Director, Patient Access – Sacramento, CA

UnitedHealth Group; Sacramento (CA); On-site; USD 92,000 - 164,000; Full time

Job summary

UnitedHealth Group seeks a Patient Access Director to lead hospital-based Patient Access and front-end revenue cycle operations at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, CA. The role oversees ED registration, main hospital registration, preregistration, and outpatient surgery registration, ensuring 24/7 coverage and strong collaboration with hospital leadership.

The director will manage 14–16 staff, drive engagement, quality, and performance, and partner with Revenue Cycle and facility leaders to

Qualifications

• 5+ years in hospital Patient Access, front-end Revenue Cycle Operations, or similar health-care setting
• Experience leading Patient Access, Revenue Cycle, and people teams
• Experience working in hospital/health system or payer environments
• Proven ability to commute daily to Sacramento facility
• Willingness to work onsite; no telecommuting
• Experience with 24/7 operations and shift coverage

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day Patient Access operations in a high-volume acute-care hospital
• Oversee ED and main hospital registrations, preregistration, and outpatient services
• Provide 24/7 leadership, with after-hours and weekend coverage as needed
• Direct 14–16 employees and support broader Patient Access teams
• Develop leaders and frontline staff to improve engagement and service quality
• Lead changes in processes, technology, and workflows
• Maintain facility budget awareness and resource decisions
• Prepare operational and performance reports for leadership

Skills

Leadership

Staff supervision

Patient Access management

Revenue Cycle knowledge

Operational leadership

Education

HFMA certification

NAHAM certification

Job description

Requisition number: 2378999

Job category: Business Operations

Optum Insight is improving the flow of health data and information to create a more connected system. We remove friction and drive alignment between care providers and payers, and ultimately consumers. Our deep expertise in the industry and innovative technology empower us to help organizations reduce costs while improving risk management, quality and revenue growth. Ready to help us deliver results that improve lives? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

Optum is seeking a Patient Access Director to lead hospital-based Patient Access and front-end revenue cycle operations at Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, California.

This leader will oversee Patient Access services supporting the Emergency Department, the main hospital, scheduled services and preregistration, and an outpatient surgery center located on the hospital campus. The facility operates around the clock and supports a significant volume of cardiac services and procedures.

The Director will be responsible for operational performance, patient experience, workforce leadership, client relationships, revenue cycle outcomes, and continuous improvement. The role requires a visible, collaborative leader who can build accountability, strengthen team operations, support evening-shift leadership, and guide employees through operational change.

This is a client-facing position that works closely with hospital administration, Optum Revenue Cycle leadership, facility-based leaders, and regional Patient Access partners.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Lead day-to-day Patient Access operations within a high-volume, acute-care hospital environment

• Oversee Emergency Department registration, main hospital registration and check-in, scheduled-service preregistration, outpatient surgery registration, financial clearance, financial counseling, point-of-service collections, and patient service

• Provide leadership within a 24/7 operation, including occasional after-hours, weekend, or on-call support based on staffing or operational needs

• Directly lead approximately 14 to 16 employees, including AM and PM supervisors, while providing broader operational oversight to Patient Access representatives, specialists, team leads, and other managed employees

• Develop, coach, and support leaders and frontline employees to strengthen engagement, accountability, service quality, and operational consistency

• Provide focused leadership support to evening-shift operations and help establish effective, sustainable team practices

• Oversee workforce planning, staffing, scheduling, productivity, quality monitoring, orientation, performance management, and employee development

• Lead employees in an SEIU-represented environment and support operations in accordance with the applicable collective bargaining agreement

• Serve as a primary liaison between Optum and hospital leadership and build productive relationships with client administration, clinical leaders, Revenue Cycle partners, and other facility stakeholders

• Monitor operational, financial, quality, and patient experience results, identifying and implementing opportunities for improvement

• Drive performance related to registration accuracy, financial clearance, point-of-service collections, customer service, and applicable service-level agreements

• Prepare and present operational reports, performance updates, status reports, and improvement plans to hospital and business leadership

• Support regulatory requirements, audit follow-up, client standards, contractual commitments, and applicable policies

• Lead change-management efforts associated with new processes, technologies, workflows, and organizational initiatives

• Maintain facility-level budget awareness and support appropriate workforce and resource decisions

• Perform other duties as assigned

You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of supervisory, management, consulting, and/or project management experience within hospital Patient Access, Patient Registration, front-end Revenue Cycle Operations, physician practice operations, healthcare payer operations, revenue cycle vendor operations, or a closely related healthcare environment

• Demonstrated experience in Patient Access, Revenue Cycle, and people leadership

• Experience leading employees in a healthcare operations environment

• Experience working in a hospital, health system, physician practice, healthcare payer, or revenue cycle organization

• Proven ability to commute daily to the assigned facility in Sacramento, California

• Proven ability and willingness to work onsite within a hospital client facility. Telecommuting is not available for this position

• Proven ability to support a 24/7 healthcare operation, including schedule flexibility for meetings, training, operational needs, staffing gaps, and occasional weekend or after-hours coverage

• Demonstrated ability to develop teams, manage change, improve operational performance, and address complex workforce or service challenges

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with hospital clients, business leaders, and cross-functional stakeholders

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification through the Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) and/or the National Association of Healthcare Access Management (NAHAM)

• Experience leading employees in a union-represented healthcare environment and knowledge of collective bargaining agreements

• Experience leading supervisors, team leads, and frontline employees across multiple shifts

• Experience improving registration accuracy, financial clearance, point-of-service collections, patient experience, or other front-end revenue cycle outcomes

• Experience leading or participating in Patient Access technology implementations, contact center initiatives, or large operational transformation programs

• Experience with major Patient Access, registration, scheduling, or revenue cycle technologies

• Acute-care hospital Patient Access leadership experience, including Emergency Department operations

• Client-facing healthcare operations leadership experience

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $91,700 - $163,700 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.

UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.