Patient Access Manager

Carle Health•Peoria, IL

About The Position

The Patient Access Manager leads Patient Access operations across Admitting, Emergency Department Registration, Surgical Services Registration, Outpatient Registration, Operators, Outpatient Lab, and EKG services. The role brings together staff, technology, operations, and strategy to support a high-quality patient experience and strong operational performance. The manager oversees Patient Access technology and staffing strategies, budgets, quality metrics, regulatory compliance, policies, and strategic initiatives, while developing and cross-training staff and partnering across facilities and clinic locations. The position also contributes to revenue cycle initiatives and promotes service, accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement. The manager leads daily registration and Patient Access functions, including registration, insurance eligibility and verification, authorizations, financial counseling, pre-service estimates, and collections. The role monitors operational performance, staffing, labor hours, payroll, department expenses, patient experience, and quality, and uses audits, benchmarking, and action plans to identify and implement improvements. The manager collaborates with clinical, operational, revenue cycle, technology, and payer teams to resolve issues and improve processes. Carle Health is an equal opportunity employer. The compensation range is $37.44 to $64.40 per hour, with actual compensation dependent on factors including experience, qualifications, location, training, licenses, shifts worked, and compensation model. Carle Health offers a comprehensive benefits package; details are available on its benefits website.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in a related field.
3–5 years of work experience.
Obtain Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM) certification through the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM) within 2 years.

Responsibilities

Lead and develop teams through coaching, mentoring, rounding, feedback, accountability, and performance management.
Ensure teams provide timely, compassionate, high-quality service throughout the Patient Access journey.
Evaluate workflows, systems, and processes to improve efficiency, effectiveness, accuracy, and outcomes.
Oversee registration, insurance eligibility and verification, authorizations, financial counseling, pre-service estimates, and collections.
Monitor registration accuracy and quality through work queue and documentation audits; identify errors and trends and provide actionable feedback.
Monitor work queues, patient volumes, staffing levels, labor hours, payroll, and department expenses while managing resources responsibly.
Ensure employees receive orientation, training, annual competencies, certifications, licensure support, and cross-training.
Maintain regulatory and operational compliance and stay current on requirements and healthcare trends related to registration, insurance verification, reimbursement, collections, claims denials, and Patient Access operations.
Partner with Emergency Department, Inpatient, Outpatient, Ambulatory Surgical Center, Revenue Cycle, Patient Financial Services, Case Coordination, Information Technology, and Payer Contracting leaders to resolve problems and improve processes.
Address complex patient and insurance concerns, working with Payer Contracting and insurance representatives when needed.
Use audits, patient experience results, benchmarking, and 90-day action plans to identify opportunities and drive measurable improvement.
Set clear expectations, model accountability, and help employees understand how their work affects patients and the organization.
Oversee Patient Access operations across Admitting, Emergency Department Registration, Surgical Services Registration, Outpatient Registration, Operators, Outpatient Lab, and EKG services.