Care Navigator

Sandbar Health; Washington (District of Columbia); On-site; USD 90,000 - 115,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Bonus potential

Full benefits

Job summary

Sandbar Health, a physician-led concierge primary care practice and health plan in the DC metro area, is building the next-generation payvider. We are seeking a Care Navigator to be the human front door to each member's care, coordinating referrals, onboarding, records, and logistics.

This non-clinical, founding team role emphasizes hospitality, organization, and proactive communication across in-person, virtual, and async channels.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required; 2+ years in care coordination or similar high-touch role.
• Experience managing referrals, scheduling, and prior authorizations within an electronic health record (EHR).
• Ability to navigate health plans, benefits, and eligibility for members.
• Strong organization and follow-through with multiple open threads in a fast-paced environment.
• Warm, empathetic, hospitality-oriented communication style.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary contact for navigation and coordination — the front door for care questions.
• Welcome and onboard new members and set expectations for the concierge model.
• Coordinate referrals, appointments, imaging, labs, and follow-ups through to completion.
• Obtain and organize outside records, results, and prior authorizations.
• Support care plans with logistics, scheduling, reminders, and proactive follow-up.
• Help members understand benefits and navigate care vs coverage questions.
• Conduct proactive outreach to members with open needs in partnership with the care team.
• Provide high-touch support across in-person, virtual, and asynchronous channels.
• Partner with behavioral health clinicians and care team while this role owns logistics and navigation.
• Maintain accurate records of member interactions in the care-coordination platform.
• Champion the member experience and contribute to navigation workflow design as we scale.

Skills

Warm, empathetic communication

Excellent organization

Strong digital fluency

Customer-focused mindset

Bilingual ability (nice to have)

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

EHR

CRM

Job description

Sandbar Health

Care Navigator

The human front door to each member's care — the person who makes coordinated, high-touch healthcare feel effortless. A hospitality-first, non-clinical role on the founding team in the DC metro area.

We are building a next-generation ‘payvider’ — a physician-led concierge primary care practice and health plan in one — with an obsessive focus on the member experience.

Because we both deliver care and own the cost of it, every incentive is aligned around keeping members healthy: radically better, coordinated care that members love, delivered efficiently by cutting the friction, waste, and unnecessary utilization that define most of healthcare today. Backed by experienced healthcare operators and investors, the organization is building the clinical and operational foundation for a direct-to-consumer concierge health plan launching in the DC metro area.

• DC metro area
• Full-time
• Bachelor's + 2 yrs coordination
• $90,000–$115,000 + bonus potential

Position summary

We are seeking a Care Navigator to serve as the human front door to each member's care — the person who makes coordinated, high-touch healthcare feel effortless. As one of our founding non-clinical hires, the Care Navigator owns the logistics and system navigation that surround the care team: welcoming members at onboarding, coordinating referrals and specialist appointments, chasing down records and results, and shouldering the administrative burden that members normally carry themselves.

This is a relationship-driven, hospitality-first role embedded in a physician-led care POD. The Care Navigator works alongside physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), medical assistants, and behavioral health clinicians — owning the "where do I go, who do I call, what happens next" of a member's journey so that clinical time stays focused on clinical work. The role is ideal for someone who is exceptionally organized, genuinely warm, and energized by being the person members trust to get things handled.

Core responsibilities

• Serve as each member's primary point of contact for navigation and coordination — the dependable "front door" for questions about care, appointments, and the health plan
• Welcome and onboard new members, setting expectations for how the concierge model works and building the relationship from day one
• Coordinate referrals, specialist appointments, imaging, labs, and follow-ups, and track them through to completion
• Obtain and organize outside records, results, and prior authorizations on the member's behalf
• Support care plans by handling logistics, scheduling, reminders, and proactive follow-up — closing the loop on open items and care gaps
• Help members understand and use their benefits, and navigate questions that span both care and coverage
• Conduct proactive outreach to members with open needs, upcoming preventive care, or elevated risk, in partnership with the care team
• Provide high-touch, concierge-level support across in-person, virtual, and asynchronous channels (phone, video, secure messaging)
• Partner with behavioral health clinicians and health coaches — who own clinical and behavior-change work — while this role owns logistics and system navigation
• Operate strictly within a non-clinical scope, escalating any clinical questions or decisions to the appropriate member of the care team
• Maintain accurate, timely records of member interactions, tasks, and follow-ups in the care-coordination platform
• Champion an obsessive focus on the member experience — hospitality, responsiveness, and proactive communication at every touchpoint
• Help shape navigation workflows, standards, and program design as the organization scales

Care model

The Practice Is Designed Around Smaller Member Panels And High-access Care Delivery, With Efficiency Coming From Technology And Operations So That Clinician Time Goes To Members. Each POD Will Support Approximately 500–750 Members And Include a Physician, APP(s), a Medical Assistant, And Embedded Behavioral Health Support, With The Care Navigator Owning Coordination And System Navigation Across The Team. The Care Model Emphasizes:

• Proactive care coordination and navigation as a core part of the member experience
• Preventive and relationship-driven care
• Concierge-level digital communication
• Async-first workflows for low-acuity needs
• Reduced administrative burden through technology-enabled operations
• A clear division of labor: clinical staff own clinical work; the Care Navigator owns logistics and navigation

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required
• 2+ years in care coordination, patient navigation, case management, medical office/front-desk operations, health plan member services, or a comparable high-touch service role
• Hands-on experience managing referrals, scheduling, and prior authorizations within an electronic health record (EHR), and tracking them through to completion
• Working knowledge of how health plans, benefits, and eligibility function — comfortable helping members navigate questions that span both care and coverage, in keeping with our integrated payvider model
• Sound judgment handling protected health information (PHI) and sensitive situations — including HIPAA, member privacy, and family/guardian access scenarios such as minors and personal representatives
• Exceptional organization and follow-through — comfortable owning many open threads at once and closing the loop reliably
• Warm, empathetic, hospitality-oriented communication style and a service mindset
• Comfort supporting members across Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia, with willingness to support remote members in additional states as coverage expands
• Strong digital fluency and comfort with CRM / care-coordination tools, secure messaging, and AI-supported workflows
• Background as a medical assistant, EMT, community health worker, social work support, or in concierge/hospitality settings is a plus
• Bilingual ability is a plus
• Interest in innovation, care redesign, and early-stage healthcare ventures
• Collaborative, team-oriented approach to whole-person care

What we offer

• Opportunity to help build a next-generation care navigation function from the ground floor as one of the founding members of the care team
• A high-touch model with the time and tools to actually take care of members
• Collaborative interdisciplinary care environment integrated with primary care and behavioral health
• Technology-enabled workflows designed to reduce administrative friction
• Competitive compensation package ($90,000–$115,000, depending on experience), with performance-based bonus potential
• Full benefits, including medical/dental/vision, 401(k), paid time off, and professional development support
• Mission-driven culture focused on prevention, access, and member experience

This position represents a unique opportunity for someone who loves taking care of people to help build a modern, relationship-centered care experience from the ground up — owning the navigation and coordination that make coordinated care feel effortless for members.

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