Health Information Manager

Seattle Roots Community Health; Seattle (WA); On-site; USD 56,000 - 79,000; Full time

Job summary

Seattle Roots Community Health seeks a Health Information Manager to lead medical records and referrals across our clinics in Seattle. The role focuses on secure handling of health information, timely processing of releases, and coordination of referrals and prior authorizations.

You will supervise staff, ensure HIPAA compliance, and partner with clinicians, payers, and external offices to optimize workflows. A background in health information management and relevant certifications are preferred.

Qualifications

• Associate degree or higher in Health Information Management, Health Informatics, Health Care Administration, Medical Office Administration, or related field preferred.
• RHIT/RHIA/CRCR or comparable credential preferred but not required.
• HIPAA privacy, security, breach reporting training required on hire or during onboarding.

Responsibilities

• Lead day-to-day leadership and supervision for medical records and referrals staff.
• Ensure timely, accurate, secure handling of health information and release of information.
• Oversee prior authorizations, referral tracking, and related communications.
• Maintain knowledge of HIPAA privacy, security, and confidentiality requirements.
• Coordinate with providers, payers, and external parties to resolve records and referral issues.
• Conduct performance evaluations and staff development in partnership with Human Resources.

Skills

Ambulatory health care operations

Supervisory leadership

Medical records management

Referral coordination

Prior authorization

HIPAA compliance

Education

Associate degree or higher in Health Information Management or related field

RHIT/RHIA/CRCR credential preferred

HIPAA training required

Tools

Epic Ambulatory

Job description

• Base Pay $40.87 - $57.55 / Hour
• Employee Type Exempt

Description

Position Title: Health Information Manager

Location: Seattle Roots at Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center

Expected Hours: 40 hours/week

Union: No

$40.87 – $57.55 Per hour, exempt, payable bi-weekly. The salary scale for this position is between steps 0 and 19, depending on experience. We use the resume submitted on your application to determine your hourly wage, so please ensure that all relevant work experience is listed in your resume. Applicants must pass an extensive background check.

About Us

Seattle Roots Community Health is a not-for-profit organization that operates two primary care clinics, an After-Hours Clinic, two School-Based Health Centers, a low barrier Medication-assisted treatment clinic and a Dental Clinic. Our Carolyn Downs Family Medical Center was founded in 1970 in Seattle's Central District. Our Country Doctor Community Clinic was established in 1971 by residents of the CapitolHill neighborhood.

Seattle Roots is passionate about serving patients of all backgrounds and employing individuals who are equally committed to this mission. To ensure our organization is best serving our populations, we strive to promote policies that enable us to work effectively in all situations, with patients, with coworkers, and with the community.

Our Mission

To improve the health of our community by providing high-quality and caring primary health care that addresses the needs of people, regardless of their ability to pay. At Carolyn Downs and Country Doctor, health care is a right.

Job Summary

The Supervisor of Medical Records and Referrals Staff provides day-to-day leadership, workflow coordination, quality oversight, and staff supervision for medical records and referral operations. This position supports timely, accurate, secure, and patient-centered handling of health information, release-of-information requests, incoming clinical documents, specialty referrals, prior authorizations, referral tracking, and related communications. The Manager maintains working knowledge of all team functions and expected to perform staff duties when needed to sustain service levels and continuity of care across clinic locations.

Job Responsibilities

• Working knowledge of HIPAA Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification requirements and the minimum necessary standard, as applicable to assigned duties.
• Working knowledge of patient rights related to access, amendment, restriction, confidential communications, and release of protected health information, as applicable to the role and organizational policy.
• Ability to interpret and consistently apply organizational policies, payer requirements, referral protocols, authorization requirements, retention schedules, and applicable federal and Washington State confidentiality requirements.
• Demonstrated leadership skills, including workload planning, coaching, training, quality review, conflict resolution, and clear documentation of supervisory actions.
• Strong attention to detail and ability to monitor accuracy, timeliness, pending work, aging queues, productivity, and service quality without compromising patient privacy.
• Excellent verbal, written, interpersonal, and customer service skills, including the ability to explain complex referral or records requirements in plain language.
• Ability to work collaboratively with patients, providers, clinical teams, insurance plans, specialty offices, hospitals, legal representatives, vendors, and other authorized parties.
• Commitment to the mission of Seattle Roots Community Health and to respectful, equitable service for patients from diverse backgrounds.
• Participate in recruitment, selection, onboarding, orientation, and training of assigned staff.
• Plan schedules, assign daily work, coordinate coverage, and approve timekeeping and leave requests within delegated authority and organizational policy.
• Set clear performance expectations and provide regular coaching, feedback, and skills development.
• Conduct and document performance evaluations and corrective or disciplinary actions in partnership with Human Resources and the supervising leader, consistent with organizational policy and applicable collective bargaining obligations.
• Facilitate regular staff meetings, workflow huddles, and cross-training. Communicate changes in policy, systems, payer requirements, and clinic operations.
• Promote a respectful, accountable, service-oriented work environment and promptly elevate safety, compliance, employee relations, or operational concerns.
• Support staff during complex patient, payer, provider, or external requester interactions and determine when escalation is required.
• Coordinate with providers and care teams when orders are incomplete, services are unavailable, coverage barriers arise, or alternative referral resources may be needed.
• Respond to authorized questions from patients, insurers, specialty offices, and clinical teams while maintaining confidentiality and appropriate role boundaries.
• Regularly use a computer, telephone, scanner, fax, and other office equipment for extended periods.
• Communicate effectively in person, by telephone, and through electronic systems.
• Move between work areas or clinic sites as operationally required and safely handle records or office materials consistent with organizational practices.
• Work in an environment that requires sustained attention to detail, frequent interruptions, and management of confidential information.

Qualifications

Education & Training

• Associate degree or higher in Health Information Management, Health Informatics, Health Care Administration, Medical Office Administration, or a related field preferred. A comparable combination of education, specialized training, and directly relevant experience may substitute for the preferred degree.
• Current training in HIPAA privacy, security, breach reporting, and the appropriate use and disclosure of protected health information is required upon hire or within the organization's required onboarding period.
• Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT), Registered Health Information Administrator (RHIA), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), or comparable health information or referral-related credential preferred but not required.
• Training in trauma-informed, culturally responsive, and patient-centered service is preferred.

Experience & Skills

• Minimum three years of progressively responsible experience in ambulatory health care operations, including at least two years performing medical records, health information, referral coordination, prior authorization, or closely related work.
• Minimum one year of formal supervisory, lead, or workflow coordination experience, including training staff, assigning work, monitoring quality, and addressing performance or service concerns. Two years of direct staff supervision is strongly preferred.
• Experience processing release-of-information requests, obtaining external records, indexing or abstracting clinical documents, and applying patient confidentiality requirements.
• Experience coordinating specialty referrals, insurance eligibility or network review, prior authorizations, patient follow-up, and referral loop closure.
• Experience in a community health center, Federally Qualified Health Center, safety-net clinic, or other multi-site ambulatory care environment strongly preferred.
• Experience using an electronic health record and associated work queues, reporting tools, document management, referral, and authorization workflows is required. Experience with the Epic Ambulatory platform, including referral and health information management workflows, is strongly preferred.

Supervision

This position is supervised by the Carolyn Downs Clinical Operations Manager. The Manager directly oversees assigned Medical Records and Referrals staff and may provide functional direction to temporary, cross-trained, or coverage staff supporting these workflows.

We provide a robust suite of benefits, including the choice of three medical plans, two dental plans, long-term disability, life, and other insurance programs. You’ll have access to flexible spending accounts, a subsidy of up to 80% of the cost of an ORCA pass, plus an additional match of 50% of the employee's contribution up to 4% after one year of employment. (Ex. if employee contributes at 4%, Seattle Roots will match with an additional 2%, plus the safe harbor contribution totaling a 9% contribution to the employee's 401k) We’ve got you covered!