Field Access Manager - New Orleans

Merck; Frankfort (KY); Remote; USD 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

Merck is seeking a Field Access Manager to act as the subject-matter expert on access issues for healthcare professionals and organizations. This remote/field-based role will collaborate with patient support, market access, and field sales to ensure timely patient access to therapy.

The role involves educating providers on access processes, payer coverage, and hub programs, analyzing access trends, and coordinating with cross-functional teams to resolve barriers while maintaining HIPAA

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent.
• 7+ years’ experience in patient support, pharmaceutical/healthcare sales or reimbursement operations.
• Strong knowledge of health insurance structures (Medicare Part B, Medicaid, commercial) and related access processes.
• Expertise in pharmaceutical compliance and HIPAA regulations.
• Experience coordinating with hub and patient support activities.
• Willingness to travel 20–25% and reside in the assigned territory (New Orleans area).

Responsibilities

• Provide information and education to HCP accounts on patient access, including benefit verification, prior authorization processes, appeals, and patient support programs.
• Analyze access trends and identify barriers to improve patient access.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to address access barriers and support patient satisfaction.
• Build relationships with internal stakeholders to enable seamless patient access to therapy.
• Monitor payer trends and provide access information to HCP offices.
• Educate field teams on access topics and hub programs.
• Escalate access issues with third parties including hub vendors.
• Provide education on Specialty Pharmacy issues and payer coverage questions.
• Operate as a team player with sales, leadership, and internal colleagues.

Skills

Access expertise

Healthcare reimbursement

Stakeholder management

HIPAA compliance

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor’s Degree

Tools

Hub program knowledge

Job description

Job Description

The Field Access Manager (FAM) serves as the subject-matter expert on access related issues for healthcare professionals (HCPs) and healthcare organizations (HCOs), and will work cross-functionally with patient support, market access, and field sales to support timely patient access to therapy. The FAM will provide information to providers on access processes, reimbursement issues, and support patient assistance programs, all while ensuring compliance with healthcare regulations.

The FAM role is a remote/field-based role that proactively provides approved education to defined accounts within an assigned geography on matters related to access and coverage to facilitate appropriate patient access. The FAM will analyze access issues and act as the local access resource for HCPs and other field force personnel and region management, as permitted by policy. Where appropriate, the FAM will coordinate with the access hub concerning individual patient cases including patient access and coverage assistance, hub enrollment and overall coordination. The FAM will need to collaborate cross functionally with Field Sales, Marketing, Market Access, Public Affairs, State and Government Affairs, Trade and Specialty Pharmacy Accounts while abiding by all corporate and industry policy and procedures.

The FAMs will manage daily activities that support appropriate patient access. Activities include, but are not limited to:

• Provide information and/or education to HCP accounts on patient access, including benefit verification, prior authorization process, appeals process, and patient support programs in both live and virtual formats.

• Analyze access trends.

• Partner cross-functionally to identify and address barriers to patient access and supporting patient satisfaction.

• Build collaborative, trusted relationships with internal stakeholders to support seamless patient access to therapy.Monitor payer trends to address access barriers.

• Provide access information to HCP offices.

• Provide access education to field teams upon approved direction.

• Escalate and coordinate on access issues with third parties including hub vendor.

• Provide education and support on Specialty Pharmacy issues.

• Provide information to HCP offices on how the products are covered under the benefit design (Commercial, Medicare, Medicaid).

• Answer questions about coverage, including payer-specific access questions.

• Maintain deep knowledge of regional and national market dynamics, and payer coverage policies.

• Act as a subject matter expert on access and affordability challenges across various payer types, including Medicare, Medicaid, and commercial plans.

• Educate and update HCPs on key private and public payer coverage and changes that impact access for patients.

• Support patient access to the product by providing subject matter expertise on payer coverage issues impacting product access in a manner that complies with policies, processes and standard operating procedures.

• Educate HCP offices on the product hub program including, e.g., patient support offerings, financial assistance and hub educational resources.

• Demonstrate knowledge of and communicate information about access resources and payer processes/policies.

• Attend National and Regional Meetings.

Minimum Requirements

• Bachelor’s Degree.

• Minimum of 7 years’ experience in patient support, Pharmaceutical /healthcare sales or operations, or reimbursement support.

• Strong knowledge of health insurance structures (Medicare Part B, Medicaid, commercial) and related access processes, including benefit verification, prior authorization, and appeal processes.

• Expertise in pharmaceutical compliance and HIPAA regulations regarding patient confidentiality.

• Exhibit competent understanding of hub and patient support activities.

• Proven ability to manage multiple priorities in a remote environment with 20-25% travel; Must reside in the New Orleans area assigned territory/metro area.

• Ability to operate as a “team player” in collaborating with multiple sales representatives, sales leadership, and internal colleagues appropriately to reach common goals.

• Must be at least 21 years old with a valid driver’s license and a clean driving record.

• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills; demonstrated ability to engage and influence multiple stakeholders across teams and disciplines.

Preferred Requirements

• Pharmaceutical industry experience highly preferred.

• Deep understanding of HCP office workflows, prescription flow, and clinic operations; pulmonology experience preferred.

Required Skills

Adaptability, Adaptability, Clinical Care, Company Policies, Cost Effectiveness Analysis, Data Analysis, Direct Marketing, Employee Scheduling, Evaluating Applications, Healthcare Reimbursement, Health Economic Modeling, Health Economics, Health Economics Research, Health Policy Analysis, Health Technology Assessment (HTA), HIPAA Regulations, Interpersonal Relationships, Liaison Work, Market Access, Market Analysis, Market Research, Medicare Part B, Multidisciplinary Teamwork, Patient Assistance, Patient Engagement {+ 10 more}

US and Puerto Rico Residents Only

Our company is committed to inclusion, ensuring that candidates can engage in a hiring process that exhibits their true capabilities. If you need an accommodation during the application or hiring process.

Additional location(s)

Please note the salary range above applies to the Primary Location of the position. Where a role has other listed locations, different compensation guidelines may apply. You may find the salary ranges for additional locations below.