Patient Access Associate

In the United States, one in five adults experience a mental health illness and over 12 million people have thoughts of suicide. Mental health crises can be some of the most difficult times in a person’s life, and over 17 million people seeking behavioral health care experience a delay in accessing care. Willow Health is on a mission to significantly improve this experience by expanding affordable access to high-quality, evidence-based intensive behavioral health care. 

In order to make this mission a reality, we are building a virtual crisis care program that provides personalized, recovery-oriented care for people experiencing behavioral health crises. Willow Health offers patients immediate access to evidence-based virtual crisis psychotherapy, medication management, certified peer coaching, care management, and around the clock  crisis coverage, while working to connect patients to the most appropriate next level of care. Our co-founding team has two decades of collective experience working in healthcare and healthcare tech, and we are backed by Andreessen Horowitz and Seae Ventures.

We’re seeking a Patient Access Associate with strong knowledge of pre-authorization, insurance eligibility, and benefits processes, along with experience in insurance and medical claims. This role supports clinic operations and assists leadership to drive service delivery improvements

• Ensures that practice operations and team members are knowledgeable of and in compliance with applicable regulatory, licensing, billing, and accrediting agency standards.
• Assists with clinic communications strategies and promotes effective communication dialogue between clinicians through regularly scheduled meetings and asynchronously. 
• Compile patient service feedback survey responses to share with the team, including summarizing outcomes and recommending processes to improve performance. 
• Ensures that patient concerns/complaints are addressed within 24-48 hours.
• Run daily insurance verification for all new and existing patients. 
• Outline and articulate the billing responsibilities of all new patients, including co-pays, co-insurance, and any other self pay requirements. 
• Requires understanding of insurance deductibles and verification platforms.
• Support billing issues with external vendors, focusing on insurance pre-authorization, eligibility, and benefits for medical claims.
• Develops, prepares, and interprets program data to provide actionable reports for leadership and clinical teams. 
• Support clinical operations during technology downtimes and other unplanned events.
• Provide day-to-day clinical operations support to the care team, including faxing, follow-up with patients, and form completion as needed. 
• Cover Willow’s front desk when the team is on break and / or out of office. 

• Comfort with or ability to quickly learn digital clinic tools (e.g., digital EMR, telehealth platform, digital intake forms, etc.)
• Experience with insurance and medical claims processes.
• Experience and comfort working directly with customers / patients in a customer experience capacity 
• Excellent organizational skills 
• Ability to follow outlined operational processes related to patient onboarding (e.g., establishing patient charts, welcome patients to the clinic, completing insurance checks)
• Ability to quickly understand, respond to, and address challenges as they arise throughout the day in clinic
• Comfort in working with clinical teams, including LCSWs, LMHCs, Care Managers, Psychiatrists, Psych NPs, and Licensed Peers
• A desire to improve mental health care delivery 
• An openness to and ability to respond to constructive feedback

• Strong leadership skills and ability to gain the confidence of faculty, staff, leaders, colleagues, etc.
• Ability to display a professional, positive attitude with strong interpersonal skills and communication skills required and must be able to work independently and collaboratively to meet deadlines.
• Highly detail-oriented, self-motivated, efficient, and strong organizational skills .
• Demonstrate a high degree of flexibility in accepting work assignments with the ability to effectively prioritize tasks, understand processes, and resolve issues.

• Safety above all else. We operate in a space with life and death repercussions, and every member of our team takes that responsibility seriously. We all look for and call out patient safety concerns.
• Maximize measurable impact. We put our patients first. We are tenacious about doing good, and we have the outcomes to prove it. Our work is guided by measurable hypotheses that we test and re-evaluate. 
• Build inclusively and equitably. We are committed to decreasing the systemic inequalities in healthcare and to building an organization where a diverse group of patients and employees can thrive. We seek to understand and learn from differences rather than minimize them. 
• Stakes determine speed. Where the stakes are low, we optimize for quick learnings and progress. Where the stakes are higher, we are more thoughtful and methodical. Where safety is a concern, we optimize for zero errors. 
• Constellations, not stars. We believe a well functioning team is worth much more than a collection of individuals, and we invest in bringing out the best in each other. We are kind, loyal, and direct.
• Honor commitments; honor yourself. We do our best work when we are fulfilled, our core needs are met, and there is joy along the way. We are clear about what we can and can’t do so that we can honor our commitments and fulfill them excellently. 
• Empowerment and empathy. Wherever possible, we empower others rather than decide for them. When we make decisions that affect others, we seek their perspective and minimize harm done.