Senior Contract Assistant for Hospital Management

Job content

Job Description

Senior Contracts Assistant for Hospital Management

Manchester or Staines (but some flexibility and home working at the moment)

Full time hours of 37.5 p/wk

£24,000 - £30,000 + benefits

Here you’ll be welcomed. We champion diversity and we understand the importance of our people representing the communities and customers we serve. You’ll find an inclusive environment where you can be yourself and where everyone is driven by the same purpose – helping people live longer, healthier, happier lives.

Our purpose has never been more important than during Covid-19. Our approach to keeping our people, customers, visitors and patients safe is clinically-led and in line with public health guidance.

We’ve implemented effective remote working/interviewing and safety measures across all our offices, care homes and clinical locations and we will continue to review our operating practices as the situation changes.

Working in our support functions you’ll play a key part in helping our customer facing colleagues deliver exceptional standards of customer service and patient care.

No matter your role, you’ll have an opportunity to do work that matters. Making a difference to the lives of our customers each and every day.

Job Purpose

Bupa is the largest provider of private medical insurance in the UK and spends circa £900m pa for care provided to our members by over 800 hospitals and clinics. One of Bupa’s key goals is to provide readily accessible, high quality, affordable healthcare for our members. To that end the Hospital Management team actively works with hospitals to optimise services provided, improve quality and patient experience, and maximise value for our members.

The Snr Contracts Assistant plays a key role in enabling the negotiation, agreement and administration of contracts, cost control and relationship management with providers within their portfolio. Furthermore, the role will have accountability for managing relationships with a small number of providers.

Accountabilities & Activities

• Support Contract Executive and Contract Manager negotiate and agree contracts with providers by preparing draft contracts / pricing schedules and reviewing proposals from providers.
• Play a lead role in managing relationships with a small number of providers within the portfolio.
• Liaise with providers to ensure the timely submission of tender responses, signed contracts and completed quality submissions.
• Ensure that annual price increases are processed correctly, working with Benefits Management team to ensure that charge code screening files are correctly updated.
• Ensure that contracts database and other systems are up to date at all times, showing latest contract information and prices.
• Support prompt agreement of contract change orders by ensuring that the provider has submitted complete and accurate information, chasing providers for responses to queries and agreeing prices for new services.
• Regularly review hospital cost trends, quality of service data and provider complaints to identify issues for investigation with Contract Executives and Snr Managers.
• Support provider quarterly review meetings by preparing quarterly review packs for discussion with the provider.
• Monitor provider billing backlogs and proactively work with providers to resolve billing issues.
• Working within Bupa Governance framework, agree one of prices with providers for provision of non contracted services and ex-gratia payments for resolution of provider issues.
• Work with providers to ensure that Bupa administrative processes and procedures (including pre-authorisation, electronic billing, aged debt) are complied with and instances of non-compliance are identified and proactively addressed with providers.
• Work with providers and service teams to ensure effective resolution of escalated provider queries relating to aged debt / accuracy of Bupa payments.
• Resolve queries regarding contract interpretation received directly from providers, colleagues in services or escalated by Contracts Advisors.
• Lead the resolution of complaints about hospitals, and also complaints about the level of service provided internally.
• Play an active role in delivery of projects impacting hospital contracts and administrative processes.
  
  

Qualifications, Training & Experience

• Numerate and analytical. Comfortable working data in MS Excel to check accuracy of price increases, compare prices between providers etc.
• Well organised and effective at managing own workload and prioritising competing demands from multiple stakeholders.
• Rational thinker, able to spot / resolve issues and opportunities to improve operational processes.
• Good written and oral communication skills, explaining complex issues clearly and concisely, presenting compelling arguments / proposals using fact based evidence and research.
• Comfortable reading, interpreting, drafting contracts.
• Effective at influencing parties in order to secure agreement to most appropriate course of action.
• Builds effective relationships with internal and external stakeholders, able to challenge constructively and resolve conflict / issues productively.
• Strong team player, focussed on delivering own objectives while enabling / supporting others to deliver theirs.
• Comfortable using and interrogating complex enterprise management systems.
• Energetic, positive attitude to work, collaborative approach, gives and listens to honest feedback.
• Educated to A level or with relevant practical experience.
• Experience of healthcare desirable or other complex, multi service line environment essential.
  

Why Bupa?

We are a health insurer and provider. With no shareholders, our customers are our focus. We reinvest profits into providing more and better healthcare for the benefit of current and future customers.

You’ll Be Eligible For

Our benefits are driven by what matters to our people. It’s important to us that these benefits support a work-life balance that keeps people healthy, both mentally and physically.

• 25 days holiday, increasing through length of service, with option to buy or sell
• Bupa health insurance as a benefit in kind
• An enhanced pension plan and life insurance
• Annual performance-based bonus
• Onsite gyms or local discounts where no onsite gym available
• Various other benefits and online discounts
  

Diversity and Inclusion

Bupa is committed to making sure that every applicant is assessed solely on personal merit and qualifications. We actively celebrate the diversity of our colleagues and provide an inclusive environment so you can bring your true self to Bupa. We’ll make sure you are treated fairly regardless of disability or circumstance. That’s why we’re happy to offer reasonable adjustments as part of our recruitment process to anyone that needs them.

Whether you’ve found your feet or are discovering a new path.

Welcome to a place that celebrates you.

This isn’t where you’ve been.

This is where you’re going.

This is what we have belief in.

Time Type

Full time
Job Posting End Date
10 Jul 2021