Manager, Patient Access

Hourly Pay Range:

$35.16 - $54.50 - The hourly pay rate offered is determined by a candidate's expertise and years of experience, among other factors.

Manager, Patient Access

Position Highlights:

• Position: Manager, Patient Access
• Location: Evanston, IL
• Full Time (40 hours)
• Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-5:30pm, Shifts may vary due to coverage needs due to staffing levels
• Required Travel: No

Job Summary:

The Manager, Patient Access is responsible for leading and supervising the patient access department with specific focus on one or more functional areas within the patient access structure. They are responsible for ensuring the efficient and accurate processing of patient registrations, scheduling, insurance verification, and other access services. This role plays a critical role in optimizing the patient experience and supporting the hospital's commitment to high-quality healthcare services. Reports to the Senior Manager of Patient Registration.

What you will do:

• Lead and oversee day-to-day patient access operations across Central Registration, Admitting, Ambulatory Surgery, Emergency Room Registration, and scheduling, ensuring appropriate staffing, accuracy, timeliness, and efficiency during all hours of operation.
• Provide hands-on operational support as needed, including performing Patient Access Representative duties, on-call coverage, and assuming Senior Manager responsibilities in their absence, including 24/7 financial approval for inbound transfers.
• Recruit, hire, onboard, train, and manage performance of patient access staff, including conducting performance evaluations, coaching, disciplinary actions, and maintaining accurate personnel and payroll records.
• Supervise, mentor, and develop team members and leads, fostering staff engagement, accountability, recognition, and a positive work environment through regular feedback, coaching, and career development discussions.
• Oversee registration, scheduling, insurance verification, and financial clearance processes, ensuring accurate patient information, coverage eligibility, authorizations, and coordination with billing, insurance providers, and financial counseling services.
• Analyze operational and quality metrics such as registration accuracy, cash management, patient wait times, and scheduling efficiency; prepare performance scorecards and reports, and drive continuous improvement initiatives.
• Develop, maintain, and improve workflows, tools, and best practices to streamline patient access processes, adapt to changing patient and organizational needs, and enhance overall operational effectiveness.
• Resolve and track escalated issues and service concerns, perform service recovery, identify trends, and recommend solutions to senior leadership to prevent recurrence and improve patient experience.
• Lead quality assurance activities, including audits, reconciliations, and error resolution, providing timely feedback, training, and guidance to ensure compliance and data integrity.
• Collaborate with clinical departments, physicians, hospital leadership, and regional partners, representing the department in meetings, communicating policy and system updates, coordinating workflow changes, and supporting organizational initiatives as needed.

What you will need:

• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Health Management, or a related field required; equivalent relevant experience may be considered in lieu of a degree.
• Certification: Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM) - National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) Preferred. Certified Revenue Cycle Specialist (CRCS) - American Association of Healthcare Administrative Management (AAHAM) Preferred
• Experience: 5-7 years of experience in healthcare related field required. 3-5 years of management experience in hospital access services, admitting or patient financial services preferred.
• Unique or Preferred Skills:
• Strong customer service skills with a focus on conflict resolution and de-escalation
• Proven leadership skills necessary to motivate employees and drive results forward
• Structured organizational skills to manage daily registration operations, coordinate multiple projects simultaneously, implement regulations and guidelines and monitor production.
• Ability to interpret technical instructions and abstract variables outside of current practices and roles to generate creative ideas, solutions to problems, and devise new or enhanced processes.
• Ability to collect and analyze data, identify problems, research regulatory topics, interpret federal regulations, and develop meaningful recommendations.
• Working knowledge of revenue cycle processes.