Corporate Project Admissions Director

Location: Remote

Candidates are required to hold a Master’s degree in psychology, counseling, social work (clinical field) or an RN license in order to be considered. All other applicants will not be considered.

Our Mission

As one of the nation's leaders in treating individuals with co-occurring mood, addiction, eating disorders, and trauma, Acadia Healthcare places a strong emphasis on our admissions & intake functions to allow us to help every possible person in need.

About The Role

Acadia Healthcare is currently interested in hearing from dynamic, results-driven candidates who may be a fit for the Corporate Project Admissions Director position. The Corporate Project Admissions Director will support and travel to Acadia admissions departments around the country, acting as the Admissions Director at facilities with a vacancy. This role involves identifying gaps in the admissions process, recognizing training needs, and delivering actionable items to facility admissions directors to support a smooth and efficient admission process for new patients.

Who Should Apply

Existing Admissions/Intake Directors or highly experienced Team Leads/Admissions Staff with previous supervisory experience as part of an acute psychiatric hospital working with those needing mental health and substance abuse services.

Responsibilities

• Travel to Acadia facilities serving as the Project Admissions Director and work with front-end operations staff (~100% of the time will be spent traveling/at Acadia facilities).
• Define and measure individual admissions-related goals at each facility.
• Support and train facility admissions departments on how to meet or exceed their facility’s admissions-related performance goals, including ADC, number of admissions, conversion rate, client service productivity, and admissions staff engagement.
• Coach and develop facility admissions departments to improve their ability to build and manage an effective, high-performing admissions team.
• Develop and oversee admissions-related processes, systems, and reporting in accordance with facility needs and company standards and best practices.
• Support facility admissions teams with building and maintaining relationships with key stakeholders within and outside the organization, including facility management and staff, marketers, Admissions Support Center (ASC) leadership and staff, and selected referents.
• Participate in Acadia initiatives to improve admissions capabilities and define standards and best practices across the company.

Essential Responsibilities

Identify Gaps in the Admissions Process

• Assess and recognize gaps and opportunities to improve facility admissions operations and key performance indicators.
• Evaluate facility admission departments’ overall functions via standardized tools.
• Utilize corporate and facility telephonic reports to identify and improve admission departments’ call data metrics.
• Observe, assess, and improve the facility’s preadmissions process from initial contact to time of physical admission, with the goal of creating a lean and efficient process to help as many clients as possible.

Improve Admissions Day-to-Day Operations

• Provide key support in the improvement of admissions-related processes, systems, and reporting.
• Ensure the facility’s daily/weekly/monthly inquiry volume targets are being met through monitoring of fax, phone, and webform; initiate outreach to referral sources and the ASC; lead facility Admissions Departments on conducting outbound calls to referents and callbacks on old inquiries; and undertake other actions to help generate inquiries as needed.
• Provide feedback to the Business Development Director regarding service recovery opportunities.
• Ensure the department’s inquiry calls are followed up on in a timely way and are worked to close with a constant sense of urgency.
• Monitor facility admissions staff productivity and performance (e.g., inquiries per staff, conversion rates, time to close) via CRM and adjust processes, schedule, and workload to ensure the admissions team is meeting customer service and goals.
• Use CRM reports and dashboards, and other data, to monitor progress and identify issues needing corrective action.
• Regularly review and assess processes to identify areas of need or redundancy.
• Educate and train staff on the prior authorization process. Ensure all prior authorizations are completed as agreed by the contracted payor and in accordance with the set timelines.
• Work in collaboration with the Business Office Director to embed the financial counselors in the admissions processes and to ensure proper verification of benefits.
• Determine causation and trends for upfront denials, providing recommendations for process improvement.
• Ensure proper use of Medhost and the dashboard, Wellsky, Salesforce, Concord fax, and other admissions-related technology.
• Evaluate actual Admissions for compliance with mandatory policy, procedures, and regulatory requirements such as EMTALA.

Coach Admissions Staff

• Ensure onsite Admissions Directors regularly coach and develop admissions staff to become more effective in their ability to convert inquiries and provide outstanding customer service.
• Monitor all faxed/phone referrals, ASC handoffs, and webforms to ensure efficient response times.
• Listen to inquiry calls and review call notes/inquiry records to identify strengths, areas needing improvement, and other coaching points.
• Review admissions staff performance data (e.g., response times, assessments per shift, admissions per shift) to identify areas for improvement.
• Conduct individual coaching and feedback sessions with admissions staff to improve their ability to manage incoming business.
• Conduct regular staff meetings and team-building exercises.

Requirements

• Master’s degree in psychology, counseling, social work (clinical field), or RN license (required).
• 3+ years of behavioral health admissions experience.
• Working knowledge of trends and best practices within the acute psychiatric hospital industry (highly preferred).
• Senior leadership or management experience in an acute admission setting.
• Ability to travel to US-based Acadia facilities (~100% of the role).