Gastroenterology (GI) Medical Office / Practice Manager

Rancho Mirage, CA
Healthcare

Practice Type: Physician-Owned Private Gastroenterology Practice

Position Summary

A physician-owned private gastroenterology practice in Rancho Mirage, California is seeking an experienced Medical Office / Practice Manager to oversee the day-to-day operations of the practice.

This is a hands-on leadership position for an experienced medical practice professional who understands the operational, administrative, financial, and personnel requirements of running a busy physician specialty practice.

This position is specifically focused on the management of a physician medical practice and is not an ASC Administrator position. Candidates should have direct experience managing a physician office, specialty medical practice, or comparable outpatient clinical environment.

The Practice Manager will work closely and directly with the physician-owner and will be responsible for ensuring that the office operates efficiently, staff members are properly managed and supported, patients move smoothly through the practice, referrals and authorizations are handled appropriately, and the administrative and financial processes of the practice remain organized and effective.

Gastroenterology experience is strongly preferred.

Key Responsibilities

Practice Operations

Oversee the daily administrative and operational activities of the gastroenterology practice.
Ensure the office is appropriately staffed, organized, and prepared to support the physician's clinical schedule and patient volume.
Maintain efficient workflows across the front office, scheduling, referrals, insurance verification, authorizations, billing-related processes, and other administrative functions.
Identify operational problems, workflow bottlenecks, or recurring patient-service issues and work directly with the physician-owner to resolve them.
Develop and maintain office procedures that improve efficiency, accountability, communication, and the overall patient experience.
Ensure staff members understand their responsibilities and that daily operational tasks are completed accurately and on time.

Staff Management and Leadership

Directly manage front-office and administrative personnel.
Participate in recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and training new employees.
Establish clear expectations for staff performance, professionalism, attendance, productivity, and patient service.
Provide ongoing coaching, training, and feedback to employees.
Conduct or coordinate employee performance evaluations and address performance or disciplinary issues when necessary.
Help create a professional, respectful, accountable, and patient-focused workplace culture.
Coordinate employee schedules and ensure adequate staffing coverage for practice operations.
Serve as the primary point of contact for routine staff questions, concerns, and operational issues.

Patient Scheduling and Office Flow

Oversee patient scheduling processes to ensure effective utilization of the physician's clinical schedule.
Monitor appointment availability, cancellations, rescheduling, and other factors affecting patient access and practice productivity.
Ensure scheduling staff follow appropriate procedures based on visit type, referral requirements, insurance requirements, and physician protocols.
Help resolve scheduling conflicts and patient access issues when escalation is required.
Maintain efficient patient flow while balancing patient service, physician productivity, and operational capacity.

Referral Management

Oversee incoming and outgoing referral processes.
Ensure referrals are received, documented, reviewed, scheduled, and followed up on appropriately.
Monitor outstanding referrals and help prevent patients from being lost during the referral process.
Maintain effective communication with referring physician offices and other healthcare organizations.
Ensure referral documentation and related information are properly entered and maintained within the practice's systems.

Insurance Verification and Prior Authorizations

Oversee insurance eligibility and benefit verification processes.
Ensure staff accurately identify insurance requirements before services are provided.
Supervise prior authorization processes and help resolve complicated authorization issues.
Ensure the practice maintains appropriate documentation regarding insurance verification and authorizations.
Assist staff with Medicare and commercial insurance questions and escalate complex issues when appropriate.
Maintain awareness of payer requirements that may affect scheduling, authorization, reimbursement, or patient responsibility.

Billing, Collections, and Accounts Receivable

Maintain a working understanding of the practice's medical billing and revenue cycle processes.
Coordinate with billing personnel, billing vendors, or other revenue cycle resources as applicable.
Monitor billing-related operational issues that may affect reimbursement.
Review accounts receivable trends and help identify outstanding claims, denials, payment delays, or collection problems requiring attention.
Work with staff and billing resources to resolve administrative problems that interfere with timely and accurate reimbursement.
Help ensure patient balances, insurance payments, and collection processes are handled consistently and professionally.
The Practice Manager is not necessarily expected to personally perform all medical billing functions but must understand the revenue cycle well enough to oversee the process, identify problems, and hold responsible parties accountable.

Medicare and Commercial Insurance

Maintain working knowledge of Medicare and major commercial insurance plans commonly encountered within a specialty physician practice.
Understand how payer requirements affect referrals, authorizations, eligibility, patient responsibility, billing, and reimbursement.
Stay informed of operational changes from insurance companies that may affect the practice.
Help educate staff regarding payer requirements and proper office procedures.

EHR and Practice Management Systems

Utilize the practice's Electronic Health Record (EHR) and practice management systems effectively.
Ensure administrative staff are properly trained on relevant systems and workflows.
Monitor data accuracy and consistent use of the EHR and practice management platform.
Help troubleshoot workflow or user issues and coordinate with software vendors or technical support when necessary.
Identify opportunities to use existing systems more effectively to improve practice efficiency.
Patient Service and Communication
Promote a high standard of professionalism and customer service throughout the practice.
Help address escalated patient concerns, complaints, scheduling issues, billing questions, or service problems.
Ensure staff communicate respectfully and professionally with patients, referring providers, insurance companies, vendors, and other healthcare organizations.
Protect patient confidentiality and ensure appropriate handling of protected health information.

Physician-Owner Support

Work directly with the physician-owner on practice operations, staffing, workflow, and administrative priorities.
Provide the physician with visibility into important operational, personnel, patient-service, and financial issues.
Help translate the physician's priorities into practical office procedures and staff expectations.
Take ownership of routine operational matters so the physician can remain focused on patient care and clinical responsibilities.
Proactively identify issues requiring the physician's attention rather than waiting for problems to escalate.
Serve as a trusted operational partner to the physician-owner.

Required Qualifications

Candidates should have:

A minimum of 5 years of medical office, medical practice, or physician-practice management experience
Direct experience managing the daily operations of a physician medical office
Experience supervising and managing front-office and administrative staff
Experience with patient scheduling and referral management
Experience with insurance eligibility verification and prior authorizations
Working knowledge of medical billing, collections, and accounts receivable
Experience working with Electronic Health Record (EHR) and medical practice management systems
Experience recruiting, hiring, onboarding, training, coaching, and managing employees
Working knowledge of Medicare and commercial insurance
Strong organizational and operational management skills
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Strong judgment and problem-solving abilities
Ability to manage multiple priorities in a busy specialty practice environment
Ability to work independently while maintaining close communication with the physician-owner
High level of professionalism, discretion, accountability, and attention to detail

Preferred Qualifications

Previous gastroenterology (GI) practice experience
Experience managing another physician-owned specialty practice
Experience working directly with a physician-owner
Strong understanding of specialty-practice referral, authorization, and revenue-cycle workflows
Experience improving medical-office processes and staff performance
Familiarity with the healthcare and insurance environment within Southern California

Ideal Candidate Profile

The ideal candidate is an experienced medical practice manager who is comfortable being both a leader and a hands-on operator.

This individual should understand that successfully managing a private physician practice requires attention to many interconnected areas—including people, patients, scheduling, referrals, insurance, authorizations, billing, collections, communication, and physician support.

The successful candidate will be proactive rather than reactive, highly organized, comfortable holding staff accountable, and capable of recognizing operational problems before they significantly affect patients or the physician.

The practice is particularly interested in candidates who have worked directly with physician-owners and understand the communication, trust, responsiveness, and operational ownership required in an independently owned medical practice.

Location Requirement

This position is based onsite in Rancho Mirage, California, serving the greater Palm Springs / Rancho Mirage / La Quinta area.

Candidates should currently reside within reasonable commuting distance of the Coachella Valley or be prepared to work locally in the Rancho Mirage area.

Important Practice Distinction

This is a physician-owned private gastroenterology practice and does not operate an Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC).

The practice is specifically seeking candidates with experience managing a physician medical practice. Candidates whose management experience is primarily limited to ASC administration without meaningful physician-office management experience may not be the appropriate fit for this role.

What Success Looks Like

A successful Practice Manager will create an office environment in which:

The physician's schedule runs efficiently.
Patients receive responsive and professional service.
Referrals and authorizations are handled accurately and promptly.
Staff understand their responsibilities and are held accountable.
Operational problems are identified and addressed quickly.
Billing and accounts receivable issues receive appropriate oversight.
The physician-owner has confidence that the administrative side of the practice is being properly managed.
The overall practice operates in an organized, professional, efficient, and financially responsible manner.