DRG Director

About the Opportunity

The DRG Clinical Validation Director is responsible for the development and management of our DRG clinical validation solutions, including MS and APR-DRG validation. This role requires expertise in healthcare payment methodologies and audit and review criteria to target key claims for review and recovery. Key responsibilities include production and team management, implementation/ integration support, client support, and providing assistance to various teams within the organization related to clinical validation.  This position also supports the leadership, operations, sales, and marketing teams on RFPs and new client implementations. This role requires a proactive and strategic thinker with strong leadership and analytical skills to drive the success of our clinical solutions and ensure optimal team performance.

• Strategic Planning & Vision: Develop and execute strategic plans to grow the DRG CV program, aligning with broader organizational goals and emerging industry trends.
• Collaborative Development: Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team of programmers, operations staff, product leaders, and auditors to bring DRG CV process ideas from creation to implementation.
• Innovation & Market Awareness: Monitor emerging trends in payment integrity, audit methodologies, and health policy to inform innovation and maintain competitive differentiation.
• Team Leadership: Lead the DRG Clinical Validation team by providing guidance, counsel, and development plans to ensure long-term retention and professional growth while fostering a culture of accountability, innovation and clinical excellence
• Internal and External Claim Support: Support internal and external team members by leading calls and presenting cases to varying audiences.
• Claims Review Management: Oversee the entire process of clinical claims review, understanding various client configurations and workflows.
• Operational Oversight: Manage scheduling, reporting to management, issue resolution, and execution of plans. Capacity planning to ensure all SLAs are met regularly.
• Work Coordination: Overall management of daily queue inventory. Assign and prioritize work, set goals, and coordinate daily activities of the team. Provide regular updates and communication through one-on-one and team meetings.
• Performance Monitoring: Monitor individual and team results to ensure timely completion of work in accordance with department standards and medical policy guidelines.
• Quality Assurance/Improvement Oversight: Establish and maintain quality assurance standards and continuous improvement processes to ensure clinical validation accuracy and consistency.
• Analytical Problem-Solving: Demonstrate analytical skills to identify problems and trends, develop solutions, and implement action plans.
• Policy and Process Development: Develop departmental policies, processes, and training standards.
• Support and Evidence: Provide internal and external partners with evidence and references supporting industry standards, auditing guidelines, and review stances.
• Performance Reporting: Manage and track data on key performance indicators, including quality scores, workflows, savings, revenue projections, and inventory.
• Solution Development: Collaborate with a multi-disciplinary team to suggest solution development, including operations, product, data analytics, and technology. Work with testing team to communicate and train the DRG CV team on changes rolled out in software releases.
• Timeline Management: Set timelines and ensure communication on progress, tracking delivery, and escalating roadblocks or dependencies.
• Program Deployment: Design and deploy effective programs/solutions to identify and correct claims with aberrant results, providing feedback to resolve root causes.
• Research and Special Projects: Assist with research, special projects, and ad hoc claim reviews as needed.
• Other Duties: Perform other duties as assigned.
  

What you bring (Role Requirements)

• Bachelor’s degree (health administration, business, nursing)
• Equivalent experience of 5+ years in healthcare billing and coding
• Equivalent experience of 3+ years in claims auditing and recovery auditing
• Nursing license required
• Required certifications of CCDS or CDIP
• Previous supervisory experience required

Experience

• Proven experience working within a team, sharing DRG CV audit process knowledge with sales, marketing, and development teams
• Proven knowledge of classification systems, including MS-DRG, APR-DRG, AP-DRG
• Demonstrated curiosity and mastery in understanding the root cause of events and behaviors
• Strong experience in data utilization and insights
• Experience independently structuring and executing complex analyses
• Experience in production and team management
• Experience with Readmission reviews
• Ability to work efficiently and effectively with minimal supervision
• High standards of quality and attention to detail
• Deep understanding of Medicare and Commercial coding rules, regulations, and prospective payment systems
• Superior knowledge of healthcare coding, billing, and reimbursement
• Expert knowledge of clinical criteria documentation requirements
• Subject matter expertise in DRG clinical validation

What We Offer: 

• Work from anywhere in the US! Machinify is digital-first.
• Top Medical/Dental/Vision offerings
• FSA/HSA
• Tuition reimbursement
• Competitive salary, 401(k) with company match
• Unlimited PTO 
• Additional health and wellness benefits and perks
• Flexible and trusting environment where you’ll feel empowered to do your best work 

The salary for this position is based on an array of factors unique to each candidate: Such as years and depth of experience, set skills, certifications, etc.  We are hiring for different levels, and our Recruiting team will let you know if you qualify for a different role/range. Salary is one component of the total compensation package, which includes meaningful equity, excellent healthcare, flexible time off, and other benefits and perks. 

Pay range: $130,000 - $160,000, with eligibility for annual performance bonus.