VP Patient Access

University of California - San Francisco; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 250,000 - 380,000; Full time

Job summary

UCSF Health, based in San Francisco, seeks a visionary Vice President, Patient Access, to lead access initiatives across ambulatory services. You will oversee a multi-modal contact center and capacity management, drive scheduling optimization, referral workflows, and patient navigation to deliver equitable, scalable access while aligning with financial sustainability.

The role requires strategic collaboration with clinical leaders, IT, and operations to expand the contact center model and

Qualifications

• 10+ years of referrals experience and customer service/call center experience with leadership of 150+ representatives
• Strong operational understanding of referrals with focus on front-end operations and call center/customer service
• Superior organizational, management, leadership and problem-solving skills
• Experience leading, coaching and mentoring management
• Excellent organizational, service-oriented, energetic and committed
• Knowledge of service center operations and large patient access workflows
• Knowledge of Hospital Information Systems such as Paragon and Epic is preferred
• Understanding of Front End, Mid-Cycle and Patient Financial Services in hospital/health system settings

Responsibilities

• Oversee day-to-day operations of a high-volume multi-modal contact center, including scheduling, referrals, inquiries, and patient communications workflows
• Monitor and drive improvements in KPIs like call response times, abandonments, patient satisfaction, and first-call resolution
• Implement telephony modernization, self-service tools, scheduling workflows, and digital platforms to improve patient experience
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, quality and organizational standards across contact center operations
• Manage budgets for contact center and capacity management, aligning with financial goals
• Track financial performance and identify cost-optimization opportunities while maintaining quality

Skills

Referrals & call center leadership

Operational leadership

Data-driven decision making

Budgeting & financial stewardship

Patient access workflow optimization

Education

Bachelor's degree in related area

Master's degree in related area

Job description

The Vice President, Patient Access, will lead UCSF Health's efforts to optimize and expand patient access across the organization. This high-impact role is responsible for overseeing both the Contact Center and the Capacity Management Team, ensuring seamless operations, financial stewardship, and strategic growth. The VP will play a pivotal role in driving the adoption of the contact center model across UCSF's ambulatory services, enhancing the patient experience while supporting organizational goals of operational efficiency and financial sustainability.

This role will be instrumental in improving the patient experience and access to care by providing a consistent, equitable, and scalable patient experience through a multi-modal communication center and capacity management system. The scope of the contact center and capacity management work includes referral management, template optimization, scheduling using decision trees, new patient referrals, self-scheduling, telephony modernization, and leveraging innovative technology to streamline operations and improve care delivery.

As a key member of UCSF Health's leadership team, the VP will work collaboratively with stakeholders across the health system to deliver exceptional service, streamline access to care, and support UCSF's mission of advancing health worldwide. This position serves as the senior leader for a workforce of over 500 FTEs dedicated to patient access services.

The VP, Patient Access sits within UCSF Health's Ambulatory Business Unit, which advances the goals and priorities of the President, Faculty Practice Organization & Senior Vice President of Ambulatory services, in collaboration with the Ambulatory Senior Executive team.The UCSF Health Ambulatory Business Unit consists of ambulatory operations including surgical centers, outpatient cancer services & infusion care, and outpatient pharmacy operations. The annual revenue of Ambulatory services is >3.2 billion.

Key Responsibilities

Contact Center & Capacity Management Operations

• Oversees day-to-day operations of a high-volume, multi-modal contact center, including patient scheduling, referrals, inquiries, and patient communication workflows.
• Monitors and drives improvements in key performance metrics such as call response times, abandonment rates, patient satisfaction, and first-call resolution.
• Implements advanced systems such as telephony modernization, integrated self-service tools, decision-tree-based scheduling workflows, and digital communication platforms to improve the patient experience.
• Ensures compliance with regulatory, quality, and organizational standards across all contact center operations.
• Manages budgets for contact center and capacity management operations, ensuring alignment with financial goals and objectives.
• Tracks financial performance metrics and identify opportunities for cost optimization while maintaining high-quality service delivery.

Strategic Leadership

• Works closely with the Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO), Patient Access, to partner with division/department stakeholders and align physicians around scheduling, registration, referral processes, and patient navigation.
• Collaborates with IT and digital health teams to implement innovative technologies
• Leverages data and analytics to optimize workflows, track performance metrics, and inform strategic decision-making around access and capacity management.
• Champions patient experience enhancements, ensuring the patient remains at the center of all decisions and forward strategies.
• Leads efforts to optimize capacity management systems, including clinic template design, physician scheduling, appointment availability, and referral management processes.

Spread Activities and Model Expansion

• Drives the expansion of the contact center model across ambulatory services, ensuring consistency, integration, and scalability across departments and practices.
• Leads organizational change management efforts, engaging stakeholders at all levels to adopt new workflows, technologies, and patient access standards.
• Partners with the ACMO, Patient Access, to develop strategies for physician engagement in scheduling optimization, referral workflows, and patient navigation processes as the model expands across the system.
• Monitors and evaluate the success of spread initiatives, identifying opportunities for further standardization and improvement.

Team leadership and Development

• Provides leadership and oversight for contact center and capacity management teams, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
• Oversees hiring, training, professional development, and performance evaluation to ensure teams have the skills and resources needed to succeed.
• Implements quality assurance programs and create opportunities for growth within the workforce to support organizational goals and individual career development.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

• 10+ years of referrals experience and customer service/call center experience along with demonstrated leadership experience managing a minimum of 150+ call center representatives
• The successful candidate must have a strong operational understanding of referrals with a particular focus on front end operations and call center/customer service knowledge with proven verbal and written communication skills
• Must be able to demonstrate superior organizational, management, leadership and problem-solving skills
• Proven successful experience leading, coaching, and mentoring management is required
• Must be well organized, service oriented, energetic, and committed
• Extensive knowledge of service center operations
• Advanced administrative leadership skills in successfully developing and overseeing large complex operations / center administration functions. Skills for developing long and short range strategic plans, integrating systems and fiscal management.
• Advanced leadership, fiscal, and operations management skills. Ability to develop center leaders in their adoption and promotion of a shared governance model of collaboration.
• Advanced communications and interpersonal skills to promote an effective model of shared governance among multiple disciplines. Ability to motivate and engage all levels of staff in regards to patient services, strategies, and organizational mission and values.
• Ability to develop a systems strategic plan and implement a vision across a large, complex organization.
• In-depth knowledge of a broad scope of relevant regulatory requirements, as well as legislative, accreditation, licensing, and compliance environments.
• At least 5 years of experience with front end operations in ambulatory and/or acute setting is preferred
• Ideal experience will include a blend of strategic and operational experience with strong customer side exposure specifically in the Referrals Outsourcing industry
• Knowledge of large Hospital Information Systems such as Paragon and Epic is preferred
• Understanding of Front End, Mid-Cycle and Patient Financial Services knowledge in Hospital/Health System and/or large ambulatory setting is preferred

Education, Licenses and Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in related area
• Master's degree in related area

Knowledge Skills and Abilities (KSAs)

• 10+ years of referrals experience and customer service/call center experience along with demonstrated leadership experience managing a minimum of 150+ call center representatives
• The successful candidate must have a strong operational understanding of referrals with a particular focus on front end operations and call center/customer service knowledge with proven verbal and written communication skills
• Must be able to demonstrate superior organizational, management, leadership and problem-solving skills
• Proven successful experience leading, coaching, and mentoring management is required
• Must be well organized, service oriented, energetic, and committed
• Extensive knowledge of service center operations
• Advanced administrative leadership skills in successfully developing and overseeing large complex operations / center administration functions. Skills for developing long and short range strategic plans, integrating systems and fiscal management.
• Advanced leadership, fiscal, and operations management skills. Ability to develop center leaders in their adoption and promotion of a shared governance model of collaboration.
• Advanced communications and interpersonal skills to promote an effective model of shared governance among multiple disciplines. Ability to motivate and engage all levels of staff in regards to patient services, strategies, and organizational mission and values.
• Ability to develop a systems strategic plan and implement a vision across a large, complex organization.
• In-depth knowledge of a broad scope of relevant regulatory requirements, as well as legislative, accreditation, licensing, and compliance environments.
• At least 5 years of experience with front end operations in ambulatory and/or acute setting is preferred
• Ideal experience will include a blend of strategic and operational experience with strong customer side exposure specifically in the Referrals Outsourcing industry
• Knowledge of large Hospital Information Systems such as Paragon and Epic is preferred
• Understanding of Front End, Mid-Cycle and Patient Financial Services knowledge in Hospital/Health System and/or large ambulatory setting is preferred

Education, Licenses and Certifications:

• Bachelor's degree in related area
• Master's degree in related area