Title: Authorization & Scheduling Coordinator (Behavioral Health)
Location: San Diego, CA – In‑person (Mission Valley) with potential hybrid after ramp‑up
Compensation: $28–$30/hour.
This role starts at 20–25 hours/week during the first 90 days, 100% in‑person at our Mission Valley office (benefits ineligible). After successful ramp‑up, there is a planned opportunity to move to 30–35+ hours/week as a full‑time, benefits‑eligible employee, and to discuss a hybrid structure, based on performance and business needs.
This is not a fit if you need 40+ hours/week or hybrid/remote immediately.
If you’re the person who fixes broken workflows and then writes the checklist so no one drops the ball again, this role is for you.
Why this role matters
EY Behavioral Services is a San Diego-based behavioral health practice providing insurance-funded ABA services and high-quality behavior support to families raising kids with developmental disabilities and big behavior challenges.We care deeply about clinical quality and family experience, and we use systems and clear communication to protect both.
When authorizations lapse or schedules are a mess, families lose hours and clinicians can’t help. Your job is to make sure that never happens.
This role sits primarily on the insurance side. You’re the person who makes sure insurance clients are:
- Authorized
- Scheduled
- Moving cleanly from intake to discharge, so families get consistent care, and clinicians can focus on treatment, and the Clinical Director only touches true decisions once.
You’ll be working with approximately 36–40 active insurance clients across 2–3 main payers (heavy TRICARE) and a small clinical team.
Role overview
This is a high-ownership individual contributor role (no direct reports, no P&L). You own the operational pipeline for insurance clients, including:
- Insurance authorizations and documentation
- Scheduling and utilization for insurance-based services
- Referrals and intakes into our insurance programs
- Basic reports and compliance checks
- Cross-team coordination between clinical, billing, intake, and leadership
First ~30 days: heavy shadowing and training
After ramp-up: weekly stand-up with the Clinical Director and senior clinicians
Once you’re acclimated, you’ll be expected to make decisions within your scope and escalate only what truly requires a clinical or leadership call.
This is not a “just follow the script” position. The Clinical Director will architect workflows; you’ll implement, refine, and document them (checklists, trackers, daily and weekly routines) so nothing falls off. Working with our team to improve operational efficiency and ensuring the clinical team has everything they need to support clients.
This role is for you if…
- You’ve personally built or significantly improved a workflow, tracker, or SOP in a medical/healthcare office (e.g., referral pipeline, auth tracker, scheduling template) and can explain the “before vs after.”
- You don’t just use a system – you see where it’s breaking, fix it, and document it so others can follow.
- You’ve worked in a medical or healthcare office and understand insurance, authorizations, and provider scheduling from real experience.
- You naturally troubleshoot: when something breaks or stalls, your first instinct is to gather information, propose a solution, and move it forward instead of waiting to be told what to do.
- You’re comfortable in a partly structured environment::
- Some SOPs are defined
- Some are missing, and you’re willing to help turn your day‑to‑day work into clear checklists and trackers instead of waiting for someone else to do it
- You’re comfortable owning a lane: once you’re trained, you like being the point person who sees problems early, decides what to do first, and only escalates when it’s truly above your pay grade.
- You like being the person who knows “where every client and every auth is at” and can explain it clearly.
- You can adjust your communication style:
- Direct and persistent with insurance and vendors
- Clear and respectful with clinicians
- Warm and professional with families
- You take feedback as fuel to improve systems, not as a personal attack.
- You care that your work directly affects whether families get consistent care and clinicians can do their best work, and you take that responsibility seriously.
This role is not for you if…
- You feel stuck or anxious when there isn’t a clear rule or step‑by‑step SOP for every situation, instead of gathering information and making a reasonable first decision.
- You get defensive or shut down when someone gives you feedback or asks you to walk through your thinking.
- You are mainly looking for a remote or hybrid role from day one.
- You’ve only done front desk work and have never owned or improved an authorizations / scheduling process (you just followed step‑by‑step instructions written by others).
- You prefer clear scripts and checklists for every situation, and you’re not interested in building or refining those systems yourself.
- You want a people‑manager or director track in the next year. This is designed as a long‑term coordinator role focused on authorizations and scheduling.
Key responsibilitiesAuthorizations & Insurance (primary focus)
- Own the insurance client life cycle from intake to discharge from an authorization standpoint.
- Review authorization trackers weekly and prioritize what must move first.
- Follow up with case managers and report writers when documentation is missing or stalled.
- Handle routine authorization denials via SOP (resubmit, request missing documentation, or escalate when treatment, goals, or service level might change).
- Ensure all required documentation is submitted on time to prevent service interruptions.
Scheduling & Capacity (insurance caseload)
- Own the scheduling system for insurance clients:
- Match clinicians to clients considering geography, drive time, lunches, and hour caps
- Monitor billable utilization for insurance services
- Manage cancellations, make-ups, new assignments, and handoffs
- When a cancellation happens, proactively assign appropriate admin or in-office work to protect productivity.
Referrals & Intakes (insurance programs)
- Own the insurance intake pipeline so every referral has a clear next step and due date.
- Ensure clean hand-offs from intake → assessor → case manager.
- Coordinate benefit checks and funding verification and make sure results are acted on.
- Ensure insurance databooks and client records are opened correctly and on time.
- Track which plans we’re in-network with and route new clients accordingly.
Systems, Process & Documentation
- Turn your day-to-day work into clear checklists and simple SOPs with guidance from the Clinical Director.
- Keep Google Sheets or Excel trackers and Google Drive folders organized and up to date.
- Identify recurring breakdowns (“we always get stuck here”) and propose small, concrete fixes.
Cross-Team Communication
- Coordinate between clinical, billing, intake, and leadership on insurance cases.
- Communicate operational updates to clinicians without sounding demanding or directive. You are coordinating, not managing.
- Escalate risks early with a concise summary and suggested options.
RequirementsMust-haves
- 3+ years in a medical or healthcare office role (behavioral health or ABA is a plus).
- At least 1 year where you owned a process (authorizations, scheduling, or intake) – meaning you were responsible for results, saw where it was breaking, and helped fix or improve it.
- Able to work 20–25 hours per week in person at our Mission Valley office for the first 90 days.
- 1–2+ years hands-on experience with:
- Insurance authorizations (submissions, tracking, basic denials)
- Scheduling providers and managing cancellations and make-ups
- Intake and referral pipeline coordination
- Strong critical thinking and troubleshooting skills.
- Comfortable working in:
- Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Calendar)
- Google Sheets or Excel for trackers and basic reports
- Clear, professional written and verbal communication with insurance reps, clinicians, and parents.
Nice-to-haves
- Prior experience in behavioral health or ABA insurance operations.
- Familiarity with TRICARE and other major plans.
- Experience documenting processes or helping build simple workflows in a small practice.
How we’ll work together
- First ~30 days: shadowing, learning current trackers and workflows, and gradually taking over responsibilities with close support.
- After ramp-up: weekly stand-up with the Clinical Director and senior case managers. You bring clean updates, issues, and proposed solutions.
- You own your role, with support for clinical and legal decisions as needed.
Pay: $28.00 - $30.00 per hour
Benefits:
- Dental insurance
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
Application Question(s):
- Describe a process or system you built or significantly improved in a medical or healthcare office (for example, authorizations, scheduling, or referrals).
- This role starts at 20–25 hours/week for the first ~90 days, with a planned ramp toward 30–35 hours/week if it’s a good mutual fit (not 40+ hours immediately).
Are you open to that structure?
Experience:
- hands‑on insurance authorization: 2 years (Required)
Work Location: Hybrid remote in San Diego, CA 92108
