Billing Department - Financial Counselor

Job Description

Job Description

Our Commitment to the Gwinnett Community

At Suburban Hematology Oncology Associates (SHOA), we provide specialized cancer and blood disorder care close to home for patients throughout Gwinnett County. Our team combines advanced clinical care with the personal attention patients and families deserve during some of the most important moments of their lives.

Every role at SHOA contributes to the patient experience. For our Financial Counselor, that means helping patients understand the financial side of their care with clarity, compassion, and confidence.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced, patient-focused Financial Counselor to join our Patient Financial Services team.

This role is ideal for someone who is comfortable having financial conversations, solving account issues, collecting payments, and helping patients navigate financial assistance options—all while delivering an exceptional patient experience.

The Financial Counselor works directly with patients and families to explain financial responsibilities, address outstanding balances, establish payment arrangements, assist with financial assistance applications, and financially clear patients for services.

You will also work closely with registration, front desk, insurance verification, certification, billing, and other internal teams to ensure account information is accurate and financial issues are addressed before they become barriers to care.

What You’ll Do

• Financially clear patients for services and collect applicable payments at the time of service.
• Meet with patients and families to explain balances, estimated costs, payment expectations, and available financial options.
• Establish payment plans within SHOA collection guidelines and follow up on missed payments.
• Assist patients with charity care, indigent care, and other financial assistance applications.
• Review and maintain required financial documentation, including income verification and approval or denial information.
• Address outstanding balances for patients receiving future services and help develop appropriate payment arrangements.
• Document all account activity, patient conversations, payment arrangements, and follow-up actions accurately and thoroughly.
• Monitor appointments, patient add-ons, emails, and accounts requiring financial follow-up.
• Partner with registration, front desk, verification, certification, billing, and other teams regarding insurance coverage and patient status changes.
• Assist with patient registration or admission functions when needed.
• Maintain current knowledge of SHOA and Northside financial assistance programs and services.
• Provide calm, professional support to patients and family members who may be frustrated, overwhelmed, or concerned about the cost of care.

What We’re Looking For

The best candidate for this role is confident discussing money, comfortable working in a healthcare environment, and able to balance strong collections practices with genuine compassion for patients.

You should be organized, dependable, detail-oriented, and comfortable managing multiple priorities without losing follow-through.

Minimum Qualifications:

• High school diploma or equivalent.
• Experience in healthcare registration, billing, collections, financial counseling, patient financial services, or a related customer service environment.
• Strong computer skills and the ability to learn healthcare billing and registration systems.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Strong customer service and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently, prioritize competing responsibilities, and maintain detailed account documentation.

Preferred Qualifications

• Two or more years of hospital or clinic experience involving registration, billing, collections, financial counseling, and/or customer service.
• College degree or equivalent relevant work experience.
• Knowledge of Medicare, HMOs, PPOs, commercial insurance, and healthcare collection processes.
• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Familiarity with CPT and ICD-10 coding.
• Bilingual English/Spanish skills are a plus.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Financial Counselor helps patients understand what they owe and what options are available to them, while also protecting the financial integrity of the organization.

You will succeed in this position if you can:

• Have respectful but direct financial conversations.
• Collect payments and follow through on payment arrangements.
• Help patients navigate available financial assistance resources.
• Maintain accurate, complete account documentation.
• Coordinate effectively across departments.
• Stay calm and professional during difficult patient interactions.
• Balance empathy for the patient with accountability for the account.

Why Join SHOA

This is more than a traditional collections role. You will work directly with patients receiving hematology and oncology care and have the opportunity to make a difficult part of the healthcare experience easier to understand and navigate.

If you are an experienced healthcare financial services professional who enjoys solving problems, helping patients, and taking ownership of your accounts, we would like to hear from you.