Director of Admissions

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Admissions Director is responsible for managing the referral, admission, and bed management process for the nursing home and skilled rehabilitation unit. The primary focus of this role is maintaining and growing census through effective intake coordination, rapid referral response, strong hospital and payer communication, and efficient conversion of referrals into admissions.

This position works closely with hospital discharge planners, physicians, families, therapy, nursing, finance, and the interdisciplinary team to ensure clinically appropriate admissions and smooth transitions into the facility.

While the Admissions Director participates in community visibility efforts and relationship support, the primary responsibility is operational census management and admission conversion. Dedicated external sales and outreach activities will be handled by the community engagement/sales representative.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:

Census and Admissions Management

- Maintain target census levels for long-term care and short-term rehabilitation units.

- Manage daily referral activity, admissions pipeline, pending referrals, and bed availability.

- Respond rapidly to referrals from hospitals, physicians, ACOs, managed care organizations, and community sources.

- Review referrals for clinical appropriateness, financial viability, payer authorization requirements, and operational fit.

- Coordinate with nursing, therapy, and administration regarding acceptance decisions.

- Facilitate timely admissions including evenings, weekends, or holidays as needed for census management.

- Track admissions, denials, lost referrals, payer mix, and conversion rates.
Referral Coordination

- Serve as the primary point of contact for incoming referrals and admission inquiries.

- Build strong working relationships with hospital case managers, discharge planners, insurance representatives, and referral sources.

- Communicate clearly and professionally regarding bed availability, specialty services, and admission criteria.

- Ensure rapid turnaround on referral reviews and admission decisions.
Bed and Payer Management

- Collaborate with leadership to optimize payer mix and strategically manage bed utilization.

- Monitor Medicare, managed care, Medicaid, private pay, and other payer sources.

- Verify insurance benefits and coordinate authorization processes with clinical and billing teams.

- Work with finance and case management to minimize avoidable denials and admission delays.
Family and Resident Coordination

- Conduct tours and admission discussions with prospective residents and families.

- Educate residents and families regarding services, insurance coverage, facility policies, and admission requirements.

- Assist with completion of admission paperwork and coordination of move-in logistics.

- Address concerns professionally and escalate issues appropriately.
Interdisciplinary Collaboration

- Participate in morning meetings, census review meetings, and utilization discussions.

- Collaborate with nursing leadership, therapy, social work, dietary, housekeeping, and medical providers to support successful admissions and transitions.

- Communicate anticipated admissions and discharge activity to operational departments.
Regulatory Compliance

- Ensure admissions practices comply with all federal, state, and facility regulations.

- Maintain confidentiality in accordance with HIPAA requirements.

- Ensure accurate and timely documentation related to admissions, referrals, and payer communications.
Community Presence

- Support community relationship efforts in coordination with the community engagement/sales representative.

- Participate in occasional networking events, hospital meetings, and professional outreach activities.

- Represent the organization professionally within the healthcare community.

QUALIFICATIONS

- Bachelor's degree preferred. Equivalent healthcare experience may be considered.

- Minimum of 2 years of experience in skilled nursing admissions, case management, healthcare marketing, hospital discharge planning, or related healthcare field preferred.

- Strong understanding of Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, and post-acute reimbursement.

- Knowledge of skilled nursing regulations and admission requirements preferred.

- Excellent communication, organization, and relationship-building skills.

- Ability to multitask and work effectively in a fast-paced environment.

- Experience with electronic medical records and referral management systems preferred.

KEY PERFORMANCE EXPECTATIONS

- Maintain or exceed facility census targets.

- Achieve referral response time expectations.

- Maintain strong admission conversion rates.

- Support strategic payer mix goals.

- Reduce avoidable lost referrals.

- Ensure positive referral source and family experience.

- Maintain accurate admission and census reporting.