Access Optimization Analyst

Ardent Health Services; Brentwood (TN); Hybrid; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Ardent Health Services seeks an Access Optimization Analyst to support patient access and provider scheduling across its network. This role partners with clinic leadership and Epic teams to maintain templates, workflows, and data integrity while driving standardized scheduling practices.

The ideal candidate has 2+ years in healthcare analytics, knowledge of Epic Cadence, and strong communication skills to educate staff and lead process improvements.

Qualifications

• Associate degree; years of experience may substitute education.
• 2+ years healthcare analytics experience.
• Experience with Epic Cadence and ambulatory workflows.
• Proficient in Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem-solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication; able to train others.

Responsibilities

• Maintains provider templates, schedules, and workflows to support access and utilization.
• Reviews scheduling data and dashboards to identify barriers and improvement opportunities.
• Submits tickets to Epic teams and maintains data integrity.
• Liaises between clinic leadership, scheduling teams, and Epic for changes.
• Supports standardized scheduling workflows and access optimization initiatives.
• Provides education and training on scheduling workflows and templates.
• Collaborates with leaders and cross-functional teams to meet access goals.
• Maintains effective communication with operational teams.

Skills

Healthcare analytics

Analytical thinking

Scheduling knowledge

Cross-functional collaboration

Training and education

Communication

Education

Associate degree

Tools

Epic Cadence

Ambulatory workflows

Job description

Overview

Ardent Health is a leading provider of healthcare in growing mid‑sized urban communities across the U.S. With a focus on people and investments in innovative services and technologies, Ardent is passionate about making healthcare better and easier to access. Through its subsidiaries, Ardent delivers care through a system of 30 acute care hospitals, 24,000+ team members and more than 280 sites of care with over 1,800 affiliated providers across six states.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Access Optimization Analyst supports organizational Access Optimization initiatives to improve patient access, provider schedule utilization, and scheduling accuracy. This role partners with clinic leadership, operational teams, and system stakeholders to maintain provider templates, scheduling workflows, scheduling instructions, and related patient access processes. The Access Optimization Analyst supports implementation and sustainment of standardized scheduling practices, operational workflows, and provider scheduling configurations across the organization. This position analyzes operational data, performs auditing activities, and collaborates with operational and technical teams to support efficient scheduling operations and data integrity. The role also provides education and guidance to clinic leaders and operational staff regarding Access Optimization workflows and scheduling standards.

Responsibilities

• Maintains and audits provider templates, schedules, and scheduling workflows to support patient access, scheduling accuracy, and provider utilization.
• Reviews scheduling data, operational reports, and dashboards to identify discrepancies, scheduling barriers, and opportunities for workflow improvement.
• Submits tickets to Epic teams and maintains data integrity essential for accurate scheduling and smooth operations.
• Serves as the liaison between clinic leadership, centralized scheduling teams, and Epic teams to ensure clear communication and accurate implementation of requested changes and provider build requests.
• Partners with clinic leadership, managers, supervisors, and operational teams to support standardized scheduling workflows and Access Optimization initiatives.
• Supports implementation and sustainment of Access Optimization initiatives, standardized scheduling practices, and operational workflows across the organization.
• Provides education and training to managers, supervisors, front desk staff, and operational teams regarding scheduling workflows, provider requests, template methodology, and scheduling instruction updates.
• Maintains effective communication and collaboration with operational leaders, clinic teams, and cross‑functional departments to support organizational scheduling and access goals.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Associate degree
  • Additional years of experience may substitute for the required education on a year‑for‑year basis.
• 2+ years of healthcare/analytics experience.
• Experience working with Epic Cadence and Ambulatory workflows.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, including, Word, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint.
• Strong understanding of scheduling workflows, provider scheduling concepts, and operational processes within a healthcare environment.
• Strong analytical, organizational, and problem‑solving skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast‑paced operational environment.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with cross‑functional teams and operational leaders.
• Ability to train and educate operational staff regarding workflows, scheduling standards, and system processes.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting provider scheduling templates, scheduling workflows, and operational processes.
• Decision‑making ability that shows good judgment and understanding of the big picture.
• Ability to engage a cross‑functional team towards the desired outcome.
• Ability to train and educate operational staff regarding workflows, scheduling standards, and system processes.