Houston Methodist

Nonprofit academic medical center with hospitals

Financial Counselor - PRN

Clinical Support & Patient AdministrationConfirmed live in the last 24 hours

Part-timeThe Woodlands, TX, USANo salary listed

About the Job

Requirements

A high school diploma or equivalent education is required.
Three years of experience in financial counseling, patient accounting, or patient access in a healthcare setting is required; hospital experience is preferred.
The ability to safely perform the assigned job, as determined through ongoing skills and competency assessments and performance evaluations, is required.
Sufficient proficiency in spoken, read, and written English to perform essential job functions, particularly those affecting patient or employee safety or security, is required.
The ability to communicate effectively with patients, physicians, family members, and coworkers using a customer-service focus and positive language is required.
Sound judgment and above-average patient access functional skills are required.
The ability to analyze and solve problems is required.
Organizational skills, the ability to multitask, and efficient time management are required.
The ability to adapt to workplace changes and adjust approaches to fit patient situations is required.
Knowledge of payer requirements, authorizations, and insurance terminology is required.
A proficient understanding of medical terminology and diagnosis and procedure codes is required.
The ability to remain calm in stressful situations and demonstrate patience and understanding is required.
Customer service and professional communication skills are required.
Computer proficiency and the ability to learn and navigate multiple software programs and payer websites are required.
The ability to handle detail-oriented work accurately and rapidly is required.
Travel within the Houston metropolitan area may be required.
Employees may be required to be on call during emergencies, including disasters or severe weather events.

Responsibilities

Promote a positive work environment and contribute to a team-focused unit that helps colleagues achieve departmental and organizational results.
Support team members with patient eligibility and benefit questions, and seek management assistance when appropriate.
Engage professionally with patients, visitors, physician office staff, internal departments, and external organizations, and provide appropriate status updates.
Contact and educate patients about insurance benefits and payment options, collect past-due balances including bad debt, and answer billing and financial questions.
Counsel patients about potential eligibility for financial assistance and the application process, and collect financial information from patients and other sources, including electronic financial profiles.
Contribute to patient, employee, and physician satisfaction and to an effective revenue cycle process.
Review completed financial assistance applications for accuracy, make initial approval determinations, and alert the department manager to potential concerns.
Enter and update patient data in the electronic medical record accurately and promptly, and complete assigned work queues.
Review in-house self-pay patients to ensure they receive financial counseling when applicable.
Collaborate with vendors to identify potential payment sources, including COBRA and workers’ compensation, to secure hospital funds.
Provide regular financial updates for in-house patients, which may include updating reports or attending meetings with case management and finance to support timely discharge planning and financial clearance.
Complete financial assistance calculation worksheets and submit them for the appropriate level of approval.
Collect patient payments and perform complex financial counseling functions, including extended payment arrangements, discounts, single case agreements, and case rates, in accordance with department procedures; cashier duties may also be performed.
Meet monthly cash collection goals.
Organize time, set priorities, minimize incidental overtime, use time efficiently during heavy workloads, and assist other team members.
Seek learning opportunities beyond baseline competencies and pursue continual development.
Generate and communicate ideas and suggestions to improve finance, quality, or service.

Desired Qualifications

Experience mentoring or leading team members is preferred.
Working knowledge of CPT, ICD-9, and/or ICD-10 is preferred.

At Houston Methodist, the Financial Counselor position is responsible for screening patients for financial assistance programs to reduce bad debt and improve the likelihood of securing the payment for services rendered. This position assists in notifying patients of their financial responsibility, helping them understand their payment options, and collecting payments. Other duties include performing complex financial counseling functions (e.g., extended payment arrangements, discounts, single case agreements, case rates, etc.).

FLSA STATUS
Non-exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

High School diploma or equivalent education (examples include: GED, verification of homeschool equivalency, partial or full completion of post-secondary education, etc.)

EXPERIENCE

Three years of experience in financial counseling, patient accounting, or patient access in a healthcare setting, preferably in a hospital
Experience mentoring or leading team members preferred

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles
Demonstrates sound judgment and executes above average patient access functional skills
Exhibits strong interpersonal, teamwork, and leadership skills with all levels of the healthcare team and assures delivery of excellent customer service to all patients, visitors, physicians, and co-workers
Ability to analyze and solve problems
Well-developed organizational skills with ability to multi-task and utilize time efficiently
Ability to adapt to changes in the work environment and modify approaches or methods to best fit the patient’s situation
Knowledge of payer requirements, authorizations, and insurance terminology
Proficient understanding of medical terminology and diagnosis/procedural codes
Ability to remain calm in stressful situations with patience and understanding
Excellent customer service and professional communication skills
Proficient computer skills and ability to learn and navigate multiple software programs and payer websites
Ability to handle detail work accurately and rapidly
Working knowledge of CPT, ICD-9 and/or ICD-10 preferred

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Promotes a positive work environment and contributes to a dynamic team focused work unit that actively helps one another to achieve optimal departmental and organizational results.
Supports team members with questions regarding eligibility/benefit information for patients receiving services. Seeks management assistance appropriately.
Demonstrates a high degree of professionalism and effectively engages with a diverse customer base, including patients/visitors, physician office staff, and representatives from internal departments and external organizations. Gives appropriate status updates.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Contacts and educates patients on matters related to insurance benefits and payment options or collects past balances including bad debt. Answers any questions posed by the patient related to a billing or financial concern.
Counsels patients regarding potential financial assistance eligibility and the process for application. Collects financial information from patient and other sources (e.g., financial profile from electronic database).
Contributes to patient, employee, and physician satisfaction as well as effective revenue cycle process.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reviews the completed application for accuracy, making the initial determination for approval and alerting the department manager of potential concerns.
Enters and updates patient data into the electronic medical record with a high level of thoroughness, accuracy and timeliness. Completes assigned work queues.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Reviews in-house self-pay patients and assures they receive financial counseling, as applicable. Collaborates with applicable vendor to identify all sources of potential payment to secure funds for hospital (e.g., COBRA, worker’s compensation, etc.). Provides financial updates on a regular basis, which can include updating reporting and/or participating in regular meetings with case management and finance for in-house patients to ensure timely discharge planning and financial clearance.
Completes financial assistance calculation worksheets and submits for appropriate level of approval.
Collects patient payments and performs other complex financial counseling functions (e.g., extended payment arrangements, discounts, single case agreements, case rates, etc.) by following department procedures to ensure all collection activities are accurately followed. May perform cashier functions.
Fulfills monthly goals for cash collection.
Organizes time effectively, minimizing incidental overtime, and sets priorities. Utilizes time between heavy workloads efficiently and helps other team members.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

Seeks opportunities to expand learning beyond baseline competencies with a focus on continual development.
Generates and communicates new ideas and suggestions that will improve finance, quality, or service.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

Uniform: Yes
Scrubs: No
Business professional: Yes
Other (department approved): Yes

ON-CALL*

*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

On Call* No

TRAVEL**

**Travel specifications may vary by department**

May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No

Work Shift:

1 - Day (United States of America)



Job Category:

Non-clinical

Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital opened in June 2017. This 725,000-square-foot, full-service, acute-care hospital offers many of the same services as our flagship hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Also, on the beautiful hospital campus, located at the intersection of Interstate 45 and Texas State Highway 242, are two medical office buildings, which include a Breast Care Center; Cancer Center; infusion center; heart and vascular services; neurology; orthopedics and sports medicine; rehabilitation services; wellness services; an outpatient laboratory; and several other multispecialty physician practices. In January 2022, Houston Methodist The Woodlands opened Healing Tower — a $250 million expansion project that added 106 beds, focused on medical-surgical and women’s services, and provided nine operating rooms. The project also included the expansion of the endoscopy center, emergency department and diagnostic imaging department with an enhanced neurodiagnostic and interventional center.


Houston Methodist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

About the Company

Houston Methodist

Nonprofit academic medical center with hospitals

Houston Methodist is a nonprofit academic medical center and hospital system in the Houston area. It delivers fee-for-service care through eight hospitals, focusing on cancer, heart and vascular care, transplantation, neurosciences, orthopedics, and digestive disorders, and treats thousands of international patients. The system combines patient care with research, education, and philanthropy through the Houston Methodist Hospital Foundation, with its flagship at the Texas Medical Center and partnerships with Weill Cornell Medicine, Texas A&M, and Rice University that support programs like EnMed and a broad clinical trials network via the Houston Methodist Research Institute. Its goal is to improve patient outcomes by providing high-quality medical care while expanding research, education, and collaborative clinical programs.

Company size: 10,001+
Company stage: Not listed
Total funding: Not listed
Headquarters: Houston, TX
Founded: 2008

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