Assistant Medical Director- Behavioral Health Focus (.5 Part Time)

Premera Blue Cross Premera Blue Cross · Insurance · Mountlake Terrace, WA

Assistant Medical Director role at Premera Blue Cross, focusing on behavioral health. Responsibilities include performing clinical reviews for benefit coverage determinations based on medical necessity and contract language, consulting with clinical staff, supporting peer-to-peer discussions with external physicians, participating in the development and review of medical review criteria, conducting Inter-Rater Reliability evaluations, responding to consultations, and supporting member/provider appeals. Requires a licensed physician (MD or DO) with board certification in psychiatry and clinical experience in psychiatry, with preferred experience in health plan reviews and familiarity with clinical criteria sets.

What you'd actually do

  1. Perform clinical review of various case types as assigned. These may include pre-service, post-service, and concurrent behavioral health services, which may be outpatient or facility based. Consult with clinical staff on specific case reviews. Act as the final decision maker for coverage decisions based on medical necessity, investigational status, other contractual exclusion, or network structure.
  2. Support the peer-to-peer discussion process by communicating with external physicians and providers about denial determinations and collecting additional clinical history pertinent to case determinations.
  3. Consult with nursing and other clinical staff to assess and explore care options for members enrolled.
  4. Participate in the development, annual review, and approval of company medical review criteria as a Premera Medical Policy Committee member.
  5. Participate in Inter-Rater Reliability evaluations to ensure consistency in clinical decision-making.

Skills

Required

  • Licensed Physician with an MD or DO degree
  • Unrestricted Washington MD or Alaska DO state licensure, or ability to obtain within 90 days.
  • Current board certification in psychiatry from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.
  • Five (5) years of clinical experience in psychiatry

Nice to have

  • Previous experience performing medical necessity and clinical reviews in a health plan setting.
  • Familiarity or experience with clinical criteria sets and clinical pathways, such as MCG (Milliman Care Guidelines) or InterQual).
  • Familiarity or experience with CPT, ICD, and HCPCS code sets and resource-based relative value scale (RBRVS) pricing concepts.

What the JD emphasized

  • medical necessity
  • clinical review
  • behavioral health
  • coverage decisions
  • external physicians
  • clinical history
  • medical review criteria
  • Inter-Rater Reliability