Executive Director, Patient Access Services

The Executive Director, Patient Access Services provides executive leadership over enterprise-wide Patient Access Services, ensuring the strategic alignment of all front-end operations-including hospital admissions, ambulatory access, insurance authorization, and patient registration-with organizational goals related to access, patient experience, compliance, and revenue cycle performance. Aligning operational performance with system-wide goals in access, reimbursement, compliance, and patient experience.

Leads across the system to drive operational excellence, digital transformation, and patient-centered strategies, while maintaining fiscal accountability and preparing the organization for growth and regulatory change. Leads enterprise-wide transformation initiatives in access services, driving innovation, scalability, and integration of digital technologies to support patient-centric care models and operational excellence. Is responsible for implementing Epic standard best practices across the system within the Patient Access division.

Provides subject matter expertise related to the development of a professional, compliant, comprehensive, and service oriented Patient Access division that provides an excellent patient experience. Collaborates with executive leadership across Revenue Cycle, IT, Finance, Compliance, and Clinical Operations including physicians to integrate access strategies with enterprise goals, ensuring seamless front-end operations that support system-wide revenue integrity, financial stewardship, long term organizational growth, and patient flow optimization.

Certifications:

• Epic Certification within 18 months and
• Certified Healthcare Access Manager (CHAM) within 2 years

Education:

• Bachelor's Degree: Health Care Leadership
• Bachelor's Degree: Business Management
• Bachelor's Degree: Related Field
  • Experience In Lieu of Education: Patient Access Leadership (10 years)

Work Experience:

• Revenue Cycle - 10 years
• Patient Access Leadership - 10 years

• Designs, leads, and continuously evolves a best-in-class, enterprise-wide patient access operational model
• Delivers exceptional service to patients, physicians, and clinical partners.
• Ensures alignment with organizational strategic goals
• Drives high customer satisfaction, optimizing access efficiency, and advancing financial performance.
• Provides executive-level oversight

• Ensure accurate, timely data capture
• Streamline financial clearance and authorization processes
• Provide effective front-end cash collection strategies across all points of service.
• Partners with senior leadership to standardize and scale access operations across the health system
• Integrates industry-leading practices, technology innovation, and regulatory compliance.
• Leads and directs the Patient Access Services division through reporting Directors with guidance from the Vice President, Revenue Cycle Operations.

• Establishes operational goals, objectives and budgets.
• Plans optimal operating policies and procedures required
• Delivers quality services and enhance operational processes and workflows.
• Implement and oversee system-wide adoption of Epic best practices for registration, scheduling, eligibility verification, and pre-service processes, ensuring data accuracy, efficiency, and regulatory compliance.

• Ensure alignment of patient access operations with revenue cycle objectives
• Improve POS collections, reducing front-end denials
• Enhance financial clearance rates while maintaining an excellent patient experience.
• Partners with executive leadership to define and drive organizational goals
• Align patient access strategies with enterprise priorities.

• Acts as a catalyst for transformation
• Foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation, and agility.
• Builds strong alliances with key stakeholders to lead change initiatives
• Enhance performance, patient experience, and system-wide integration.
• Serves as a strategic representative on cross-functional committees, executive workgroups, and system-wide teams to advance organizational priorities.

• Facilitates transparent and effective communication across departments and external partners
• Acts as a trusted liaison to promote collaborative problem-solving and resource alignment.
• Builds and sustains strong, mutually beneficial relationships both within the organization and with external agencies to support seamless operations and strategic initiatives.
• Maintains proactive, transparent communication with executive leadership and direct reports regarding the performance, challenges, and opportunities within Patient Access Services.
• Ensures timely escalation of critical issues and collaborates on solutions to support operational excellence and strategic objectives. Develops, implements and maintains compliant policies and practices for all direct and indirect
• Patient Access Services staff and leaders for all Carle locations.

• Oversees organizational adherence to all applicable regulations, standards, and directives issued by regulatory agencies, governmental bodies, and external stakeholders.
• Establishes governance frameworks and accountability measures
• Ensure compliance risk is proactively managed and mitigated across all patient access functions.
• Monitors ongoing performance of Patient Access Services processes through the development, production and distribution of performance metrics.
• Facilitates performance improvement/process redesign as needed.
• Communicates, collaborates, organizes, prioritizes, leads, facilitates, coaches and problem solves with reporting directors and peers

• Ensure that division and system goals, objectives and operational budgets are met.
• Ensure team members are performing Patient Access Services processes are properly oriented, trained, and that annual competencies, certifications, and licensure and education requirements are current.
• Develop and oversee budgets for patient access departments, ensuring effective allocation of resources, productivity optimization, and cost containment while maintaining high-quality outcomes.
• Leads through others by setting a clear strategic vision, aligning team goals with organizational priorities, and empowering leaders to execute with accountability.

• Establishes performance expectations, measures outcomes against defined metrics, and fosters a culture of ownership and results.
• Provides high-impact coaching and feedback, supports professional growth, and builds a strong, succession-ready leadership bench.
• Effectively delegates authority while maintaining strategic oversight to ensure execution excellence across a large, complex organization.
• Leads the design and implementation of innovative, enterprise-wide strategies, processes, and technologies that enhance the patient financial experience while optimizing revenue capture and reimbursement.
• Aligns front-end financial engagement with broader organizational goals by improving price transparency, streamlining financial clearance, and increasing point-of-service collections.
• Partners with revenue cycle, finance, and IT leaders to ensure sustainable, scalable solutions that support both patient access and financial performance across the system.

• Demonstrates unwavering integrity and executive presence by consistently modeling the organization's values in words and actions.
• Builds trust through transparent communication, ethical decision-making, and respectful engagement with all stakeholders.
• Serves as a visible culture carrier, fostering accountability, inclusivity, and credibility across all levels of the organization.
• Cultivates diverse, cross-functional relationships across the organization and broader industry to foster collaboration, innovation, and shared purpose.
• Skilled at building trust, identifying mutual goals, and navigating complex dynamics to drive alignment and accelerate results.

• Champions inclusivity and leverages diverse perspectives to inform strategic decisions and strengthen organizational culture. Leads Epic Front-End System Optimization and Adoption Works closely with Health Information Systems (HIM), Patient Financial Services (PFS), Compliance, Case Management/Utilization Management, Revenue Cycle Systems & Training (RCST), Information Technology (IT) departments to optimize the patient experience, coding, and billing outcomes.
• Facilitates technological changes and analysis by working closely with RCST & IT to improve system processes.
• Ensures appropriate auditing processes are in place and maintained to identify registration quality improvements.
• Develops new processes to enhance and streamline work related to registration, coding, billing, compliance, and regulatory standards.

Find it here.

Discover the job, the career, the purpose you were meant for. The supportive and inclusive team where you can thrive. The place where growth meets balance - and opportunities meet flexibility. Find it all at Carle Health.

Based in Urbana, IL, Carle Health is a healthcare system with nearly 16,600 team members in its eight hospitals, physician groups and a variety of healthcare businesses. Carle BroMenn Medical Center, Carle Foundation Hospital, Carle Health Methodist Hospital, Carle Health Proctor Hospital, Carle Health Pekin Hospital, and Carle Hoopeston Regional Health Center hold Magnet designations, the nation's highest honor for nursing care. The system includes Methodist College and Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world's first engineering-based medical school, and Health Alliance. We offer opportunities in several communities throughout central Illinois with potential for growth and life-long careers at Carle Health.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer and do not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of race, color, sex, age, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a veteran, and basis of disability or any other federal, state or local protected class. Carle Health participates in E-Verify and may provide the Social Security Administration and, if necessary, the Department of Homeland Security with information from each new employee's Form I-9 to confirm work authorization. | For more information: human.resources@carle.com.