Payment Integrity Concept Development SME

The Subject Matter Expert (SME) – Payment Integrity Concept Development is responsible for designing, developing, and validating innovative payment integrity concepts that identify inaccurate, inappropriate, or unsupported healthcare claims. This individual combines deep expertise in medical coding, reimbursement methodologies, clinical documentation, regulatory guidance, and claims analytics to develop high-value overpayment detection opportunities that generate measurable savings.

The ideal candidate has a proven history of successfully developing new payment integrity concepts from initial idea through implementation, resulting in significant financial recoveries while maintaining high clinical accuracy and low provider abrasion.

*Base Pay Range: $75,100 - $107,300/yr 

For more information on benefits and what we offer please visit us at https://www.exlservice.com/us-careers-and-benefits

• Develop new payment integrity concepts by identifying emerging coding, billing, reimbursement, and documentation vulnerabilities.
• Perform detailed analysis of professional, outpatient facility, ASC, and hospital claims to identify potential overpayment opportunities.
• Translate coding guidelines, CPT®, HCPCS, ICD-10-CM/PCS, NCCI edits, CMS regulations, payer policies, and specialty society recommendations into scalable claims editing logic.
• Design claims selection criteria using CPT, HCPCS, ICD-10 diagnosis, revenue codes, modifiers, units, place of service, device codes, and other claims attributes.
• Validate concepts through claims research, medical record review, and provider documentation analysis.
• Collaborate with data analysts and engineers to convert clinical concepts into production-ready algorithms and SQL logic.
• Evaluate concept performance using savings, precision, hit rate, provider appeal rates, false-positive rates, and return on investment.
• Identify trends in coding changes, emerging procedures, new technologies, and reimbursement methodologies that may create new payment integrity opportunities.
• Serve as the clinical and coding expert during concept implementation, client discussions, and audit support.

Required Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Health Information Management, Nursing, Healthcare Administration, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Minimum 3 - 5 years of healthcare payment integrity, medical coding, clinical auditing, or claims analytics experience.
• Demonstrated success developing original payment integrity concepts that achieved measurable savings.
• Extensive knowledge of:
  • CPT®, HCPCS Level II, and ICD-10-CM/PCS
  • CMS regulations and reimbursement methodologies
  • NCCI Policy Manual and Correct Coding Initiative edits
  • OPPS, ASC, and physician fee schedule reimbursement
  • Commercial payer reimbursement policies
  • Medical necessity and clinical documentation requirements
• Experience interpreting operative reports, procedure notes, and medical records.
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills with the ability to recognize complex billing patterns.
• Experience working with large healthcare claims databases and translating clinical logic into technical requirements.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• CPC®, CCS®, RHIA®, RHIT®, CPMA®, CIRCC®, or equivalent certification.
• Experience with SQL or working closely with data engineering teams.
• Experience supporting AI-assisted payment integrity or predictive analytics initiatives.
• Knowledge of high-cost implant validation, specialty procedure coding, device-to-procedure relationships, and emerging medical technologies.
• Experience developing concepts across multiple specialties including gastroenterology, ophthalmology, cardiovascular, orthopedics, vascular surgery, general surgery, interventional radiology, and dialysis access procedures.

Ideal Candidate Profile:

The successful candidate is naturally curious and continuously looks beyond established edits to identify new reimbursement vulnerabilities. They possess a unique combination of clinical knowledge, coding expertise, analytical thinking, and creativity, enabling them to recognize patterns that others overlook. They have a documented history of transforming complex coding guidance into scalable payment integrity solutions that deliver significant financial value.

*The posted range is the hiring range for this role — a subset of the broader range available to employees over time — and reflects base salary across our national hiring scale. Final offers are based on several factors, including the candidate's skills and experience, internal pay equity, work location, market conditions for the role, and the specific scope and responsibilities of the position. The top of the range is reserved for candidates who notably exceed the requirements; the lower end applies to those with less experience or fewer preferred qualifications. For positions based in higher-cost zones (e.g., California, New York, New Jersey), actual compensation may exceed the posted range; your recruiter will share specifics during the process.