Revenue Cycle Representative (Financial Counseling) - Self-Pay, Analytics, Revenue Cycle Counseling (SPARC) - Patient Financial Services (PFS)

University of Iowa • Iowa City, IA

1d • Hybrid

About The Position

The University of Iowa Health Care’s Patient Financial Services department is seeking an entry-level Revenue Cycle Representative for its Self-Pay, Analytics, Revenue Cycle Counseling (SPARC) division. The role provides high-quality customer service to patients and families, insurance contacts, and internal customers, primarily by phone and face-to-face. The Financial Counselor supports the organization’s Service Excellence standards by demonstrating compassion, empathy, respect for patient rights, and integrity. The role requires prioritizing and multitasking in a fast-paced team environment, making independent decisions, and communicating accurate, comprehensive information about third-party interactions, patient billing, and customer service activities.

The position is primarily hybrid, combining onsite work at the Hospital Support Services Building (HSSB) with remote work from an offsite location within Iowa. Training takes place onsite at HSSB or via Zoom, as determined by the supervisor. Remote eligibility is evaluated after satisfactory training, and work arrangements are reviewed annually under applicable remote-work and travel policies.

The Financial Counselor coordinates financial clearance and counseling for patients, develops and communicates estimates, identifies financial assistance and funding options, and helps resolve coverage and reimbursement issues. The role also supports financial access to care, maintains assigned Epic work queues, analyzes operational information, and contributes to improvements in patient experience, efficiency, revenue cycle performance, and regulatory compliance. The position is classified as Pay Grade 2B and includes a 5% high-intensity, high-volume patient-contact stipend while working on the Financial Counseling Team; that amount is deducted from base salary if the employee leaves the unit for another Revenue Cycle Representative position or a different job class.

The department provides onsite equipment, including a workstation with three monitors, laptop, docking station, keyboard, mouse, and headset. For hybrid offsite work, the department provides a laptop and an additional docking station; the employee supplies two monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse at their own expense. Remote-work setup requirements include providing a photo of the home-office setup and an internet speed-test screenshot showing at least 30 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload with a University of Iowa IP address. The remote workstation should replicate the onsite setup.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree, or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
• At least 6 months of revenue cycle, health insurance, or related customer- or patient-focused service experience.
• Strong attention to detail and demonstrated ability to gather and analyze data and maintain accurate records.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite or comparable software, and ability to quickly learn and apply new systems knowledge.
• Ability to remain professional in difficult situations with callers, customers, or patients and handle complex, ambiguous situations with minimal supervision.
• Self-motivation and initiative to seek additional responsibilities, tasks, and projects.
• Excellent professional verbal and written communication skills to provide outstanding customer service and support a Service Excellence environment with a professional and patient population.
• Basic knowledge of medical terminology and working knowledge of HIPAA laws and regulations.

Nice To Haves

• Demonstrated ability to maintain or improve established productivity and quality requirements.
• Working knowledge of healthcare billing and/or federal and state assistance programs.
• Bilingual skills in a foreign language; Spanish and/or French highly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with clinical department leaders, medical staff, and hospital coders to identify anticipated services and arrange financial clearance, estimates, and funding options for financially insecure patients.
• Educate department leaders, medical staff, and other UI Health Care employees about patient financial processes, including the Patient Access Policy, No Surprises Act requirements, financial assistance programs, and the Pre-Service Charge Adjustment Review Team (CART) process.
• Prepare, submit, and facilitate Pre-Service CART requests and collaborate with stakeholders to support financial access for uninsured and underinsured patients.
• Verify insurance benefits and use knowledge of CPT coding, payer requirements, reimbursement methodologies, and Epic Estimator to produce self-pay, insured, treatment-plan, and required Good Faith Estimates.
• Counsel patients and families about insurance benefits, anticipated liability, payment options, financial assistance programs, and funding resources.
• Screen patients for financial assistance and connect them with Medicaid, Marketplace plans, COBRA, internal assistance programs, payment plans, charitable funding, and external financing options.
• Educate patients about financial responsibility and facilitate pre-service collections and payment arrangements in accordance with organizational policies.
• Identify and resolve coverage, authorization, referral, reimbursement, estimation, and financial clearance issues with providers, payers, patients, and internal departments.
• Maintain and prioritize assigned Epic work queues to complete financial clearance, estimation, financial assistance, and follow-up activities on time.
• Analyze reports and operational data to identify trends, estimation inaccuracies, reimbursement concerns, and process improvement opportunities; provide recommendations and status updates to leadership.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for financial counseling, estimation workflows, CART processes, financial assistance programs, and patient financial engagement.
• Participate in initiatives to improve patient experience, operational efficiency, revenue cycle performance, and regulatory compliance.
• Meet established productivity, quality, accuracy, customer service, and compliance standards.

Benefits

• 5% high-intensity, high-volume patient-contact stipend while assigned to the Financial Counseling Team; the stipend is deducted from base salary if the employee moves to another Revenue Cycle Representative unit or a different job class.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Entry Level