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Northwell Health · 5 days ago

Director, Financial Services (Call Center)

Melville, NY

Full-time

Onsite

Director/Executive

$130K/yr - $228K/yr

8+ years exp

Northwell Health is seeking a highly experienced and compassionate Director, Financial Services to lead and optimize their financial services call center operations. This role involves overseeing a large team that supports patients with medical billing issues and ensuring exceptional patient satisfaction and operational efficiency.

ConsultingHealth CareHealth DiagnosticsMedicalPublishing

Responsibilities

Strategic Planning: Formulate and execute the annual contact center business plan, including the development of strategic initiatives and long-term goals for revenue optimization, patient engagement, and operational efficiency

Innovation & Technology Adoption: Champion and drive innovation, evaluating new technologies (e.g., AI, NLP, IVR, CRM systems) and process improvements to enhance service delivery, improve efficiency, drive collections and adapt to evolving patient expectations

Process Optimization & Redesign: Lead systematic and rational analysis to identify root causes of deficiencies within critical workflows, systems, and processes directly impacting the contact center's self-pay billing operations and the patient financial experience. This includes optimizing processes related to patient financial inquiry resolution, payment arrangement administration, financial counseling workflows, statement clarity, pre-service & estimate financial discussions, and self-service abilities. Develop, recommend, and implement comprehensive process improvements designed to streamline patient financial interactions, simplify operational execution for contact center agents, drive significant efficiencies, enhance overall patient financial understanding and satisfaction, and measurably improve self-pay collection rates all while ensuring strict adherence to federal and New York State regulations governing medical billing, collections, and patient financial transparency

Policy & Procedure Development: Ensure the continuous development, implementation, and evaluation of operating policies, procedures, and best practices that align with organizational objectives, regulatory requirements, and industry standards

Market & Industry Analysis: Monitor industry trends, regulatory changes (e.g., No Surprises Act, price transparency), and competitive landscapes to proactively adjust strategies and maintain leading-edge patient financial experience

Contact Center Oversight: Provide comprehensive oversight and management for all functions within the Revenue Cycle Contact Center, including inbound/outbound call management, payment processing, and patient billing inquiries

Performance & Productivity Management: Establish, monitor, and report on key performance indicators (KPIs) and service level agreements (SLAs) to ensure department quality, financial targets, and productivity goals are consistently met or exceeded. This includes metrics such as Average Speed of Answer (ASA), Abandonment Rate, First Call Resolution (FCR), Average Handle Time (AHT), Quality Scores, Collection Rates, and Patient Satisfaction

Data Analysis & Reporting: Conduct in-depth analysis of contact center metrics, reports, and dashboards to identify trends, anomalies, and areas for improvement. Leverage data to inform strategic decisions, optimize staffing, and enhance operational effectiveness

Workflow & Inventory Management: Ensure daily workflows are meticulously maintained to achieve optimal quality, quantity, and efficiency. Proactively monitor and manage self-pay inventory and patient accounts to ensure timely addressal, follow-up, and resolution, minimizing aged receivables

Workforce Management Partnership: Collaborate closely with the Workforce Management (WFM) team to accurately forecast call volumes, optimize scheduling, and ensure resources (staffing, technology) are appropriately allocated to meet daily and anticipated call demands and service level targets

Quality Assurance & Compliance: Implement and oversee robust quality assurance programs for patient interactions. Ensure strict adherence to all regulatory requirements, HIPAA, PCI compliance, and organizational policies related to patient data privacy and financial transactions

Collections & A/R Management: Partner with the AR Strategy team and the Bad Debt team to drive initiatives focused on maximizing self-pay collections, reducing bad debt, and improving overall cash flow. Develop and monitor strategies for payment plan enrollment and proactive patient outreach

Budget Management: Develop, manage, and adhere to the department's annual operating budget, identifying opportunities for cost savings and efficient resource utilization

Revenue Cycle Integration: Proactively identify opportunities where contact center performance impacts other areas of the revenue cycle (e.g., front-end registration, coding, denials management) and collaborate to implement preventative measures or corrective actions

Team Building & Culture: Foster a highly engaged, collaborative, and patient-centric work environment that encourages professional growth, accountability, and continuous learning

Talent Acquisition & Development: Lead the selection, onboarding, development, and ongoing management of direct reports. Oversee similar processes for indirect reports, ensuring a strong talent pipeline and succession planning

Performance Management: Conduct routine staff meetings, annual performance evaluations, and provide timely, constructive feedback. Address performance issues and administer counseling or disciplinary action as necessary, adhering to HR policies

Mentorship & Coaching: Actively mentor and coach staff to develop their skills, foster professional advancement, and build future leaders within the organization

Role Model: Exemplify the organization's mission, vision, and core values, acting as a role model for the "Culture of Care" behavioral expectations

Cross-Functional Partnership: Collaborate effectively across the Health System enterprise (e.g., Patient Access, Financial Assistance, Clinical Departments, IT, Finance, Compliance) to achieve shared goals and objectives, ensuring seamless patient financial health experiences and integrated revenue cycle processes

Internal & External Representation: Act as a key representative for the Revenue Cycle Contact Center, building strong relationships with internal stakeholders and potentially external vendors or partners

Patient Advocacy: Champion a patient-centric approach in all contact center operations, ensuring empathetic communication, transparent financial explanations, and efficient resolution of patient inquiries and concerns

Ensures compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and tax laws, and regulatory agency standards of compliance; maintains current knowledge of regulatory guidelines, billing processes, federal, state, and regulatory agency reimbursement changes

Performs related duties as required. All responsibilities noted here are considered essential functions of the job under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Duties not mentioned here, but considered related are not essential functions

Qualification

Healthcare revenue cycle managementMedical billing processesCall center managementProcess improvementWorkflow optimizationInsurance verificationPatient collectionsData analysisPatient advocacyTeam leadershipCollaboration

Required

Bachelor's Degree required, or equivalent combination of education and related experience

8-12 years of relevant experience and 7+ years of leadership / management experience, required

Minimum of 8 years of progressive leadership experience in a high-volume call center environment, with at least 7 years specifically managing teams (supervisors/managers) within a healthcare financial services or medical billing context

Proven track record of managing large teams (e.g., 50+ FTEs) and achieving operational and patient satisfaction targets

Extensive experience with healthcare revenue cycle management, medical billing processes, insurance verification, and patient collections

Demonstrated experience in process improvement, workflow optimization, and leveraging call center technologies

Company

Northwell Health

Glassdoor3.9

Northwell Health is New York State’s largest health care provider and private employer, with 28 hospitals, about 1,000+ outpatient facilities and more than 16,000 affiliated physicians.

Founded in 1997

Manhasset, New York, USA

10001+ employees