Job Description

Division:Eskenazi Health

Sub-Division: Hospital

Req ID: 25754

Schedule Full Time

Shift Days

Salary Range:

Eskenazi Health serves as the public hospital division of the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County. Physicians provide a comprehensive range of primary and specialty care services at the 327-bed hospital and outpatient facilities both on and off of the Eskenazi Health downtown campus as well as at 10 Eskenazi Health Center sites located throughout Indianapolis.

FLSA Status

Exempt

#EXPRN

Job Role Summary

The Utilization Reviewer/Inpatient Payor Specialist is responsible for working behind the scenes to maximize the quality and cost of efficiency of health services and coordinates pre-certifications, re-certifications, the denial management and appeals process and initial and concurrent reviews. Through regular reviews and audits, they ensure that the patients receive care needed without burdening the health care system with unnecessary procedures, ineffective treatments or lengthy hospital stays.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities

• Communicates secondary review decisions determining appropriate patient status provided by secondary reviewer process
• Communicate with payers to obtain approvals for the appropriate care level
• Serve as a resource on payor requirements for severity of service determinations for outpatient and acute inpatient admissions
• Provide timely payor feedback to Case Managers and Social Workers; notify the Case Manager when additional clinical information may be required to ensure that services will be approved at the acute level of care as required by the payor; maintain communication with the inpatient case management team to ensure timely progression through the plan of care.
• Responsible for ensuring pre-certification/authorizations for post-acute services, initial, concurrent reviews, authorizations not obtained by Patient Registration/Admitting or the Doctor's office and clinics for direct admissions and procedures
• Document and maintains pre-certification/authorization information accessible by the healthcare system
• Ensure the provision of quality patient care, effective utilization of available health services, review of medical necessity of admissions, and necessity for continued stay in hospital; analyzing patient records to ensure compliance with insurance company reimbursement policies and accrediting standards
• Demonstrate clinical astuteness with the assigned patient population and is responsible for managing each patient's plan of care, monitoring for appropriate resource utilization, and collaborating with the inpatient team as well as outpatient providers to coordinate the patient's transition plan of care
• Provide primary nurse support through all aspects of utilization management
• Assess degree of medical necessity for any patient seen in the Emergency Department and perform Utilization Review using the Eskenazi Health approved clinical decision support criteria
• Review patient admission for appropriateness and type; refer case to Medical Director/department leadership for review/course of action when case fails to meet admission standards
• Facilitate the most accurate/appropriate patient status for care
• Communicate payor issues/concerns regarding the initial level of care, continued stay, denials and discharge plans to the Medical Director/department leadership
• Support the denial management process and participate in tracking/ reporting denials
• Ensure payor and customer satisfaction through effective communication with the Interdisciplinary Team
• Obtain payor certification for unplanned admissions, homecare and post-acute services as required
• Contact payers for initial and continued stay reviews utilizing clinical information and pursues additional information as needed
• Function as a resource with admitting staff to coordinate patient insurance and payment information
• Strategize to reduce the length of stay and resource consumption within the appropriate length of stay
• Identify concurrent third-party payers denials; notify Case Managers for immediate intervention and escalation to the Medical Director
• Collaborate with Emergency Physicians and Attending Physicians to ensure that patients meet criteria for Admission or Placement on Observation Status
• Oversight of the initial admission review, utilizing criteria, within 24-48 hours of the patient's admission to the hospital to ensure appropriateness of the assigned level of care and timely implementation of the treatment plan
• Apply appropriate clinical criteria to complete initial reviews within 24-48 hours of patient presentation

Job Requirements

• Current Indiana nursing license
• Minimum of 4 years clinical nursing experience required

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Must demonstrate knowledge of the Utilization Management managed care processes
• Ability to work weekends and holidays required
• Ability to demonstrate knowledge of levels of care of Inpatient and Outpatient status
• Competency in the following areas required:
  • interpersonal, written/verbal communication, and negotiation skills
  • diplomacy, flexibility, and professionalism
  • cohesive networking with the Interdisciplinary Team

Accredited by The Joint Commission and named one of the nation’s 150 best places to work by Becker’s Hospital Review for four consecutive years and Forbes list of best places to work for women, and Forbes list of America’s best midsize employers’ Eskenazi Health’s programs have received national recognition while also offering new health care opportunities to the local community. As the sponsoring hospital for Indianapolis Emergency Medical Services, the city’s primary EMS provider, Eskenazi Health is also home to the first adult Level I trauma center in Indiana, the first verified adult burn center in Indiana, the first community mental health center in Indiana and the Eskenazi Health Center Primary Care – Center of Excellence in Women’s Health, just to name a few.