Central Authorization Specialist

Henry Ford Health System; Troy (MI); On-site; USD 52,000 - 70,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Tuition assistance

Dental and vision coverage

Job summary

Henry Ford Health System is seeking a Central Authorization Specialist to centrally facilitate insurance authorizations for procedures and post-operative care. You will validate authorizations, educate staff, and drive process improvements to reduce cost and improve access to care.

The role requires 3–5 years in a medical setting with proficiency in insurance verification, coding knowledge, and strong communication skills to coordinate with physicians and payors.

Qualifications

• High School diploma or equivalent required or 3–5 years related experience.
• Two years of experience in healthcare insurance verification or billing.
• Strong written and oral communication skills; ability to interact with physicians, payors and staff.

Responsibilities

• Act as a centralized resource for obtaining authorizations across specialties.
• Validate work effort and educate staff to ensure successful authorizations.
• Provide feedback to back-end coding, billing and denial management teams to drive improvements.
• Support standardized procurement of authorizations across sites.

Skills

Communication skills

Analytical thinking

Interpersonal skills

Time management

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

High School diploma or equivalent

Job description

The purpose of the Central Authorization Specialist position is to centrally facilitate the successful procuring of insurance authorizations for ordered procedures and post-operative care. This will be done through quality validations of obtained authorizations as well as continuous education and opportunity feedback to a multi-disciplinary team with the underlying objective of managing the cost of care and providing timely and accurate information to payors'. The Central Authorization Specialist helps drive change by identifying areas where performance improvement is needed (e.g., day to day workflow, education, process improvements, patient satisfaction). The Central Authorization Specialist is accountable for a designated caseload and plans effectively in order to meet demands and support resources procuring authorizations. Under general supervision and in accordance with established policies and procedures the specific functions within this role include: Subject matter expertise of precertification and payor authorization processes. Ensure successful authorizations are procured by ordering physician offices through validation of work effort and education of procuring staff. Ensure feedback relevant to successful authorization procurement is obtained from back end coding, billing and denial management resources and distributed to ordering physicians and authorization procurement staff to promote continuous improvement. Application of process improvement methodologies. The responsibilities includes acting as a centralized resource for assigned specialty across all sites of practice to ensure standardized and consistent procurement of authorizations.

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE REQUIRED: High School or 3 - 5 years related experience and/or training; or equivalent combination of education and experience, required. Minimum of 3-5 years of experience in a medical clinic setting or training in a hospital or corporate setting; must be highly computer literate, required. Two years of experience related to healthcare insurance verification and/or billing required. Approximately two to three years progressively more responsible related work experience necessary in order to gain in-depth understanding or organizational policies, procedures and operations, in order to assume a variety of high-level administrative details. Coding knowledge. Knowledge of clinical terminology. Understanding of patient treatment plans for purposes of obtaining authorizations. Ability to interpret RN or Physician notes in order to facilitate obtaining authorizations. Ability to evaluate & communicate to RN/Physician staff additional requirements or roadblocks. Additional coursework in business, computers or health care administration, preferred. Experience in a medical or surgical specialty clinic, preferred. Ability to interpret insurance records and related documentation. Current working knowledge of hospital operations, utilization management, case management, and managed care reimbursement, preferred. General understanding of revenue cycle with an emphasis on billing, coding, charge capture and reimbursement, preferred. Organizational and time management skills, as evidenced by capacity to prioritize multiple tasks and role components. Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment in interactions with physicians, payors, and patients and their families if required. Strong oral and written communication skills required. Strong analytical and data management. Ability to work with all levels of management. Strong interpersonal communication and negotiation skills and experience interacting with clinicians and finance personnel.

Additional Information

• Organization: Corporate Services
• Department: CBO Central Authorization Unit
• Shift: Day Job
• Union Code: Not Applicable

This posting represents the major duties, responsibilities, and authorities of this job, and is not intended to be a complete list of all tasks and functions. It should be understood, therefore, that incumbents may be asked to perform job-related duties beyond those explicitly described above.

Overview

Henry Ford Health partners with millions of people on their health journey, across Michigan and around the world. We offer a full continuum of services – from primary and preventative care to complex and specialty care, health insurance, a full suite of home health offerings, virtual care, pharmacy, eye care and other health care retail. With former Ascension southeast Michigan and Flint region locations now part of our team, Henry Ford’s care is available in 13 hospitals and hundreds of ambulatory care locations. Based in Detroit, Henry Ford is one of the nation’s most respected academic medical centers and is leading the Future of Health: Detroit, a $3 billion investment anchored by a reimagined Henry Ford academic healthcare campus. Learn more at henryford.com/careers .

The health and overall well-being of our team members is our priority. That’s why we offer support in the various components of our team’s well-being: physical, emotional, social, financial and spiritual. Our Total Rewards program includes competitive health plan options, with three consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs), a PPO plan and an HMO plan. Our team members enjoy a number of additional benefits, ranging from dental and eye care coverage to tuition assistance, family forming benefits, discounts to dozens of businesses and more. Employees classified as contingent status are not eligible for benefits.

Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action Employer Henry Ford Health is

committed to the hiring, advancement and fair treatment of all individuals without regard to

race, color, creed, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability, veteran status, size, height,

weight, marital status, family status, gender identity, sexual orientation, and genetic information,

or any other protected status in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.

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