Senior Program Manager Patient Access Services

Job Description

Job Description:\n\nSenior Program Manager\nPatient Access Services\n \nDamien Center Values\nDignity-Collaboration-Accountability-Access-Quality-Innovation\n \nFounded in 1987, Damien Center is Indiana’s oldest and largest AIDS service organization (ASO) and serves more than 8000 individuals living with or at risk for HIV through a comprehensive, innovative approach to care and prevention. Our purpose is to be a trusted partner in providing services, education and advocacy for all people living with or at risk for HIV and any person seeking a safe and welcoming home for care. Our services include care coordination, clinical and pharmacy services, mental health, housing, and nutrition. \n \nPosition Summary: \n \nThe Senior Manager provides strategic and operational leadership for patient registration, front office, call center, referral coordination, and financial counseling functions across medical and behavioral health departments. This role establishes performance standards and quality assurance practices; directs managers and staff development; and ensures consistent, compliant, and patient-centered workflows that improve access, service responsiveness, care coordination, registration accuracy, insurance coverage, referral completion, and front-end revenue cycle performance. In partnership with clinical, operations, finance, compliance, IT, the Senior Manager analyzes performance trends, resolves escalated barriers, leads cross-functional improvement initiatives, and develops policies, staffing plans, training resources, and operational controls that support an effective and reliable patient access experience across service lines. This position directly supervises two managers and five individual contributors at a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that operates under the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model of care. \n \nDuties and Responsibilities:\n \nThis job description describes the general nature and level of work performed by employees assigned to this position. It should not be construed as an exhaustive list of all required duties, responsibilities, and skills. \n· Owns the department-wide performance dashboard, including approved definitions, targets, reporting cadence, and escalation thresholds for call responsiveness, appointment availability, registration accuracy, referral completion, insurance verification, point-of-service collections, no-show rates, patient experience, and other organizational KPIs. Presents performance trends to leadership and ensures accountable managers maintain action plans for measures that fall below target.\n· Evaluates the patient journey across registration, scheduling, call center, front office, referral, and financial counseling access points. Identifies weak points and systemic barriers that span multiple functions and coordinates improvements to create a more consistent and patient-centered access experience.\n· Provides leadership and oversight for patient registration operations, ensuring accurate demographic, insurance, consent, eligibility, and financial information is collected and documented in accordance with established policies, procedures, payer requirements, and organizational standards.\n· Leads targeted improvement initiatives for registration workflows based on audit findings, payer requirements, identified error trends, and front-end revenue cycle performance.\n· Establishes team expectations for registration accuracy, insurance verification, point-of-service collections, and other front-end revenue cycle responsibilities. Ensures staff receive appropriate training and that managers address identified performance gaps.\n· Provides leadership and oversight for call center operations, ensuring timely, accurate, and patient-centered service; effective call routing and resolution; appropriate documentation; and achievement of approved service-level and patient access KPIs.\n· Conducts or delegates routine call center quality reviews, analyzes service trends, and implements corrective actions to improve accuracy, efficiency, patient experience, and achievement of established KPIs.\n· Provides leadership and oversight for incoming and outgoing specialty referral operations, ensuring referrals are documented, authorized when required, transmitted, tracked, scheduled, and closed in a timely manner. Monitors referral barriers and collaborates with internal and external partners to improve continuity of care.\n· Directly supervises the Patient Access Manager supporting the medical and behavioral health service lines. Establishes performance expectations, provides coaching and professional development, conducts routine performance reviews, and holds the manager accountable for effective execution of Patient Access operations.\n· Directly supervises the Financial Counseling Manager, establishes performance expectations, provides coaching and professional development, conducts routine performance reviews, and holds the manager accountable for effective financial counseling operations.\n· Serves as the primary operational contact supporting the Financial Counseling team’s screening and enrollment of eligible patients in the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP), including escalation of workflow barriers and coordination with appropriate internal partners.\n· Monitors monthly RWHAP performance measures, reviews results against department standards, and ensures identified performance gaps are addressed through appropriate follow-up and corrective action.\n· Develops and implements strategies for the Financial Counseling team to maximize patients’ access to third-party insurance coverage, financial assistance, and other available coverage options while providing accurate, respectful, and patient-centered support.\n· Manages program budget and micro grant award cycle for ACA insurance premium assistance program.\n· Partners with the Revenue Cycle Manager to develop, implement, and improve front-end revenue cycle operations.\n· Leads the development, implementation, standardization, and periodic review of patient access policies, workflows, scripts, training materials, and standard operating procedures across applicable service lines. Ensures changes are communicated, documented, implemented consistently, and evaluated for effectiveness.\n· Oversees the timely review, escalation, documentation, and resolution of patient complaints and emerging patient access issues within the health center. Identifies recurring themes and partners with appropriate leaders to implement corrective and preventive actions.\n· Establishes the Patient Access Services quality assurance framework, including audit schedules, documentation standards, corrective-action tracking, and reporting expectations. Ensures findings are communicated to appropriate leaders and incorporated into ongoing performance improvement efforts.\n· Develops staffing plans and coverage models based on patient demand, service levels, budget parameters, and organizational priorities. Reviews workload and productivity trends, recommends staffing adjustments, and develops cross-training and succession plans to maintain continuity of operations.\n· Assesses departmental equipment and supply needs, develops recommendations based on operational priorities and budget considerations, and submits requests through established approval processes.\n· Ensures Patient Access Services operations comply with applicable privacy, confidentiality, payer, program, accreditation, and regulatory requirements. Partners with Compliance, Revenue Cycle, Information Technology, clinical leadership, and other departments to address identified risks and maintain appropriate controls.\n· Ensures records and applications required for health center operations are complete, accurate, maintained appropriately, and submitted within required timeframes in accordance with established policies and procedures.\n \n· Performs special assignments and other work, on an as-needed basis. \n \nEducation and/or Experience\n \n· A bachelor’s degree is preferred but not required. \n5+ years of experience required preferably at an FQHC or other ambulatory setting.\n· Indiana Navigator license and Certified Application Counselor (CAC) required or obtained within 90 days of hiring. \n· Proven ability to lead teams, manage operations, and drive process improvement in a healthcare environment.\n· MGMA Certification is preferred.\n· Bilingual (English/Spanish) language proficiency preferred. \n \n*Work or lived experience may substitute for education requirements on a case-by-case basis. \n \n \nKnowledge, Skills, and Abilities:\nPossess superior organizational and administrative skills. Excellent interpersonal and communication abilities. Excellent computer skills in a Microsoft Windows environment. Ability to work independently and achieve high standards of productivity, achieving deadlines, and with superior product results. Strong calendaring, organizational, and document management skills are required. Proactive approach to solving problems and communicating to leadership. Knowledge of office management systems, procedures, and office equipment required. Excellent time management skills and ability to prioritize work. \n \nQualifications\nTo perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job function satisfactorily. The requirements listed are representative of the basic knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required. Reasonable accommodations may be made for individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The individual in this role must display the highest level of integrity and confidentiality. The individual should have effective communication skills, attention to detail and organization, and flexibility and adaptability. The individual will also maintain knowledge of trends in their area of responsibility.\n \nPhysical Demands: \nThe physical demands described here are general representations of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made for individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.\n \n· While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, reach with hands and arms, talk, and hear. The employee frequently is required to use hands to touch and handle objects. The employee frequently stands or walks.\n· The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.\n \nWork Environment: \nThe work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made for individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Remote work is on a case-by-case basis and must be approved by the supervisor. \n· Office setting, with sustained use of a computer.\n· The noise level in the work environment is minimal to moderate.\n· Individuals should maintain personal and professional competency and work to create an environment of courtesy, respect, inclusion, and positivity in all interactions both internal and external to the organization.\n\n \n\n \n· FLSA Status: Salaried, Full-time, Exempt \n· Leader: Senior Director – Health Operations\n· Salary: $82,000\n \n· Benefits: \n· 150 hours of PTO in the first year followed by 195 hours per year moving forward.\n· 12 paid holidays\n· Medical coverage options include a PPO plan or a HDHP. \n· Dental & Vision plans\n· Health Saving Account or Flexible Spending Account\n· Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account\n· Employee Assistance Program\n· 403b Retirement Account with 5% matching and 100% vesting after 90 days\n· Life Insurance @ 2 times the annual salary\n· Voluntary Life Insurance Plan including spouse and child coverage options\n· Short- & Long-Term Disability Plans\n· Premium Subscription to the CALM APP which assists with anxiety, stress & other mental health challenges\n· Professional Development Opportunities\n· Tuition Assistance\n· Annual performance review that includes an annual performance-based salary increase\n \nProtecting our team members, clients, volunteers, and community partners is an integral part of how we ensure our continued work with the clients we serve. As a condition of employment, Damien Center requires team members to be vaccinated against influenza and receive a tuberculosis skin test (or chest x-ray) annually, barring an approved religious or medical exemption. \n \n\n \n\n \nDamien Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer\n \nDamien Center provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, family status, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, marital status, amnesty, status as a covered veteran, other legally protected status, or genetic (including family medical history) information.\nDamien Center complies with applicable federal laws and with all state and local laws governing non-discrimination in employment in every location in which Damien Center has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.\n \n \nPlease apply at \nThis position description does not constitute a contract of employment or guarantee of any terms or conditions of employment. Damien Center employees are employed on an at-will basis. Nothing in this position description restricts Damien Center’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this position at any time.