Data Analyst - Healthcare Decision Support, Cost Accounting

UnitedHealth Group•Plymouth, MN

20h•$72,800 - $130,000•Hybrid

About The Position

Optum Insight is partnering with payers, providers, governments, and life sciences companies to simplify and enhance clinical, administrative, and financial processes through software-enabled services and analytics, while advancing value-based care as part of Optum's broader mission to help millions of people live healthier lives. Through this work, teams contribute to better health outcomes by improving how care, data, and services connect across the health system. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together. Optum Insight is seeking a highly analytical and service-oriented Advanced Data Analyst, Decision Support & Cost Accounting to join our Decision Support and Cost Accounting team. In this role, you will partner directly with client health system leaders, finance executives, and operational teams to deliver strategic financial insights, optimize cost allocation models, and drive data-informed decision-making. By leveraging healthcare analytics platforms—such as Strata—and business intelligence tools, you will transform complex operational and financial data into actionable strategies that improve hospital margins, service line profitability, budgeting, and performance management.

Requirements

3+ years of experience in healthcare data analytics, decision support, cost accounting, budgeting, or financial modeling within a health system or healthcare consulting environment
3+ years of experience utilizing Microsoft Excel (including Power Query, advanced formulas, and pivot tables) and business intelligence tools for data manipulation and visualization
2+ years of experience working with healthcare decision support and cost accounting platforms (e.g., Strata Decision Technology, EPSi, Syntellis, or similar DSS platforms)
2+ years of experience conducting service line profitability, cost allocation, reimbursement methodology, or hospital margin analyses
2+ years of experience preparing and presenting analytical findings and executive-level reports to cross-functional stakeholders

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Finance, Business Analytics, Health Informatics, or a related quantitative field
Hands-on experience with the Strata Analytics Platform (StrataJazz)
Experience with advanced visualization tools such as Power BI or Tableau
Proficiency with SQL for data extraction, querying, and data validation
In-depth knowledge of hospital financial accounting, general ledger structures, billing, and clinical coding systems (e.g., ICD-10, CPT, DRG)

Responsibilities

Develop, maintain, and enhance financial, cost accounting, and decision support analytical models, dashboards, and executive scorecards to drive operational efficiency and profitability
Perform detailed analyses on hospital productivity, service line profitability, reimbursement methodologies, budgeting, forecasting, and operational improvement opportunities
Partner with healthcare operational and financial leaders to translate complex clinical and financial data into strategic recommendations and executive summaries
Maintain and validate healthcare cost accounting methodologies, including cost allocation development, reclassifications, margin analysis, and reconciliation with source systems
Manage and support decision support assets, including statistical reporting methodologies, volume planning, and service line performance structures
Collaborate with cross-functional data integration and governance teams to ensure high data quality, reconcile data loads, and maintain comprehensive technical documentation
Provide subject matter expertise, end-user support, and technical training on analytics platforms (such as Strata) and reporting solutions for internal and client stakeholders