Asst. Director, Clinical Trial Billing & Analytics, School of Medicine

Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) School of Medicine is a premier academic medical center located in the heart of Richmond. Accounting for almost half of VCU’s sponsored research, the School of Medicine is internationally recognized for patient care and education.

Position Summary and Primary Responsibilities:

The School of Medicine’s (SOM) Clinical Research Office (CRO) is seeking a candidate for the Asst. Director of Clinical Trial Billing and Analytics position. The Asst. Director, Clinical Trial Billing and Analytics plays a key leadership role in supporting the financial management of clinical trials within SOM, with a strong focus on accounts payable (AP), accounts receivable (AR), and analytics. He/she will be responsible for leading a team that utilizes VCU’s clinical trial management system, Oncore, to reconcile study and financial data to accurately bill sponsors, track revenue, and to review all study billable VCUH services for claim management. He/she will be responsible for developing and maintaining AP/AR dashboards and financial analytics tools for the CRO and SOM clinical departments. This position will collaborate with other SOM CRO teams and the SOM Office of Research Administration on a variety of projects related to clinical trial financial and operations management. This position will supervise 3 or more staff.

Core Responsibilities

Responsibility 1 (5%): Risk Management (for employees with direct fiscal responsibility)

• Demonstrates commitment to risk assessment (considering costs, benefit, and impact).
• Utilizes identified internal control mechanisms for self and the team

• Practices routine verification of the accuracy of data

Responsibility 2 (20%): CT Billing Team and Processes Management

• Oversee the CT Billing team and workflows to ensure compliance with AP and Sponsor invoicing requirements and deadlines
• Ensure all Oncore financial data is current, updating on no less than on a monthly basis for all SOM studies
• Provide training and support to all staff and stakeholders on CT Billing processes and reporting tools
• Lead or collaborate as assigned, on process improvement initiatives related to school-wide activation and management of studies.

Responsibility 3 (35%): Sponsor Billing and Oncore Revenue Management

• Understand study contracts, budgets, and coverage analyses to ensure maximum revenue recovery on clinical trials for all items to be paid by study sponsors.
• Understand OnCore protocols and financial calendars, verify OnCore data is consistent with study contract and budgetary terms agreed upon. Notify SOMCT/OnCore team if discrepancies are found.
• Use verified OnCore data to invoice sponsors for all study billable items not automatically paid by sponsors through receipt of study case report forms. Routinely follow up with sponsors to ensure there aren’t delays in payment.
• All assigned studies should be reviewed monthly to identify if activity has occurred that needs to be invoiced.
• Work with study coordinators to verify study invoiceable items, tests, or procedures as necessary.
• Match sponsor payments to study activity in OnCore - for visit level, study level, and invoiceable items. Follow up with study teams and sponsors as needed when payments received do not match what is expected.
• Before study activation, complete a review of the study financials in preparation for post-award management. Communicate with pre-award finance and the OnCore team for necessary changes prior to activation.
• Ensure all studies that are IRB closed are financially closed within 6 months of study closure notification.
• Follow-up with investigators and study teams to resolve inquiries related to interpretation of study budget vs. VCUHS billing.

Responsibility 4 (30%): Study activity review and VCUH claim vetting

• Review and upload all VCUHS and other study invoices billed for assigned studies into the Research Portal for management and to notify departments when claims are ready for payment
• Verify OnCore patient/visit level study data entered by coordinator/study team supports the invoice(s) received for payment.
• Verify charges are study billable according to the coverage analysis and study calendar
• Utilize the VCUH research chargemaster, pricing sheets, and Oncore subject data to review claims for accuracy, and communicate with VCUH Revenue cycle if errors are identified that need correction
• Develop and maintain a process to follow up on all outstanding items with all parties involved.
• Notify SOMCT if a study was billed for new charges not on the current coverage analysis or in the finalized budget and contract

Responsibility 5 (10%): Study Analytics

• Provide monthly financial summaries to SOM leadership and departments related to revenue recovery and claim management for clinical trials
• Develop tools and dashboards to help departments know what billable study activity is expected but not yet billed
• Identify ways to better manage AR/AP with the EPIC-Oncore billing integration
• Collaborate with the SOM Research Administration (RA) team on best practices for revenue management and expenditures