Medical Director, Behavioral Health at Blue Shield of California

Your Role

The Medical Management team ensures that Blue Shield is on the cutting edge of medical, medication, and payment policy to accelerate the emergence of a value-based health care system in California. The Medical Director, Behavioral Health will report to the Senior Medical Director, Behavioral Health. In this role you will have core responsibilities in the areas of psychiatric inpatient concurrent review, pre- and post-service utilization review, and collaboration with Nurse Care Managers.

Your Work

In this role, you will:

• Review pre- and post-service behavioral health service requests and render decisions based on the member's benefits, medical necessity, Blue Shield of California medical policy, FEP (Federal Employee Program) medical policy, as well as legal and regulatory requirements


• Medical decision-making and support for the behavioral health review for all services currently requiring authorization or review, facilitating appropriate use of all resources, including safe and timely discharges


• Engage in telephonic physician-to-physician discussions regarding current members in various levels of care or who may be receiving other specialized services. Therefore, the Medical Director must feel comfortable in clinical conversations with Blue Shield providers


• Train BSC utilizations and care management staff which may include physicians, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and others as needed


• Perform clinical reviews to support utilization management and fraud waste and abuse case evaluations


• Participate with the quality management function in the identification and analysis of medical information to develop interventions to improve quality of care and outcomes for our members


• Participate on projects and committees, as necessary

Your Knowledge and Experience

• Minimum 5 years direct patient care behavioral health clinical experience post residency required
• Medical degree (M.D./D.O.)
• Completed residency in Psychiatry
• Maintain active, unrestricted California State Medical License required; Maintain active, unrestricted Medical License in all additional assigned states required
• Maintain Board Certification in Psychiatry through American Board of Psychology and Neurology (ABPN) or the American Osteopathic Board of Neurology and Psychiatry (AOBNP) required
• Deep knowledge of MHPAEA (Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act), SB855 and all regulatory and compliance requirements

Preferred Qualifications:

• Active recent inpatient psychiatric hospital experience (within the past five years) is desirable
• A minimum of 3 years of Health Plan experience in commercial, Medicare Advantage and Medi-Cal utilization management, case review, and/or quality improvement activities in a managed care setting is preferred but not required for this position
• Well-versed with most areas of behavioral health services and conditions, show ability for rapid, accurate decision-making, and enjoy care review, as well as the investigation and resolution of complex issues
• Experience with CPT coding, medical claims review, hospital billing, and reimbursement is a core competency
• Managed care experience supporting utilization management of all levels in behavioral health
• Typically has mastery level knowledge and skills within a specific technical or professional discipline with broad understanding of other areas within the job function

Pay Range: 

The pay range for this role is: $ 209091.00 to $ 330000.00 for California.

Note:

Please note that this range represents the pay range for this and many other positions at Blue Shield that fall into this pay grade. Blue Shield salaries are based on a variety of factors, including the candidate's experience, location (California, Bay area, or outside California), and current employee salaries for similar roles.

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