Director, Patient Financial Services – Remote

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together

This position is responsible for planning, developing and leading all support functions that contribute to the capture, management and collections of patient service revenue from all payers.  Is responsible for the overall management of Hospital Billing, Physician Billing, Payment Management, and Customer Service. Collaborates with Patient Access Services and Health Information Management operations in order to enhance quality, customer service and financial sustainability. Responsible for oversight of Revenue Cycle initiatives as they pertain to Patient Financial Services.

Candidate must live in the local area. May be able to work from home a couple of days per week.

If you are located in Cooperstown NY, you will have the flexibility to work remotely* as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities:

The following section contains representative examples of work that will be performed in positions allocated to this classification.  Optum is a dynamic organization, and the environment can be fluid. Roles and responsibilities can often be expanded to accommodate changing patient or organizational needs and conditions as well as to tap into skills and talents of employees. Accordingly, employees may be asked to perform duties that are outside the specific functions that are listed. 

• Decision Maker
  • Develops and accomplishes objectives, strategies and tactics for Billing, Revenue Cycle and Third Party Contracting with special emphasis on Annual Operating Plan Objectives as prioritized by the VP, Revenue Cycle and Clinical Contract Advisory Committees.  Where appropriate, institutes corrective actions, including reallocating resources, reprioritizes, and/or recommends modifications to established plans
  • Develops and maintains a departmental structure, operating procedures and core staffing to meet demands for services
  • Establishes and/or staffs appropriate intra and interdepartmental workgroups related to accomplishments of the Annual Operating Plan
  • Maintains close contact with all divisions within revenue cycle, including all departments which affect cash flow, including those outside of direct reporting relationships
  • Establishes and monitors operating performance standards for the department which ensure the effective day-to-day operation of the department
• Skilled Communicator
  • Establishes timely and effective communication with department staff to keep them aware of important divisional or departmental information and to receive information and insights from employees
  • Maintains payer relationships that provide accountability and payer responsiveness to issues affecting the revenue cycle and third party contract participation
• Accountability
  • Accepts responsibility for all aspects of leadership without blame, complaining or procrastination
  • Identifies and corrects systems, care and service delivery problems which interfere with patient, staff and customer satisfaction issues and/or recommends action to appropriate party
  • Evaluates, develops, and maintains departmental performance improvement standards and measures
  • Ensures compliance with all regulatory agency requirements (e.g. Joint Commission, CMS)
  • Proactively identifies potential and actual risks to safety, identifies the underlying causes and makes necessary improvements so risk is reduced
• Human Resource Management
  • Ensures that all employees in the department know what is to be accomplished in their jobs; whether their performance is satisfactory and what they can do to improve performance
  • Supervises department management staff and others within the department, develops mutually agreed upon standards of performance, appraises performance, and provides direction ensuring effective performance of department responsibilities
  • Ensures that employees in the department possess or are developing the necessary knowledge and skills to perform their work
• Financial Resource Management
  • Monitors accomplishment of agreed upon objectives at the departmental level; and where appropriate, institutes corrective actions, including reallocating resources, reprioritizing, and/or recommending modifications to established plans
  • Develops service improvements, management systems, expense control programs etc. to ensure achievement of financial objectives
  • All areas of Hospital and Physician Billing ensuring that cash and receivable targets are met or exceeded. Ensures AR days remain within the predetermined goals/benchmark
  • Accepts accountability to deliver a timely budget for all billing, charge entry, accounts receivable, and cashiering departments within Finance
  • Ensures that revenue cycle and contracting objectives are met through senior leadership, liaison to clinical leadership and support of the Vice President, Revenue Cycle, Finance, and, and the SVP Chief Financial & Administrative Officer, as well as operating work groups designated for revenue cycle and contracting initiatives
  • Provides feedback to the Vice President, Revenue Cycle on departmental revenue and expense variances to budget on a monthly basis
  • Ensures physician and hospital charges have been appropriately collected and reported via month end closing processes
  • Is responsible for Revenue Cycle dashboard measures
• Network/System Thinking – A leader who thinks globally and adopts philosophy of continuous improvement for Optum processes/systems and the Optum                    
  • Collaborates on upgrades and improvements of the Financial and Clinical Revenue Cycle and other related systems
  • Develops working relationships with partners in Cooperstown and outside to affect positive results
  • Regularly assesses opportunities to enhance system(s) performance
  • Develops action plans and completes them to improve patient and employee satisfaction
  • Connects with counter parts at affiliate sites to actualize potential for adoption of best practices and standardization
  • As appropriate, takes action to create a better experience for patients traversing the continuum of care
  • Measures deployment of resources and develops plans to optimize ROI    
  • Ensures the financial management/billing needs of the affiliated organizations are being met through process improvement, collaboration and integrated work plans

You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of experience in healthcare finance, third party contract negotiation and revenue cycle management
• 5+ years of management level experience 
• Thorough knowledge of federal, state and local regulations as related to financial operations within healthcare
• Proficiency in excel spreadsheet applications; monarch software applications, access database applications
• Ability to evaluate, understand and use integrated Financial Software systems

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with staff Supervision.
• Experience presenting data in various formats, and various forums to varied audiences
• Experience assessing and delegating responsibilities throughout Revenue Cycle operations

*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy

New York Residents Only: The salary range for this role is $104,700 to $190,400 annually. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. UnitedHealth Group complies with all minimum wage laws as applicable. In addition to your salary, UnitedHealth Group offers benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with UnitedHealth Group, you’ll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone–of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income–deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes – an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.