Prior Authorization Medical Clinician

It’s an exciting time to join the WellSense Health Plan, a growing regional health insurance company with a 25-year history of providing health insurance that works for our members, no matter their circumstances.

Job Summary:

Evaluates and approves requested services using organizational policies or InterQual® screening criteria. Manages appropriate cases that require medical necessity review such as home care, elective inpatient and outpatient service requests. Monitors and complies with all state, federal and regulatory requirements relative to accuracy and turnaround times and adheres to the benefit design of Massachusetts and New Hampshire products in managing all requests.

Our Investment in You:

·       Full-time remote work

·       Competitive salaries

·       Excellent benefits

Key Functions/Responsibilities:

• Reviews cases referred by the prior-authorization non-clinical staff according to member benefits, provider availability, and pre-determined medical necessity criteria
• Clearly and succinctly presents cases to ensure quality care while advocating for appropriate utilization of health system resources (e.g. site of service, level of care, length of stay, etc) consistent with health plan’s policy, criteria guidelines, and goals
• Clearly and succinctly documents necessary and/or required information in health plan’s UM system
• Uses clinical subject matter expertise as well as knowledge of the interconnection between UM, claims, and regulatory requirements to respond to complex and/or escalated inquiries
• Identifies members who could benefit from care management and refers to the appropriate care manager
• Utilizes critical thinking skills to identify process issues and problems, and recommend and/or implement solutions
• May identify workflow and systems improvements to enhance UM’s ability to monitor, document and improve key department performance indicators
• Uses clinical expertise and analytical ability to identify opportunities for new approaches to better address the needs of targeted members, improve outcomes, stakeholder satisfaction, or department effectiveness
• Maintains caseload volume, complies with contractual requirements regarding turnaround times, and meets department productivity standards
• Works collaboratively with internal constituents to understand and successfully meet the goals of the department and organization
• Builds effective external relationships with business partners such as providers, facilities, and vendors to support program effectiveness
• May be asked to represent the health plan or UM department effectively as a subject matter expert in meetings with individuals or groups
• Uses UM system platform with proficiency

Qualifications:

Education Required:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing or Nursing School Degree with equivalent relevant work experience

Experience Required:

• At least 3 years of related experience in an acute care or health insurance environment
• At least 2 years of experience with pre-authorization, utilization review/management, case management, care coordination, and/or discharge planning

Experience Preferred/Desirable:

• Experience in acute care and/or rehab nursing
• Experience with Medicaid or Medicare recipients and community services
• Experience with InterQual®, ZeOmega’s Jiva, or other healthcare database

Required Licensure, Certification or Conditions of Employment:

• Current unrestricted licensure as a Registered Nurse 

Competencies, Skills, and Attributes:

• Demonstrates comfort with ambiguity and change
• Ability to create positive work environment and dynamic with individuals and groups
• Ability to take action in solving problems exhibiting sound judgement
• Strong oral and written communication skills; ability to interact within all levels of the organization as well as with external contacts
• Demonstrated strong organization and time management skills
• Able to work in a fast paced environment; ability to multi-task
• Experience with standard Microsoft Office applications, particularly MS Outlook, Word, Excel and other data entry processing applications
• Strong analytical and clinical problem solving skills

About WellSense

WellSense Health Plan is a nonprofit health insurance company serving more than 740,000 members across Massachusetts and New Hampshire through Medicare, Individual and Family, and Medicaid plans. Founded in 1997, WellSense provides high-quality health plans and services that work for our members, no matter their circumstances. WellSense is committed to the diversity and inclusion of staff and their members.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. WellSense participates in the E-Verify program to electronically verify the employment eligibility of newly hired employees