PATIENT ACCESS MANAGER - Patient Access - Full Time - Days

Sierra View Medical • Porterville, CA

1d • Remote

About The Position

The Patient Access Manager provides operational and strategic leadership for all patient access services, including scheduling, pre-registration, insurance verification, eligibility, and registration, while also overseeing switchboard operations. This role ensures efficient front-end workflow, excellent patient and caller experiences, and compliance with regulatory and organizational standards. The Manager acts as a key liaison between patient access, switchboard operations, clinical areas, IT, and senior leadership to drive improvements in throughput, communication, and revenue cycle performance. They also assist with Quality Control development and implementation within the Patient Access and Communication Departments, ensure appropriate staffing levels, and provide training for new and current staff. The Manager serves as a resource for other departments performing access functions and collaborates with the Director of Health Information Management/Utilization Review to establish best practice standards and key performance indicators. This position integrates department services with the hospital's primary functions and care delivery plan, develops and reviews house-wide and unit-specific policies, and determines the qualifications and competence of department personnel. The role assumes 24-hour, seven-day responsibility and accountability for the department's mission and service expectations. The position is designated as exempt and may allow for remote work with VP approval. Employees have an affirmative duty to report perceived misconduct.

Requirements

• High school education or equivalent experience.
• Minimum of three (3) years of progressive management experience in Pt. Access/Pt. Registration Department in a hospital-based setting or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• Working knowledge of Medicare, Medi-Cal, and HMO/PPO billing requirements.
• Knowledge of Title 22, EMTALA registration and patient access workflows, patient financial consent requirements, and hospital Conditions of Participation.
• Strong organizational and leadership skills.
• Excellent communication, problem-solving, and interpersonal abilities.
• Ability to handle high-pressure situations calmly and professionally.
• Ability to read and interpret documents such as safety rules, operating and maintenance instructions, and procedure manuals.
• Ability to write routine reports and correspondence if required.
• Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, commissions, proportions, and percentages if required.
• Ability to apply common sense understanding to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral, or diagram form.
• Ability to deal with problems involving several concrete variables in standardized situations.
• Working knowledge of PC based applications.
• Experience with medical information systems (Meditech preferred).

Nice To Haves

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, Business, or a related field preferred.
• Previous management of switchboard communication department in a hospital-based setting highly desired.
• Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM) required within one year of hire.

Responsibilities

• Direct daily operations of patient access functions (registration, admissions, scheduling, insurance verification, pre-service eligibility) across hospital and outpatient settings.
• Oversee switchboard operations, ensuring timely handling of incoming calls, paging, operator-assisted communication, and emergency notifications.
• Hire, train, coach, and mentor staff, supervisors, and leads across patient access and switchboard teams to build engagement and maintain high service levels. Ensure adequate staffing and cross-coverage for 24/7 operations where applicable.
• Monitor registration accuracy, insurance verification, and switchboard call handling quality through audits and reporting. Maintain accurate up-to-date on-call lists and paging protocols in compliance with organizational policies.
• Ensure adherence to HIPAA, EMTALA, CMS Conditions of Participation, and regulatory standards for both patient access and communications.
• Champion a culture of service excellence, ensuring compassionate, professional interactions for patients and callers. Acts as an escalation point for patient complaints, caller concerns, or urgent communication issues.
• Monitor and manage wait times (Qmatic or other systems), call abandonment rates, and paging response times to meet or exceed service-level expectations.
• Develop, monitor, and manage the operational budget for patient access and switchboard, including staffing, supplies, and contracted services. Participate in capital budgeting by identifying technology, equipment, or system upgrades needed to support operational excellence and preparing business cases for leadership approval. Prepare and present monthly operational, financial, and staffing dashboards for leadership review.
• Monitor financial performance, including point-of-service collections, registration related denials, and rework costs, implementing corrective actions as needed.
• Collaborate with IT and Facilities teams to maintain reliable switchboard, paging and communication systems, including disaster recovery protocols. Partner with EHR and scheduling system administrators to optimize front-end workflows and reduce registration errors. Lead implementation of new technology platforms (automated call routing, self-scheduling tools) to improve efficiency and satisfaction.

Benefits

• Exempt employees are paid on a salary basis as their duties may include more complex tasks that require them to work inconsistent or longer hours on a weekly basis.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: High school or GED