The Acute Intake Manager provides operational leadership for the Acute Intake team and is accountable for timely patient access, referral progression, prior authorization oversight, patient onboarding, workforce performance, quality, and cross-functional execution. The role drives a consistent, accountable patient journey while advancing workflow simplification, technology adoption, and continuous improvement.
A successful Acute Intake Manager is a patient-centered, data-informed leader who builds accountable teams, removes barriers to treatment, strengthens cross-functional partnerships, and improves the reliability of the patient journey. The role balances employee development, operational performance, compliance, continuity of care, and sustainable process improvement.
Schedule: Anytime between 7am-7pm but preferred is 10:30am-7pm CST.You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.
Primary Responsibilities: - Lead daily Acute Intake operations, including referral prioritization, workload balancing, staffing coverage, and start-of-care readiness
- Provide direct leadership to supervisors and/or Intake Coordinators through hiring, onboarding, coaching, performance management, and development
- Monitor referral aging, authorization progress, onboarding status, and barriers to care; ensure timely escalation and resolution of complex cases
- Partner with Prior Authorization, Pharmacy, Nursing, Sales, Revenue Cycle, Clinical Liaisons, providers, and payer partners to advance referrals and reduce avoidable delays or cancellations
- Ensure accurate, timely documentation and adherence to HIPAA, company policies, departmental SOPs, quality standards, and applicable regulatory requirements
- Use operational reporting to identify trends, manage capacity, improve accountability, and support leadership decisions
- Lead root cause analysis, corrective actions, workflow redesign, automation, and other process-improvement efforts supporting patient access and continuity of care
- Serve as the operational subject matter expert for Chronic Intake and represent the function in leadership forums, cross-functional initiatives, and change-management activities
You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.
Required Qualifications:
- 5+ years of healthcare operations, infusion, specialty pharmacy, intake, patient access, reimbursement, or related experience
- 2+ years of leadership experience with responsibility for direct reports, team performance, or operational outcome
- Proven working knowledge of referral management, benefits verification, prior authorization, payer requirements, and patient access workflows
- Proven knowledge of ICD-9/10, HCPCS and CPT codes
- Demonstrated solid people leadership, analytical, communication, problem-solving, and stakeholder-management skills
Preferred Qualifications: - Infusion pharmacy, specialty pharmacy, home health or acute therapy intake leadership experience
- Experience leading remote or multi-site teams and operational transformation initiatives
- Familiarity with CareLink Cloud, CPR+, payer portals, workflow automation, and process-improvement methods
- Reside in the West Coast/Moutain Time Zone
*All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group's Telecommuter Policy
Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $72,800 - $130,000 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.
Application Deadline: This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.
