinical documentation, patient engagement, and revenue cycle support.
Insurance paneling, credentialing support, and session admin.
Clinical workflows, population health tools, and billing.
Managed billing, scheduling, and documentation.
Not seeing your platform? We screen candidates for any EHR your practice runs. Contact us to request a platform-specific search, or browse our full list of supported EHR systems to see the complete range of platforms we recruit for.
Your Virtual Intake Coordinator should have a solid grasp of what makes a new patient’s first interaction with your practice go smoothly. They’ll respond to inbound inquiries, collect and verify demographic and insurance information, explain your intake requirements and policies, route clinical questions to the right staff member, and get new patients fully scheduled and documented before their first appointment, all through secure, HIPAA-compliant systems.
When this role is staffed well, the impact is measurable. Inquiry-to-scheduled conversion rates go up, intake errors that lead to denied claims go down, and your clinical staff spend less time chasing missing paperwork before a first visit. It also gives new patients a smoother, more reassuring first impression of your practice, which matters more than most owners realize for retention.
Respond promptly to calls, emails, and web form submissions from prospective patients.
Send, collect, and review new patient intake forms for completeness.
Confirm active coverage and benefits before a patient’s first visit.
Enter and verify new patient information accurately in your EHR.
Gather medical history, consent forms, and any specialty-specific paperwork ahead of time.
Get new patients on the calendar and confirm the details with them directly.
Coordinate the transfer of records from a patient’s previous provider.
Route urgent or clinically complex inquiries to the right staff member quickly.
Walk new patients through coverage, copays, and what to expect financially.
Keep a clear record of where each inquiry stands in the intake pipeline.
Maintain a waitlist for full panels and reach out as openings become available.
Loop in scheduling, billing, or clinical staff at the right point in the process.
Faster, more consistent responses mean fewer prospective patients drop off before their first visit.
Accurate eligibility verification and intake data up front means fewer billing surprises down the line.
You get dedicated, full-time intake support at a fraction of the cost of a local hire, without benefits, PTO, or office space.
Ataraxis does the heavy lifting by thoroughly screening and vetting virtual assistants before they’re matched with you. This means you won’t waste time sorting through unqualified candidates.
Ataraxis virtual assistants are fluent in English and skilled at communicating professionally, ensuring there’s no miscommunication in your day-to-day tasks.
Unlike many freelancers who may not align with your work hours, Ataraxis virtual assistants are willing (and happy) to work in your time zone, making collaboration seamless.
All Ataraxis VAs are college educated and have specialized experience in various fields, so you can trust them to hit the ground running.
Hiring through Ataraxis gives you access to ongoing support. If your team of virtual assistants needs adjustments, Ataraxis is there to help, unlike freelancer platforms where you’re on your own.
Freelancer platforms often attract short-term gig workers who juggle multiple client projects at the same time. Ataraxis virtual assistants are committed to building lasting partnerships with one employer, becoming a true extension of your team.
When you’re ready to hire a virtual assistant, the best location depends on the mix of cost, language skills, time-zone overlap, and talent depth your business needs. Here’s a quick tour of the best regions, each with clear advantages and a few trade-offs, to help you decide where to hire a virtual assistant who fits your workflow.
We created the Global Outsourcing Talent Index, a data-backed audit of all 193 UN-recognized countries scored across five variables: labor cost, English proficiency, talent availability, digital infrastructure, and political stability.
The results were eye opening and are frequently cited by major news sites and industry blogs all over the world.
Pros:
It’s no surprise that many business owners choose to hire a Filipino virtual assistant. Candidates from this region have strong English proficiency, familiarity with western business culture, and experience working for U.S. clients. 24/7 support is also easy because night-shift work is common.
This region excels in customer service, lead generation, virtual assistance, data entry, bookkeeping, medical billing, and healthcare administrative support.
Cons:
Increasing demand for Filipino VAs is slowly pushing wages up and internet outages during typhoon season occasionally interrupt service.
*Ataraxis virtual assistants from this region have power and internet backups to minimize service interruption and are willing to work in your time zone.
Pros:
Near-shore time zones mean you can hire a virtual assistant who works the same hours as your U.S. team, reducing lag on urgent tasks. Businesses with a large Spanish-speaking customer base may also benefit from hiring bilingual virtual assistants.
This region excels in sales development, business development, digital marketing, customer success, and account management.
Cons:
Hourly rates are much higher and the talent pool is much smaller compared to the Philippines and other regions.
Pros:
Highly educated, English-first workforce with a neutral accent, which is a big plus for phone-based support, especially for U.K. and Australian companies. South Africa overlaps with U.S. mornings and U.K. afternoons, which is ideal for trans-Atlantic operations.
This region excels in virtual assistance, healthcare administrative support, sales development, business development, digital marketing, customer success, content moderation, and account management.
Cons:
Cost of talent sits between Latin America and the Philippines, trimming, but not eliminating, cost savings.
Pros:
Rapidly growing BPO sector that is less competitive compared to the Philippines and Latin America. Top candidates from this region have accents that are almost indistinguishable from U.S. based staff.
This region excels in virtual assistance, executive assistance, software engineering, accounting, data entry, social media management, and business development.
Cons:
Infrastructure and internet reliability still improving outside major hubs.
Pros:
Near-shore location for U.S companies delivers real-time collaboration for East-Coast teams and fluent English support. Very competitive operating costs versus onshore hires.
This region excels in customer service, BPO call centers, healthcare claims, technical support, and help desk support.
Cons:
Smaller population means fewer specialised VAs, so scaling a large team may be harder. Hourly rates trend closer to Latin American levels given limited supply.
Pros:
Countries in this region are well-known for high education levels and strong work ethic. Arguably, the deepest talent pools for technical roles and has an ideal time zone overlap for European companies.
This region excels in software engineering, quality assurance, DevOps, data analytics, and other technical roles.
Cons:
Costs are much higher than the Philippines, East Africa, and time zone differences may be a bigger obstacle for U.S. companies.
Hiring your first virtual assistant is perfectly doable on your own, but most business owners underestimate the hours it takes to sift through resumes, schedule calls, and run multiple interview rounds. Research shows that the DIY path typically drags on for weeks (or months), involves several interviews, and can still lead to mis-hires if you rush the vetting stage.
List everything you want your virtual assistant to own and create detailed instructions. Clarifying scope upfront helps with long term retention and minimizes confusion.
Having a set schedule helps create structure and consistency.
Write a descriptive JD with required experience, KPIs, schedule expectations, etc.
Post your job description to virtual assistant websites and craft a recruitment message you can use to reach out to candidates directly.
Expect to screen 40-100 candidates to find your ideal virtual assistant.
Give 2-3 finalist candidates a short take-home assignment to test their attention-to-detail, responsiveness, and work product.
A bad hire can cost up to 50% of first-year pay, so doing your due diligence is cheap insurance.
Draft an employment or contractor agreement, include an NDA, and grant tool access.
When you hire a virtual intake coordinator through Ataraxis, you skip steps 2-7, saving you weeks of lost productivity.
We source top talent globally from regions including the Philippines, Latin America, South Africa, and East Africa, and beyond.
Our team screens over 200 applicants with a 5% acceptance rate. Every candidate goes through:
You’ll only meet the top 3–4 finalists we’ve personally vetted and approved.
Read more about our vetting process here.
For each role, we’ll shortlist 3–4 highly qualified finalists based on your requirements. You’ll have the opportunity to interview each candidate and decide who’s the best fit for your team.
We set up and maintain secure VPN access and use timekeeping and productivity monitoring tools to ensure accountability. All staff are trained in data security best practices to maintain compliance and confidentiality.
Protecting PHI is a top priority. All staff sign Business Associate Agreements (BAAs) and strict confidentiality agreements, and Ataraxis signs BAAs with all of our customers. Our internal processes and systems are designed to maintain full HIPAA compliance at every level.
Ataraxis has been operating for just under two years, but our roots run deep. Our founder has led a successful recruitment business for nine years, employing global talent within that company as well. (We eat our own cooking.)
Yes. Once hired, your chosen candidate will work exclusively for you on a full-time basis. They’ll act as a dedicated member of your team, fully aligned with your goals and workflow.
We take care of all the back-end work including compliance, paperwork, and payroll. You’ll simply receive a monthly Stripe invoice for each person you hire, making the process seamless and hassle-free.
No. Our agreements are month-to-month, giving you complete flexibility. There are no deposits or lock-in contracts.
Hiring a virtual assistant saves money compared to having full-time office staff. This lets you and your team focus more on growing your business and doing what you do best.
Great virtual assistants often come from countries and regions like the Philippines, South Africa, Latin America, East Africa, and Eastern Europe. These countries are known for their skilled workers who speak fluent English and have strong work ethics.
Yes! At Ataraxis, your virtual assistant will match your local time zone, making teamwork easy and smooth.
US-based virtual assistants usually cost $25 to $50 per hour. Ataraxis offers MBA-level, full-time virtual assistants starting at just $11 per hour. This means you get great help for up to 70% less.
We keep your information safe by using secure VPN connections, regular monitoring, and privacy agreements signed by every virtual assistant.
Payments are easy and secure with Stripe. We also promise 100% satisfaction – if you’re not happy, we’ll fix it right away.
It depends on your workload. We offer both full-time and part-time virtual assistants, so you can choose the option that fits how much support you actually need. Full-time VAs tend to integrate deeper into your team and build more institutional knowledge over time, while part-time VAs are a good fit if you have a narrower, well-defined set of tasks.
Check out our pricing page to see rates for both options.
Ataraxis uses software to monitor your assistant’s activities, ensuring they are always working efficiently and staying productive.
It’s best to set up clear communication methods right from the start. You can use popular tools like Slack, WhatsApp, Zoom, or email, based on what works best for you.
Your satisfaction is our #1 priority. If you’re not happy, we’ll quickly address the issue and find you a better match, or issue a prorated refund if needed.
Great communication skills, attention to detail, strong work ethics, time zone alignment, work from home readiness, and problem solving skills. We carefully choose assistants based on their skills, experience, availability, and special abilities to make sure they match your business needs.
Yes! Many businesses find virtual assistants deliver even better quality work, especially for specialized tasks.
Paying very low rates, like $2-3 per hour, usually means getting less skilled workers and lower quality work. Ataraxis offers affordable assistants who are highly skilled.
It usually takes 1-2 weeks to get your virtual assistant fully onboarded and familiar with your business, ensuring you work well together from the very beginning.
No. They follow your scripted intake questions, collect information, and escalate clinical or urgent matters to licensed staff per your escalation protocol.
Your intake coordinator follows the tone, script, and discretion guidelines you set during onboarding, particularly important for behavioral health, OB/GYN, and other sensitive specialties.
Yes. They send confirmations, verify details ahead of the visit, and follow up on incomplete intake forms so the first appointment is less likely to fall through.
If new patient inquiries are slipping through the cracks, taking too long to convert, or arriving with incomplete information, a Virtual Intake Coordinator through Ataraxis is worth a conversation. You’ll improve conversion, reduce billing errors, and give new patients a smoother first experience with your practice from day one.
Start Hiring a Virtual Intake Coordinator Today
