Collector

Our client believes that sustainable healing from substance use disorders requires empathy, clinical excellence, and structural stability. While our clinical teams work tirelessly on front-line patient care, our revenue cycle and billing professionals ensure that our operations remain viable, ethical, and positioned to help the next person who reaches out for support.

Behavioral health billing and patient debt recovery require a fundamentally different approach than conventional retail or commercial collections. We are dealing with vulnerable populations who are actively restructuring their lives, confronting past mistakes, and seeking dignity in recovery. To excel here, you cannot simply be an aggressive collector; you must understand the journey of the recovering addict, the realities of drug and alcohol rehabilitation, and the mechanics of medical collections.

The Role: Mission-Driven Collections

We are searching for a dedicated, resilient, and deeply empathetic Full-Time Collector to oversee our post-treatment and self-pay patient accounts. This unique role bridges the gap between financial accountability and compassionate support. You will be responsible for resolving outstanding accounts receivable (A/R) balances for inpatient, partial hospitalization (PHP), and intensive outpatient (IOP) substance abuse treatment programs.

The ideal candidate possesses practical debt-collection experience, understands behavioral health insurance billing, and has direct professional or lived experience related to substance abuse recovery. You understand that behind every delinquent account is a human being who has completed, or is navigating, the difficult transition out of active addiction. Your mission is to secure the revenue that keeps our facilities open, while treating every former patient with the dignity, patience, and non-judgmental respect they deserve.

Core Responsibilities

As a Patient Financial Recovery Specialist, your day-to-day focus will balance analytical problem-solving, structured account management, and sensitive phone communications:

1. Direct Patient Financial Engagement & Negotiation

• Conduct a high volume of outbound collection outreach (via telephone, secure text platforms, email, and formal letters) to alumni patients, guarantors, and responsible third parties regarding unpaid balances, deductibles, coinsurance, and out-of-pocket costs.


• Meet patients at their level of financial reality. Assess income, post-treatment living arrangements, and employment status to negotiate realistic, achievable settlement options or structured monthly payment arrangements.


• Serve as a calm, de-escalating force during emotionally volatile conversations where shame, stress, anger, or financial trauma surface.


• Educate former clients on their financial obligations, helping them understand their Explanations of Benefits (EOBs) and how clearing their medical debt contributes positively to their long-term recovery and personal freedom.

2. Rehabilitation Billing & Payer Coordination

• Audit patient ledgers to verify that all primary and secondary private insurances, commercial health plans, and Medicaid allowances have been accurately billed and adjudicated prior to issuing patient-responsibility statements.


• Coordinate closely with internal Utilization Review (UR) and Behavioral Health Billing teams to clarify denied days, single-case agreements, and insurance underpayments.


• Identify and resolve discrepancies involving verification of benefits (VOB) errors that occurred during the patient's initial intake or detox admission.


• Facilitate hardship application reviews. When a former patient legitimately cannot pay, gather required tax and income documentation and advocate on their behalf to the Hardship Committee for debt forgiveness or adjustment.

3. Portfolio Management, Compliance & Record Keeping

• Maintain rigorous, meticulous documentation within our Electronic Health Record (EHR) and billing systems (Kipu, CollaborateMD, AdvancedMD) reflecting every patient communication, settlement offer, and payment arrangement.


• Adhere stringently to the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and 42 CFR Part 2 (Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records).


• Maintain absolute confidentiality: zero disclosure of substance abuse treatment history, diagnosis, or facility nature to non-authorized third parties, family members, or employers.


• Meet and exceed individual key performance indicators (KPIs), including monthly collected revenue, outbound touchpoints, payment arrangement retention rates, and account aging reductions.

Required Experience & Competencies

This is a specialized seat that demands a balance of financial grit and clinical sensitivity. We are intentionally looking for candidates who demonstrate proficiency in three interconnected disciplines:

1. Collections Proficiency

• At least 2 to 4 years of proven success in medical debt collections, third-party debt recovery, or high-volume healthcare billing collections.


• Demonstrated ability to close accounts, secure payment instruments (ACH, credit cards), and calculate prorated settlement percentages.


• Fluency with collection workflows, skip tracing tools, skip trace databases, payment gateway management, and state/federal debt collection regulations.

2. Drug Rehab & Behavioral Health Domain Knowledge

• Deep working knowledge of substance use disorder (SUD) levels of care: Medical Detoxification, Residential Inpatient, Partial Hospitalization Programs (PHP), Intensive Outpatient Programs (IOP), and Sober Living Environments (SLE).


• Understanding of insurance dynamics common to addiction treatment: commercial out-of-network benefits, high deductibles, co-occurring mental health conditions, and specialized drug screen billing.


• Familiarity with the common triggers, logistical setbacks, and socio-economic hurdles individuals face during their first year of clean and sober living.

3. Lived Experience / Former Addict Cultural Competency

• Direct familiarity with the mindset, jargon, recovery principles (e.g., 12-Step, SMART Recovery), and behaviors of individuals in early to intermediate recovery.


• Candidates with personal lived experience in long-term recovery (former addicts, sober alcoholics) are strongly encouraged to apply. We believe that individuals who have walked this road possess unmatched empathy, insight, and the ability to cut through manipulation while offering genuine support.


• An understanding of healthy boundaries: knowing the difference between compassionate flexibility and enabling financial evasion.

Key Qualifications

• High School Diploma or GED required; Associate or Bachelor’s degree in Business, Healthcare Administration, or Human Services preferred.


• If applicant is an individual in personal recovery, a minimum of two (2) continuous years of verified, continuous sobriety/abstinence is required to ensure emotional well-being and stability in a high-stress environment.


• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills with telephone diplomacy.


• Comfortable working with electronic health platforms, billing aggregators, and enterprise phone systems.


• Clean background screen and pre-employment drug screening (excluding prescribed medications verified by a medical review officer).

Working Conditions & Expectations

This role takes place in an office environment with significant computer and telephone work. Daily operations require balancing empathy with task execution. You will hear heartbreaking stories, encounter people under substantial stress, and converse with individuals working hard to put their lives back together. You must possess high emotional intelligence, emotional self-regulation, and strong personal boundaries to prevent secondary trauma and burnout.

What We Offer

• Supportive Recovery Culture: An environment that champions mental health, respects personal boundaries, and honors the journey of recovery.


• Comprehensive Health Coverage: High-tier medical, dental, and vision insurance options for employees and dependents.


• Retirement Planning: 401(k) retirement plan with an employer match up to 4% after six months.


• Paid Time Off: 3 weeks of accrued PTO in your first year, plus 8 paid statutory holidays.


• Employee Assistance Program (EAP): Free, confidential clinical counseling, life coaching, and legal services.

How to Apply

If you have the financial negotiation skills to recover critical funds, coupled with the empathy and street-smart wisdom to communicate effectively with people in recovery, we want to hear from you.

Please submit your resume along with a brief cover letter describing your experience in collections and why working within the addiction recovery field matters to you.