Strategic Payer Relations Manager – Cardiac Diagnostics

Heartflow; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 140,000 - 145,000; Full time

Job summary

Heartflow is seeking a Payer Relations Manager for the Central States to build and manage strategic payer relationships across the Midwest. You will work with Market Access to resolve access barriers and optimize reimbursement strategies for Heartflow products.

The role focuses on securing favorable coverage, negotiating contracts, and supporting billing and collections initiatives with payers and health systems, leveraging your deep payer knowledge and cross‑functional collaboration skills.

Qualifications

• Proven experience closing commercial payers for coverage decisions and negotiating contracted rates.
• Hospital contracting experience - Preferred
• Comprehensive understanding of the global payer and reimbursement environment, specifically regarding coronary artery disease diagnostic testing in the U.S.
• Deep knowledge of coverage, coding, payment, and reimbursement requirements, alongside private payer policy infrastructure and trends.
• Demonstrated ability to develop physician advocates to demonstrate the clinical utility of medical technologies.
• Strong cross‑functional collaboration skills with experience supporting field sales teams.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong aptitude for presentation development.
• Early‑stage company experience preferred.

Responsibilities

• Strategic Execution: Execute tactical plans developed by market access leadership to increase covered lives and revenue within assigned regional managed care organizations (MCOs), Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), health systems, and insurance companies.
• Payer Negotiations: Lead discussions with relevant payers to secure positive coverage determinations, establish favorable medical policies, and optimize contract terms for payment.
• Provider Advocacy & Support: Coach physicians on the nuances of reimbursement advocacy, refine supporting materials from HQ for regional payer outreach, and support key opinion leader (KOL) development from a payer perspective.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Serve as the primary liaison between payer customers and internal teams. Partner with regional sales teams to support commercialization strategies and eliminate clinical access barriers.
• Market Intelligence: Provide critical competitive intelligence regarding the market access landscape and payer policy trends to leadership.
• Compliance: Act in strict accordance with all regulatory compliance requirements and Heartflow’s quality system standards.

Skills

Payer negotiations

Contracting with payers

Cross-functional collaboration

Communication skills

Strategic thinking

Education

Bachelor’s degree

MBA or advanced degree

Job description

Heartflow is seeking a Payer Relations Manager for the Central States to build and manage strategic payer relationships across the Midwest. You will work with Market Access to resolve access barriers and optimize reimbursement strategies for Heartflow products.

The role focuses on securing favorable coverage, negotiating contracts, and supporting billing and collections initiatives with payers and health systems, leveraging your deep payer knowledge and cross‑functional collaboration skills.