Senior Financial Analyst - Academic Offices of Clinical Trials

At Houston Methodist, the Senior (Sr.) Financial Analyst position is responsible for maintaining and performing complex data analysis related to the clinical or financial performance of the assigned entity or hospital and/or contractual relationship. The Sr. Financial Analyst is also responsible for independently compiling and reporting information as requested by Financial Accounting, Internal Audit, Revenue Cycle, their department and entity management or administration. The Sr. Financial Analyst works collaboratively with teams and may serve as a liaison with Information Technology Business Intelligence and other stakeholders, as needed. This position is actively involved in developing and advancing best practices and tools for business analysis. The Sr. Financial Analyst highlights performance issues, identifies problems and researches solutions and makes recommendations to management for continuous improvement. Reports statistical information in graphical and other presentation formats. Other responsibilities may include the assistance with annual operating budgets and maintenance of monthly dashboards of key indicators and external benchmarks. May also be assigned to additional responsibilities; such as payer reimbursement analysis and financial reconciliation.

FLSA STATUS

Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelors Degree in finance, accounting, healthcare administration, business administration or related field.

EXPERIENCE

• Three years of financial, budget or cost accounting analysis experience required; experience in a health care environment preferred

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

Preferred

• CHFP - Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (HFMA) and
• CPA - Certified Public Accountant - State Licensure

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations.
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security.
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles.
• Advanced analytical thinking and creative problem solving and ability to define a variety of approraches to business problems.
• Advanced knowledge of business process analysis, system requirements, data modeling and functional design.
• Strong project management skills.
• Strong statistical analysis and data reductions skills.
• If assigned to Hospital: Familiarity with hospital patient data bases and relationship to other financial and non-financial systems preferred.
• Working knowledge of cost accounting system(s).

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Interacts with all levels within the department, other institutional departments, and across the organization as well as outside companies to resolve problems/errors or questions regarding basic accounting reconciliation items or financial performance in a timely manner.
• Serves as subject matter expert for assigned entity(s) (Hospital, Physician Organization, Research Institute, Academic Institute, HM Foundation, MOB, for Clinical and Financial reporting systems. Serves as role model and mentor to more junior team members. Supports training and onboarding of new team members.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Assists department administrator, faculty members or department, hospital leadership and entity leadership in managing the departmental budget.
• Extracts actual and budget financial accounting General Ledger (G/L) data or financial data from appropriate sources to report and reconcile with appropriate leadership. Generates accurate and timely reports.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Reviews revenue projections, budget revisions, etc., for physician practice, academic department or assigned hospital or entity department(s)
• Develops, monitors and reports key system operational indicators and recommends improvements. Highlights performance issues, identifies problems and researches solutions. Makes recommendations to management for improvement.
• Follows all internal audit requirements for appropriate system applications.
• Utilizes/enhances tools to improve the accuracy of financial analytics and enhance revenue opportunities. Submits invoices and follow-up with industry partners as needed. In addition, prepares necessary journal entries for coordinator effort and Principal Investigator (PI) oversight as appropriate.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Performs one or more of the following: Supports and develops auditing, reporting and contract modeling tools as needed for identification and analysis of rate and/or fee schedule auditing, financial performance and contract performance as well as modeling and analysis of potential opportunities. Maintains monthly dashboard of key indicators and external benchmarks as defined by management. Prepares and maintains revenue models. Compiles information needed for organization profit and loss statement as required. Reviews contracts, calculates provider productivity bonuses/compensation models as appropriate. Assists in preparation of gift, grant and contract budget proposals as needed. Assists in the oversight of departments financial files for all grant and donor funding. Ensures/verifies that all faculty, staff and research personnel are charged to the appropriate funding source via submission of a salary re-allocation form as appropriate.
• Utililzes resources effectively and efficiently, demonstrating financial stewardship. Manages own time effectively and prioritizes work to achieve maximum results in a timely manner.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Maintains and monitors procedures and Standards of Practice (SOPs) for reconciliation process. Maintain working knowledge of hospital and physician compensation methodologies and affecting government regulations, as applicable. Identifies areas for improvement and makes recommendations to management. Seeks out opportunities to grow knowledge of cost accounting system, clinical trials management systems or others and their relationship to other financial and non-financial systems. Shares knowledge and learnings with team.
• Proactively manages own career development. Completes My Development Plan (MDP).
• Identifies and recommends opportunities to employ new or enhanced functionality in support of continued performance improvement. Develops and advances best practices and tools for business analysis.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: No
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No

ON-CALLNote that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* No

TRAVELTravel specifications may vary by department

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area No
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelors Degree in finance, accounting, healthcare administration, business administration or related field.

EXPERIENCE

• Three years of financial, budget or cost accounting analysis experience required; experience in a health care environment preferred

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

Preferred

• CHFP - Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (HFMA) and
• CPA - Certified Public Accountant - State Licensure

Company Profile:

Houston Methodist Academic Institute oversees the Education Institute and Research Institute. The Academic Institute aligns our research and education initiatives in service to the clinical mission, providing solutions that answer the call for new technologies and skills our clinicians need for patient care. Houston Methodist Education Institute coordinates our primary academic affiliation with Weill Cornell Medicine and other joint programs, including the Engineering Medicine Program at Texas A&M University Intercollegiate School of Engineering Medicine. The Education Institute also oversees continuing medical education and graduate medical education, and supports trainees in residence for medical, nursing, allied health and research education programs. Houston Methodist Research Institute supports research programs and infrastructure that enable faculty across the system to bring new scientific discoveries to patients as rapidly as possible through the full cycle of a cure from conceptual bench research, to prototyping and development, to clinical trials and FDA approval. The Research Institute supports clinical research protocols and extramurally funded translational research programs.

Houston Methodist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.