Clinical Denials Prevention & Appeals Specialist RN- PART TIME

Denial Prevention Nurse

Position at Nuvance Health PART TIME- 20 hours per week- Mon-Fri 8pm- 12am shift- Rotating weekends and holiday coverage expected! Northwell is the largest not-for-profit health system in the Northeast, serving residents of New York and Connecticut with 28 hospitals, more than 1,000 outpatient facilities, 22,000 nurses and over 20,000 physicians. Northwell cares for more than three million people annually in the New York metro area, including Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Connecticut and beyond, thanks to philanthropic support from our communities. Northwell is New York State's largest private employer with over 104,000 employees including members of Northwell Health Physician Partners who are working to change health care for the better.

Hybrid/Remote

Summary: The purpose of the Denial Prevention Nurse is to ensure that all patient admissions are appropriately status within the first 12-24 hours and that ongoing communication (electronic and telephonic) with payers ensures timely approval of all hospital days, preventing delays in reimbursement. This role plays a critical part in preventing payment denials by providing timely and accurate clinical information to all payers, while ensuring compliance with CMS requirements, guidelines, and standardized published criteria to support the medical necessity of patient admission and continued hospital stays. This role will require specialized system skills, best practice application of investigating payer practices, successfully challenging payers as they prevent obstacles and deny claims and escalating any egregious payer behaviors to internal leadership for assistance in resolution.

Responsibilities:

1. Review all inpatient admission and observation cases using InterQual, or Milliman Care Guidelines or CMS 2 Midnight Rule (depending on payer) within 12-24 hours of admission, seven days a week for assigned shifts.
2. Complete an initial screening review within the first few hours of decision to admit from ED and communicate with appropriate Provider if initial status is to be re-considered.
3. Identify incomplete clinical reviews in work queues and complete them within two hours whenever possible. If clinical information is not available by the time the lack of a review may result in a denial, escalate to the appropriate Provider/VPMA.
4. Identify and complete clinical reviews required for submission to specific payers.
5. Validate admission orders for all new admits/observations/outpatients daily.
6. Ensure that the patient status order documented in the chart aligns with the MCG and/or InterQual criteria, or the CMS Two- Midnight Rule, to support the appropriate status and level of care.
7. Prioritize review of all outpatient observation and outpatient bedded cases at least every 8 hours for conversion to inpatient status or discharge opportunities.
8. Participate in daily Observation Huddles.
9. Conduct concurrent reviews for all payers daily for the first three days of admission, then every 2-3 days, or more frequently if criteria are waning.
10. Submit concurrent reviews to payers to ensure authorization of all days for per diem and percentage of charge reimbursement payers.
11. If concurrent inpatient case does not meet medical necessity review criteria during the first level review, discuss with the attending MD to obtain additional clinical information and documentation to support inpatient level of care. If the case still does not meet, send to the Physician Advisor (PA) for a second level review.
12. Forward cases that require secondary physician review to appropriate resource (e.g., Physician Advisor).
13. Resolve any discrepancy at the time of review. If unable to resolve, escalate to the PA and Utilization Review (UR) Leadership.
14. Coordinate with the care team in changing patient status, as needed. Notify the care team when patient does not meet medical necessity per InterQual or MCG guidelines or 2 MN Rule and escalate appropriately.
15. Document and proactively communicate relevant clinical information to payers for authorizations for treatments, procedures, and Length of Stay submit clinical information as required by payers.
16. Ensure completion and delivery of required patient notices (by onsite team member). These include but are not limited to: HINNs, Condition Code 44, MOON, Connecticut notice of conversion, etc.
17. Tracking and trending all appeals and communicating on a daily/regular basis with the Denials Management team.
18. Assists with informing Managed Care contracting team with necessary contractual language to protect organization financial position specific to inpatient medical necessity requirements.
19. Employs creative solutions with team members and leadership to prevent denials.
20. Performs other duties as assigned.

Other Information: Education Skills Experience

• Bachelor's Degree (BSN) is highly preferred.
• Minimum of Associate's Degree in Nursing required when accompanied by strong demonstrated competencies and significant experience.
• Minimum of 5 years experience in acute care Nursing
• Proficiency in Milliman and InterQual Guidelines required
• Minimum of 2-3 years experience as Utilization Management Nurse in an acute care setting required, minimum of 4 years experience required for Associate's Degreed individuals.
• PREFER: Master's Degree in related field
• Required: Current RN License in Connecticut and New York
• InterQual/MCG proficiency testing completed (preferred); required within 1 year of hire. As certification becomes available, requirement will be revisited.
• Knowledge of regulatory requirements for CMS
• Have the positive attitude and aptitude to adapt to the continuing change in payer behaviors
• Recognizes that education is the responsibility of the individual as well as the organization
• Seeks external knowledge on payers (such as free email services as Becker's)
• Must have analytical abilities to assist in obtaining solutions to problems
• Self-starter and highly motivated
• Must be able to work independently in a fast-paced environment, manage workload and prioritize work
• Must be able to manage multiple competing priorities and maintain calm professional demeanor during peak demand
• Must possess a high degree of prioritization skills
• Exceptional interpersonal skills to effectively communicate with the physicians, payers, and other members of the interdisciplinary care team
• Current working knowledge of utilization management, performance improvement and managed care reimbursement.

Working Conditions: Manual: Some manual skills/motor coord & finger dexterity Occupational: Little or no potential for occupational risk Physical Effort: Sedentary/light effort. May exert up to 10 lbs. force Physical Environment: Generally pleasant working conditions Company: Nuvance Health Org Unit: 2092 Department: Care Coordination Exempt: Yes Salary Range: $45.29 - $84.11 Hourly