Executive Director, Patient Access
About The Position
The Executive Director of Patient Access provides strategic and operational leadership for patient registration across Beth Israel Lahey Health hospitals. The role oversees multiple Directors of Patient Access and ensures operational excellence, standardization, and performance across patient access functions. The Executive Director develops and executes consistent, patient-centered registration and access strategies to support accurate patient identification, demographic and insurance information, timely access to care, regulatory compliance, revenue integrity, and a positive patient and provider experience. The Executive Director works closely with appointment scheduling, Financial Clearance, Financial Counseling, Revenue Cycle, Health Information Management, Managed Care, clinical and ambulatory operations, Information Technology/Epic, and other Patient Access functions. The role participates in system-level revenue cycle transformation initiatives and ensures patient access operations align with best practices, digital innovation, and system standardization. It reports to the Vice President, Patient Access and represents Patient Access leadership in enterprise initiatives and governance forums. This is a hybrid on-site role. Beth Israel Lahey Health requires staff to be vaccinated against influenza as a condition of employment.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- At least 10 years of experience in Patient Access, Revenue Cycle, or Healthcare Operations.
- At least 5 years of progressive leadership experience overseeing multi-site operations or multiple leaders.
- Demonstrated success implementing system-wide operational improvements and performance management programs.
- Experience leading revenue cycle transformation or large-scale operational initiatives.
- Expertise in patient access workflows, eligibility verification, authorization management, and point-of-service collections.
- Strong analytical skills and experience using performance dashboards and operational KPIs.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree in Health Administration, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
- Strong experience with Epic or similar enterprise EHR systems.
Responsibilities
- Develop and implement a system-wide Patient Access operations strategy aligned with revenue cycle performance, patient experience, and operational efficiency goals.
- Partner with executive leadership to standardize access workflows, policies, and technologies across hospitals and ambulatory locations.
- Lead Patient Access participation in enterprise revenue cycle transformation initiatives, including automation, patient self-service, centralized access models, and Epic optimization.
- Identify opportunities to reduce revenue leakage, improve throughput, and enhance financial performance through front-end process improvement.
- Represent Patient Access at system-level leadership forums, revenue cycle governance committees, and operational planning initiatives.
- Establish, monitor, and continuously improve Patient Access key performance indicators, including point-of-service collections, insurance eligibility verification accuracy, pre-registration and estimates completion, registration accuracy and data integrity, patient throughput and wait times, denial prevention related to front-end errors, and staff productivity and quality.
- Implement performance dashboards and reporting frameworks to monitor trends, identify risks, and drive continuous improvement.
- Lead regular operational performance reviews with Directors and senior stakeholders.
- Provide executive oversight for Patient Access registration operations and ensure departments meet or exceed industry benchmarks for access operations and revenue cycle performance.
- Oversee operational alignment among Patient Access, Patient Registration, Financial Counseling, Financial Clearance, Managed Care, Health Information Management, and clinical operations.
- Drive operational standardization across hospitals while accommodating site-specific needs.
- Serve as a primary liaison between Patient Access leadership and clinical, operational, and financial stakeholders.
- Partner with hospital leadership to ensure Patient Access supports clinical throughput, patient satisfaction, and financial goals.
- Lead cross-functional collaboration with Emergency Medicine, Surgical Services, Ambulatory Operations, Finance and Revenue Integrity, and Information Technology/Epic teams.
- Facilitate stakeholder engagement meetings to align priorities and resolve operational barriers.
- Lead, mentor, and develop multiple Directors of Patient Access and their teams.
- Set expectations and accountability for operational performance, staff engagement, and service excellence; foster continuous improvement, accountability, and patient-centered service.
- Ensure compliance with Beth Israel Lahey Health HR policies for hiring, performance management, disciplinary actions, and professional development.
- Collaborate with the Vice President to develop and manage operating and capital budgets across Patient Access functions.
- Manage staffing models, productivity standards, and expense controls effectively.
- Identify opportunities to optimize staffing structures and centralized models to support system efficiency.
- Work with Revenue Cycle Leaders to monitor registration quality and denial mitigation.
- Work with Hospital Leaders to understand scheduling and other support needs for departments.
- Work with vendors to monitor the quality and efficiency of support services.
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Executive
