Specialist, Payer Relations

Welcome to Ovation Healthcare! At Ovation Healthcare (formerly QHR Health), we’ve been making local healthcare better for more than 40 years. Our mission is to strengthen independent community healthcare. We provide independent hospitals and health systems with the support, guidance and tech-enabled shared services needed to remain strong and viable. With a strong sense of purpose and commitment to operating excellence, we help rural healthcare providers fulfill their missions. The Ovation Healthcare difference is the extraordinary combination of operations experience and consulting guidance that fulfills our mission of creating a sustainable future for healthcare organizations. Ovation Healthcare’s vision is to be a dynamic, integrated professional services company delivering innovative and executable solutions through experience and thought leadership, while valuing trust, respect, and customer focused behavior. We’re looking for talented, motivated professionals with a desire to help independent hospitals thrive. Working with Ovation Healthcare, you will have the opportunity to collaborate with highly skilled subject matter specialists and operations executives, in a collegial atmosphere of professionalism and teamwork. Ovation Healthcare’s corporate headquarters is located in Brentwood, TN. For more information, visit www.ovationhc.com . Summary: The Specialist, Payer Relations supports payer strategy and negotiations by modeling commercial and government healthcare contracts, analyzing reimbursement rates, and evaluating the financial impact of proposed contract changes. This role develops contract scenarios, compares expected and actual reimbursement, monitors payer performance, and provides data-driven insights to identify revenue opportunities and support informed decision-making. The ideal candidate has strong analytical and financial modeling skills, knowledge of healthcare reimbursement methodologies, and experience working with large and complex data sets. The individual must also be able to translate technical findings into clear recommendations for operational leaders, payer-relations teams, and executive stakeholders. Duties and Responsibilities: Collect and consolidate data from multiple sources, including databases, and spreadsheets. Cleanse, preprocess, and validate data to ensure accuracy, completeness, and consistency. Develop and maintain data pipelines and workflows for efficient data extraction and transformation. Model payer contracts to evaluate the financial impact of rate change. Simulate negotiation scenarios for Fee-For-Service and Value-Based Care models. Analyze reimbursement trends to identify underpayments, denials, and revenue leakage. Compare historical net revenue against proposed payer fee schedules. Benchmark internal rates against regional market data and Medicare baselines. Create visualizations, dashboards, and reports to present data insights in a clear and compelling manner. Use data visualization tools such as Tableau, Power BI, or matplotlib to communicate complex data concepts effectively. Customize visualizations to meet the needs of different stakeholders and facilitate decision-making. Draft financial summaries to brief executives before live negotiations. Monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics to track business performance and identify areas for improvement. Monitor payer performance to ensure compliance with contracted terms. Collaborate with business units to define performance benchmarks and goals. Analyze data to identify opportunities for contract optimization and revenue enhancement. Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support data-driven decision-making. Provide data expertise and insights to Contract models and business projects. Communicate findings and recommendations to stakeholders through presentations, reports, and interactive sessions. Collaborate virtually with internal teams using secure remote communication tools. Work Experience, Education, and Certifications: Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Healthcare Administration, or Statistics or a related field. An advanced degree is preferred but not required. Proven experience (typically 2-5 years) in data analysis, business intelligence, or related field. Contract modeling is a plus 2-5 years of experience in healthcare analytics, reimbursement, managed care, healthcare finance, or a related field. Experience with healthcare contract modeling is strongly preferred. Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities: Proficient in Excel including pivot tables, Vlook-ups, complex formulas and data validation. Experience with Power BI and Power Point. Familiarity with reimbursement methodologies DRG, Per Visit, APC Strong analytical, communication, presentation, and problem solving skills. Ability to maintain accuracy, quality, and manage large complex data sets. Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment. Knowledge of managed care contract language, reimbursement and healthcare payment methodologies. Experience using contract modeling such as Experian or Axiom Demonstrated commitment to customer service, continuous improvement, and innovative problem-solving. Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills with exceptional attention to detail.