Who We Are:
Established in 1975, Yakima Neighborhood Health Services is a Community Health Center in Central Washington State serving our communities through holistic and integrated team-based care. Our mission is to improve quality of life and equity in our communities by providing accessible and integrated health and social services, ending homelessness and offering unique learning opportunities for students of health professions. Our teams include specialists in primary care medical, dental, behavioral health, care coordination, pharmacy, health related social needs (including housing) and other basic needs. Our focus populations include agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, LGBTQIA+, and anyone needing extra TLC. YNHS is a welcoming organization.
Why Work at Yakima Neighborhood Health Services?
YNHS offers great compensation for this position, with a starting annual salary of $115K-145K, along with high value of benefits of employer provided medical, dental, vision, life, disability, and retirement insurances. To support our team, we also provide ten paid holidays, flexible amounts of paid leave and/or cash-out options, and retention bonuses to reward commitment to our mission.
Our Ideal Candidate:
The Customer Service Director provides strategic leadership and oversight for all reception and front-line patient access operations across Yakima Neighborhood Health Services. This position is responsible for creating an exceptional patient experience while ensuring efficient business operations, financial accountability, and regulatory compliance. The Customer Service Director serves as a champion for patient advocacy, removing barriers to care and ensuring patients receive respectful, compassionate, and equitable service throughout their healthcare journey.
The Director oversees reception teams, office managers, and customer service supervisors and is responsible for developing high-performing teams that balance outstanding customer service with effective registration, scheduling, insurance verification, eligibility screening, payment collection, and other critical business processes that support organizational sustainability.
Minimum Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, Public Health, or related field.
- Minimum of five years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare operations, customer service, patient access, or clinic management.
- Demonstrated experience leading teams across multiple sites.
- Strong understanding of health care business operations, including patient registration, scheduling, insurance verification, revenue cycle processes, and financial performance metrics.
- Knowledge of Medicare, Medicaid, managed care, and commercial insurance programs.
- Knowledge of Community Health Center requirements, including HRSA regulations, Joint Commission standards, and NCQA Patient-Centered Medical Home principles.
- Strong analytical, problem-solving, communication, and organizational skills.
- Experience implementing quality improvement initiatives and performance management programs.
- Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound judgment.
- Bilingual English/Spanish preferred.
Essential Duties and Responsibilities
- Patient Experience and Advocacy
- Serve as the organizational leader for patient experience and customer service excellence across all YNHS locations.
- Develop and promote a culture that places patients and families at the center of care delivery.
- Act as a senior patient advocate, ensuring patient concerns, complaints, and service barriers are addressed promptly and effectively.
- Collaborate with operational and clinical leaders to improve patient access, satisfaction, engagement, and retention.
- Monitor patient feedback and satisfaction data and implement service improvement initiatives.
- Promote equitable access to care for all patients regardless of insurance status, language, culture, or socioeconomic circumstances.
Leadership and Oversight of Reception Services
- Direct and oversee all reception, registration, scheduling, and front-desk operations throughout the organization.
- Provide leadership, coaching, mentoring, and accountability for office managers, customer service supervisors, and reception staff.
- Monitor and oversee performance standards and productivity expectations for all front-end staff.
- Ensure consistent implementation of customer service standards, workflows, and policies across all clinic locations.
Business Operations and Financial Stewardship
- Ensure front-office operations support organizational financial performance through accurate registration, insurance verification, eligibility determination, and payment collection practices.
- Monitor key performance indicators related to patient access, scheduling efficiency, registration quality, insurance accuracy, and point-of-service collections.
- Partner with Finance, Revenue Cycle, and Operations leaders to improve financial outcomes while maintaining a patient-centered approach.
- Work closely with CFO and Revenue Cycle Manager to develop systems to reduce registration errors, claim denials, and avoidable revenue loss.
- Ensure staff understand the importance of accurate demographic, insurance, and financial information collection.
- Promote compassionate and respectful patient payment practices while maintaining accountability for organizational financial sustainability.
Quality, Compliance, and Process Improvement
- Collaborate with the Chief Quality and Compliance Officer to develop and monitor service standards and key performance metrics.
- Ensure compliance with applicable federal, state, payer, and organizational requirements.
- Lead continuous quality improvement initiatives focused on patient access, customer service, and operational efficiency.
- Evaluate workflows and implement process improvements that improve patient experience while enhancing productivity and financial performance.
- Support organizational quality, safety, risk management, and accreditation initiatives.
Collaboration and Organizational Leadership
- Participate in strategic planning and organizational improvement initiatives.
- Collaborate with clinical, operations, finance, human resources, and compliance leaders to improve organizational performance.
- Assist in the development and implementation of policies, procedures, and training programs that support exceptional patient service and operational excellence.
- Serve as a subject matter expert on patient access, customer service, and front-end healthcare operations.
- Perform other duties as assigned.