Associate Director, RCM Self-Pay Operations - Remote

Optum Insight is improving the flow of health data and information to create a more connected system. We remove friction and drive alignment between care providers and payers, and ultimately consumers. Our deep expertise in the industry and innovative technology empower us to help organizations reduce costs while improving risk management, quality and revenue growth. Ready to help us deliver results that improve lives? Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

The Associate Director, Self-Pay Insourcing & Vendor Operations leads a portfolio of in-house self-pay collections operations and outsourced Early Out/Bad Debt vendor operations for the Self-Pay Center of Excellence (CoE). This role owns the buildout and scaling of insourced CoE staffing, end-to-end A/R inventory performance, cash acceleration strategy, and bad debt reduction initiatives while simultaneously holding vendor partners accountable through structured operational governance, SLA monitoring, and recurring business reviews.The Associate Director represents the Self-Pay CoE in client-facing business reviews on patient cash performance, self pay A/R, bad debt reduction initiatives, and patient experience.

You'll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely * from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

For all hires in the Minneapolis or Washington, D.C. area, you will be required to work in the office a minimum of four days per week.

Primary Responsibilities:

• In-House Operations & Insourcing

• Lead day-to-day management of in-house Self-Pay Pre-Bill Intervention and collections teams, scaling operations from initial pilot cohorts to steady-state teams, including staffing, workflow design, and training curriculum development

• Own contact center performance for insourced teams, including agent occupancy, productivity, and KPI/SLA benchmarks, partnering with Workforce Management (WFM) on capacity planning and staffing transitions

• Drive cash acceleration strategy for retained self-pay accounts, targeting high-propensity-to-pay accounts for in-house resolution within the first 60 days of the billing cycle, with a goal of monthly accelerated cash capture per insourcing site

• Manage end-to-end self-pay A/R inventory performance for the insourced portfolio, including placement logic, aging, recalls, and reconciliation, ensuring accounts progress through defined dunning-cycle intervals (e.g., 30/60/90-day touchpoints) and are accurately reconciled across host systems

• Track and report cash performance and liquidation-rate metrics (e.g., targeting 1-2 percentagepoint liquidation improvement) to quantify the financial impact of insourcing relative to vendor placement, supporting targeted annual cost reduction per insourced site

• Own escalation management and complaint resolution for insourced accounts, distinguishing true escalations from standard billing issues, conducting root-cause analysis, and driving timely resolution

• Vendor Operations

• Lead monthly and quarterly vendor operations business reviews with assigned Early Out and Bad Debt agencies, presenting placement volume, liquidation rate, aging, and recovery trend data to client and Optum leadership

• Monitor vendor Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and in partnership with Vendor Strategy and Performance CoE, drive corrective action when performance falls below threshold

• Determine and adjust the optimal placement split between in-house resolution and vendor placement using propensity-to-pay segmentation, aging, and performance data, redistributing inventory to whichever channel delivers the solider liquidation outcome

• Lead structured root-cause analysis (e.g., A3 problem-solving) for vendor issues/escalations and build corrective action plans with named owners, defined timelines, and measurable success metrics

• Monitor and report on vendor compliance with regulatory requirements specific to self-pay collections, including AB1020 pre-bad-debt notice ('goodbye letter') issuance and Date-of-Delinquency (DoD)/credit-reporting eligibility rules

• Coordinate account handoff, recall, and reconciliation processes between in-house teams and Early Out/Bad Debt vendor partners to ensure clean, timely transitions of inventory in both directions

• Analytics, Reporting & Leadership

• Analyze A/R and placement data monthly across both in-house and vendor channels (e.g., conversion/payment yield, days-to-pay, escalation volume) to inform recommendations on channel mix, retained-account thresholds, or team headcount

• Build and maintain standardized inventory management and quality-control protocols across inhouse and vendor channels to reduce cash leakage and support the CoE's broader goal of reducing bad-debt migration from underperforming inventory

• Represent the Self-Pay CoE in client-facing business reviews and executive updates on both inhouse performance and vendor operations results, delivering data-driven updates on cash capture, cost savings, and patient experience improvements

• Maintain up-to-date documentation of in-house workflows, vendor operations governance processes, and escalation pathways to support the Self-Pay CoE playbook and ensure continuity as teams scale

Core Competencies

• Contact center operations management, including staffing, occupancy, and productivity benchmarking
• Vendor operations management, SLA administration, and scorecard governance
• Self-pay and/or insurance accounts receivable (A/R) management: inventory movement, vendor operations, aging, and reconciliation
• Cash acceleration and liquidation-rate performance analysis across in-house and outsourced channels
• Insourcing pilot design, workforce transition planning, and phased scaling (pilot to steady state)
• Regulatory and compliance implementation
• Performance analytics and KPI/liquidation trend reporting (Excel dashboards, pivot tables)
• Root-cause problem-solving, escalation management, and corrective action planning (e.g., A3 methodology)
• Workforce Management (WFM) partnership for capacity planning and staffing
• Cross-functional collaboration with Analytics, Client Delivery, Legal, Compliance, and other RCM teams (financial clearance, eligibility/enrollment, billing, collections, cash management)
• Client-facing business review delivery and executive-level reporting

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 experience in healthcare revenue cycle management, including self-pay operations, insurance A/R, patient billing operations, or third-party collections/vendor operations
• 3+ years of experience directly managing a team of 8+ FTEs, including staffing, training, and performance management
• 2+ years of experience overseeing third-party collection agency, billing vendor, or other outsourced revenue cycle vendor operations, including administration of SLAs and performance scorecards
• Demonstrated experience managing self-pay and/or insurance A/R inventory, including placement/denial logic, aging, recalls, and reconciliation across host systems and vendor platforms
• Demonstrated experience preparing and presenting monthly or quarterly performance results (e.g., cash capture, liquidation rate, cost savings) to client-facing or executive-level stakeholders (work sample may be requested)
• Working knowledge of at least one healthcare regulatory or compliance requirement affecting revenue cycle operations (e.g., AB1020, FDCPA, state Date-of-Delinquency/credit-reporting rules, or payor billing compliance regulations), with the ability to explain its application to account handling and willingness to build self-pay-specific regulatory expertise
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel sufficient to build and maintain liquidation, aging, and cashperformance trend reports, including pivot tables and formula-based dashboards

Preferred Qualifications:

• Background in insurance A/R, denials management, or patient billing revenue cycle operations, with demonstrated ability to apply transferable process-improvement, vendor-oversight, and reporting skills to self-pay collections
• Experience scaling an insourced collections or pre-bill intervention team from pilot (e.g., 4-5 FTEs) to steady-state operations (e.g., 10-12+ FTEs)
• Experience managing a multi-vendor Early Out/Bad Debt portfolio representing $3B+ in annual placement volume
• Experience partnering with Workforce Management (WFM) on occupancy, capacity, and staffing-transition planning in a contact center environment
• Familiarity with propensity-to-pay scoring and account segmentation strategies used to determine in-house vs vendor channel assignment
• Familiarity with Epic or other EHR/PAS platforms
• Proven track record of achieving quantifiable cash acceleration or cost-reduction results across both inhouse and vendor-managed channels
• 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 $112,700 - $193,200 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.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.

UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug - free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.