Intake Operations Support Specialist

This position is National Remote. You'll enjoy the flexibility to telecommute* from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

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.

The Intake Operations Support Specialist provides administrative and operational support to the Patient Access/Intake team to help ensure referrals are received, organized, documented, and routed appropriately throughout the intake process.

This role is responsible for supporting day-to-day intake operations, including referral entry, document management, phone and voicemail coverage, work queue maintenance, and routine follow-up. The Intake Operations Support Specialist works closely with Intake Specialists and leadership to help maintain an organized and efficient workflow while ensuring referrals and communications are handled timely and accurately.

This position does not independently manage complex benefit verification, prior authorization, or financial clearance activities but supports the Intake team by ensuring the information and documentation needed to complete those processes is available and appropriately routed.

This position is full-time, Monday - Friday. Employees are required to have flexibility to work any of our shift schedules during our normal business hours of 8:00 am - 4:30 pm CST. It may be necessary, given the business need, to work occasional overtime.

We offer 1 - 2 weeks of paid training. The hours of the training will be based on schedule or will be discussed on your first day of employment.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Receive incoming patient referrals and enter referral information accurately into applicable systems
• Create new patient records and enter demographic, insurance, provider, and referral information
• Review incoming referrals for basic completeness and route referrals to the appropriate Intake Specialist or team
• Receive, upload, index, and organize documents within the patient's electronic record
• Monitor and maintain incoming fax queues, electronic referral queues, shared inboxes, and other assigned work queues
• Answer incoming telephone calls and appropriately assist, document, transfer, or route calls based on the caller's needs
• Monitor, organize, document, and distribute voicemail messages to the appropriate team member or department
• Return routine calls when appropriate and escalate clinical, insurance, authorization, financial, or other complex questions to the appropriate team member
• Contact physician offices, referral sources, or patients to obtain basic missing information or documentation as directed
• Document all outreach attempts, incoming communications, and referral updates accurately within applicable systems
• Assist with tracking outstanding referral documentation and following up on administrative items needed to move referrals forward
• Support Intake Specialists by preparing and organizing referral information and documentation needed for benefit verification, authorization, or financial clearance activities
• Maintain accurate referral statuses and work queues to support timely processing
• Assist with patient and referral source communication regarding routine intake matters and route questions requiring additional review to the appropriate Intake Specialist
• Support departmental workflow by identifying referrals or tasks requiring attention and escalating them according to established processes
• Assist with daily administrative tasks, reporting, spreadsheets, and departmental tracking as assigned
• Maintain patient confidentiality and follow HIPAA, company policies, and applicable regulatory requirements
• Meet established productivity, accuracy, quality, and turnaround-time expectations
• Perform additional administrative and operational duties as assigned

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:

• High School Diploma / GED OR equivalent work experience
• Must be 18 years of age OR older
• 1+ years of administrative support, customer service, call center, medical office, healthcare operations, or related experience
• Experience with data entry and maintaining accurate electronic records
• Ability to work full-time, Monday - Friday. Employees are required to have flexibility to work any of our shift schedules during our normal business hours of 8:00 am - 4:30 pm CST. It may be necessary, given the business need, to work occasional overtime

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in healthcare, physician office, infusion, specialty pharmacy, home infusion, or patient access environment
• Experience processing or entering patient referrals
• Experience managing incoming telephone calls, voicemail queues, fax queues, or shared inboxes
• Experience working within an electronic medical record or patient management system
• Experience supporting a high-volume operational or administrative team
• Familiarity with basic healthcare and insurance terminology
• Familiarity with systems such as WeInfuse, EMR's or other healthcare platforms

Telecommuting Requirements:

• Ability to keep all company sensitive documents secure (if applicable)
• Required to have a dedicated work area established that is separated from other living areas and provides information privacy.
• Must live in a location that can receive a UnitedHealth Group approved high-speed internet connection or leverage an existing high-speed internet service.

Soft Skills:

• Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple work queues, tasks, and priorities
• Strong attention to detail and commitment to data accuracy
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Professional customer service skills when interacting with patients, referral sources, providers, and internal teams
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, and Excel
• Ability to learn new software applications and workflows quickly
• Ability to follow established processes, procedures, and escalation guidelines
• Ability to work independently in a remote environment while meeting productivity and quality expectations

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

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer 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 us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The hourly pay for this role will range from $16.00 to $29.00 per hour based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.

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.

UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

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