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 financial counseling and high-quality customer service to patients, families, insurance contacts, and internal customers by phone and in person. The representative supports the organization’s Service Excellence standards through compassionate, empathetic, and respectful service, using established tools and processes to make independent decisions while protecting patient rights. The position requires prioritizing, multitasking, and shifting focus in a fast-paced team environment, as well as providing accurate information verbally and in writing to patients, outside agencies, and administrative and management personnel 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 may take place onsite at HSSB or via Zoom, with its location and length 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 department supplies specified equipment for onsite and remote work; employees working remotely must provide their own two monitors, keyboard, and mouse, and meet the stated home-workstation and internet requirements. The role coordinates financial clearance, estimates, and funding options for financially insecure patients; provides education about financial processes and assistance programs; verifies insurance benefits and prepares estimates; counsels patients and families about anticipated costs and payment options; and supports financial access to care. It also maintains work queues, resolves coverage and financial clearance issues, analyzes operational data, and contributes to process improvement, patient experience, revenue cycle performance, and regulatory compliance. The position is classified as Revenue Cycle Representative (Financial Counseling), Pay Grade 2B, at 100% time. A 5% high-intensity, high-volume patient contact stipend applies while working on the Financial Counseling Team; it is deducted from base salary if the employee leaves that unit for another Revenue Cycle Representative role or a different job class.
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 computer software such as Microsoft Office Suite (Excel, Word, Outlook, PowerPoint) or comparable programs, and ability to quickly learn and apply new systems knowledge.
- Ability to remain professional while managing difficult situations with callers, customers, or patients, and to handle complex and ambiguous situations with minimal supervision.
- Self-motivation and initiative to seek out additional responsibilities, tasks, and projects.
- Excellent professional verbal and written communication skills to provide outstanding customer service and support a Service Excellence environment with professional and patient populations.
- Basic knowledge of medical terminology and working knowledge of HIPAA laws and regulations.
- Remote work, when applicable, must be performed at an offsite location within Iowa.
- For remote work, the employee must provide two monitors, a keyboard, and a mouse at their own expense, submit a photo of the home-office setup, and provide a University of Iowa IP speed-test screenshot showing at least 30 Mbps download and 10 Mbps upload.
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.
- Foreign-language bilingual skills; Spanish and/or French are highly preferred.
Responsibilities
- Coordinate with clinical department leaders, medical staff, and hospital coders to identify anticipated services and facilitate financial clearance, estimation, and funding options for financially insecure patients.
- Educate department leaders, medical staff, and other UI Health Care employees on 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 to care for uninsured and underinsured patients.
- Verify insurance benefits and use knowledge of CPT coding, payer requirements, reimbursement methodologies, and Epic Estimator to generate accurate self-pay, insured, and treatment plan estimates, including Good Faith Estimates required by the No Surprises Act.
- Provide financial counseling to patients and families on insurance benefits, anticipated liability, payment options, financial assistance programs, and available funding resources.
- Screen patients for financial assistance and connect them with resources such as Medicaid, Marketplace plans, COBRA, internal financial assistance programs, payment plans, charitable funding, and external financing.
- 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 by collaborating 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 in a timely manner.
- 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 on financial counseling, estimation workflows, CART processes, financial assistance programs, and patient financial engagement activities.
- Participate in departmental initiatives to improve patient experience, operational efficiency, revenue cycle performance, and regulatory compliance.
- Meet established productivity, quality, accuracy, customer service, and compliance standards.
Benefits
- A 5% high-intensity, high-volume patient contact stipend for work performed daily on the Financial Counseling Team; the stipend is deducted from base salary if the employee leaves that unit for another Revenue Cycle Representative position or a different job class.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Entry Level
