Practice Manager - Rural Health Clinics

Opelousas General Health System•Opelousas, LA

3d•Onsite

About The Position

The Rural Health Clinic (RHC) Practice Manager is responsible for the operational, regulatory, financial, quality, and personnel management of a hospital-owned Rural Health Clinic. The Practice Manager provides day-to-day leadership while ensuring alignment with hospital policies and applicable federal and Louisiana requirements. The manager applies specialized knowledge gained through the Certified Rural Health Clinic Professional (CRHCP) credential to support RHC compliance, survey readiness, reimbursement, quality improvement, and regulatory monitoring.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent required
Certified Rural Health Clinic Professional (CRHCP) through the National Association of Rural Health Clinics (NARHC) required
Maintain the credential and remain current on RHC regulatory, reimbursement, compliance, and operational requirements.
Three to five years of medical practice or ambulatory healthcare experience preferred
Prior healthcare supervisory or management experience strongly preferred
RHC and hospital-owned physician practice experience preferred
Function as a manager and leader rather than solely as an administrative coordinator.
Accountable for identifying problems, developing solutions, implementing corrective actions, and following issues through resolution.
Requires professional boundaries, effective provider and staff communication, timely management of difficult employee situations, consistent enforcement of organizational expectations, and ownership of clinic performance.

Nice To Haves

associate's or bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Nursing, or related field preferred

Responsibilities

Maintain current knowledge of CMS Rural Health Clinic Conditions for Certification and requirements applicable to RHC operations.
Apply CRHCP knowledge to daily clinic management and serve as an operational resource for RHC compliance.
Maintain continuous readiness for CMS, Louisiana Department of Health, accreditation, and other applicable surveys.
Coordinate survey preparation, required documentation, corrective actions, and Plans of Correction.
Monitor regulatory changes affecting RHC certification, operations, reimbursement, and quality and communicate significant changes to leadership.
Support continued compliance following clinic relocation, renovation, expansion, or service changes.
Manage daily clinic operations in accordance with hospital policies and RHC requirements.
Coordinate with Compliance, Quality, Revenue Cycle, Finance, Credentialing, Human Resources, IT, Facilities, Environmental Services, Supply Chain, Laboratory, and Imaging.
Manage clinic hours, staffing coverage, provider schedules, patient access, supplies, equipment, and workflows.
Participate in planning for clinic construction, renovation, relocation, expansion, or service changes.
Maintain working knowledge of applicable Louisiana Department of Health requirements affecting the RHC.
Support state surveys, inspections, notifications, follow-up actions, and regulatory documentation.
Collaborate with Credentialing and Provider Enrollment to maintain appropriate Medicare and Louisiana Medicaid enrollment.
Coordinate provider additions, terminations, and changes with Credentialing, Revenue Cycle, and leadership.
Maintain awareness of Louisiana Medicaid managed care requirements affecting clinic operations.
Maintain working knowledge of RHC Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement principles.
Collaborate with Revenue Cycle, Coding, and Finance to support accurate registration, charge capture, coding, billing, and reimbursement.
Monitor denials, registration errors, missing charges, documentation completion, and other revenue-cycle trends.
Collaborate with Finance in gathering operational information needed for the Medicare RHC cost report.
Communicate operational changes that could affect reimbursement, enrollment, or cost reporting.
Provide direct supervision and leadership to assigned clinic employees.
Establish clear expectations for professionalism, communication, attendance, teamwork, patient service, and accountability.
Maintain appropriate manager-employee professional boundaries and apply policies consistently and fairly.
Conduct staff meetings, performance evaluations, coaching, corrective feedback, and Performance Improvement Plans with Human Resources when appropriate.
Participate in recruiting, hiring, onboarding, orientation, annual education, and competency processes.
Manage employee schedules and PTO while maintaining adequate coverage.
Address conflict, performance concerns, favoritism, gossip, inappropriate communication, and other behaviors that negatively affect clinic culture.
Serve as the primary operational contact for physicians and advanced practice providers.
Maintain professional communication regarding staffing, scheduling, patient flow, clinic performance, and operational concerns.
Coordinate provider schedules, templates, clinic coverage, PTO processes, onboarding, and orientation.
Monitor provider documentation and outstanding operational requirements and escalate significant concerns appropriately.
Coordinate and participate in RHC quality assessment and performance improvement activities.
Collect and analyze performance data, identify opportunities for improvement, and implement corrective action plans.
Coordinate clinic participation in applicable hospital emergency preparedness and safety activities.
Maintain required emergency documentation and ensure staff understand their roles during emergencies.
Monitor patient access, wait times, no-shows, cancellations, complaints, and service concerns.
Promote compassionate, respectful, timely service and compliance with HIPAA and patient confidentiality requirements.