Director of Patient Access Services

UCLA Health; Los Angeles (CA); On-site; USD 149,000 - 352,000; Full time

Job summary

UCLA Health is seeking a Director of Patient Access Services to lead enterprise-wide access operations across admissions, registration, and financial clearance. You will manage a multi-site team, a $10M budget, and partner with Revenue Cycle, IT, and clinical operations to improve access, throughput, and financial outcomes.

The role emphasizes strategic leadership, regulatory compliance, and ongoing transformation initiatives including digital front-door improvements and automation to enhance

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required in healthcare administration, business, or related field.
• 12+ years of progressive experience in hospital-based patient access or revenue cycle operations.
• 7+ years of leadership overseeing hospital patient access services, including large, multi-site teams.
• 3+ years leading automation or technology projects in patient access.
• Deep understanding of state and federal regulations affecting patient access functions.
• Strong knowledge of hospital billing, payer contracting, and reimbursement methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Lead enterprise patient access operations across registration, admitting, pre-registration, insurance verification, financial counseling, and financial clearance.
• Develop strategies, staffing plans, and performance standards to improve access and patient experience.
• Advance digital front-door, automation, and technology initiatives for efficiency and accuracy.
• Monitor KPIs and translate data into actionable improvements for executive leadership.
• Oversee daily operations, department budget, expense review, and monthly reporting for patient access.
• Ensure compliance with EMTALA, No Surprises Act, CMS, HIPAA, payer rules.

Skills

Leadership

Budgeting & Forecasting

Regulatory Knowledge

Epic EHR & ADT

Data Analysis

Cross-functional Collaboration

Staff Development

Education

Bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, business, or a related field

Tools

Epic EHR (Epic Systems)

Job description

Work Schedule

Posted Date

05/12/2026

Salary Range: $148700.00 - 352100.00 Annually

Employment Type

Duration

Indefinite

Job #

30340

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

Patient Access Services

Lead enterprise-wide patient access operations that support timely care access, strong revenue cycle performance, and a positive patient experience. As the Director of Patient Access Services, you will oversee admission, registration, pre-registration, insurance verification, financial counseling, and financial clearance functions across inpatient, outpatient, and emergency settings. This role provides leadership for a large, multi-site team and manages a $10M budget while partnering with Revenue Cycle, clinical operations, IT, Finance, Care Coordination, Managed Care, and other health system leaders to improve access, throughput, compliance, and financial outcomes.

In this role, you will:

• Lead enterprise patient access operations across registration, admitting, pre-registration, insurance verification, financial counseling, and financial clearance.
• Develop and implement strategies, policies, staffing plans, and performance standards to improve access, clean claims, authorization accuracy, the patient experience, and preventable balance write-offs and adjustments.
• Advance digital front-door, automation, and technology initiatives that improve efficiency, accuracy, and operational performance.
• Monitor KPIs and translate data into actionable operational and financial improvements for executive leadership.
• Oversee daily operations, department budget, expense review, and monthly reporting for patient access functions.
• Ensure compliance with EMTALA, the No Surprises Act, CMS requirements, HIPAA, payer rules, and other patient access regulations.
• Partner with audit and compliance teams to mitigate risk, address findings, and strengthen internal controls.
• Recruit, mentor, and develop leaders and staff while fostering accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with clinical departments, IT, Finance, Care Coordination, FPG, Transfer Center, and Managed Care teams to improve workflows and resolve access barriers.
• Serve as an executive leader for patient access transformation, surge planning, emergency preparedness, system capacity initiatives, and change management efforts.

Salary Range:

$148,700 to $352,100/annually

Job Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in healthcare administration, business, or a related field.
• 12 or more years of progressive experience in hospital-based patient access or revenue cycle operations.
• 7 or more years of leadership experience overseeing hospital patient access services, including large, multi-site teams.
• 3 or more years of experience leading projects that implement automation or technology enhancements within patient access areas.
• Deep understanding of state and federal regulations impacting patient access functions.
• Deep understanding of hospital billing, payer contracting, and reimbursement methodologies.
• Strong knowledge of Epic electronic health records, ADT functionality, and reporting.
• Extensive knowledge of delegated payment models and authorization requirements.
• Strong financial and analytical skills to manage budgets, forecasts, performance metrics, and operational outcomes.
• Ability to lead teams, drive performance improvement, manage change, and communicate effectively across clinical, financial, and operational partners.

Preferred

• Master’s degree in healthcare administration, public health, business, or a related field.
• Certification through NAHAM, HFMA, or AAHAM is preferred.
• Lean Six Sigma or Project Management Professional certification is preferred.

As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts an offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of substantiated misconduct with a previous employer. Current/former UC employees are subject to a personnel file review.