Patient Advocate Specialist (Hybrid, bilingual Spanish) - MercyOne Children's Hospital

Location: Des Moines, Iowa, USA; hybrid with 2–3 days per week on-site at MercyOne Children's Hospital

Salary: From USD 55,000 yearly, plus an incentive bonus tied to enrollment performance.

Company

hirify.global helps medically underserved and Medicaid-eligible patients secure employer-sponsored health coverage through premium assistance enrollment services delivered in partner hospitals.

What you will do

• Identify, approach, educate, and enroll eligible patients and families in the HIPP program.
• Explain how employer-sponsored coverage and Medicaid work together while addressing hesitation, confusion, and questions.
• Collect authorizations and complete application data, including employer, plan, premium, and dependent information.
• Own cases from first contact through enrollment, resolving missing paperwork, employer response issues, and eligibility questions.
• Verify ongoing eligibility, coordinate benefits, and help patients resolve insurance issues.
• Maintain secure patient records, referrals, and interaction notes in the CRM in accordance with HIPAA and compliance standards.

Requirements

• High school diploma or GED.
• Full bilingual proficiency in Spanish is required.
• At least two years of patient-facing or customer-facing experience with activity or outcome-based metrics.
• Ability to work independently on-site with limited daily supervision and build relationships with hospital staff and community partners.
• Working proficiency with a CRM or case management system, plus iPad and iPhone.
• Ability to pass hospital credentialing, including required vaccinations and drug/alcohol screening.

Nice to have

• Three to five years of patient-facing experience in a hospital or health system.
• Knowledge of Medicaid and Medicare eligibility, employer-sponsored coverage, and coordination of benefits.
• HIPP, premium assistance, patient access, financial counseling, benefits enrollment, or health plan member services experience.
• Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Social Work, Healthcare Administration, Public Health, or a related field.
• Training in motivational interviewing, trauma-informed care, medical billing and coding, or experience interpreting EOBs and medical bills.

Culture & Benefits

• Empathy, teamwork, respect, and a focus on work/life balance.
• Weekly and monthly performance targets covering patient contact, application completion, conversion, processing time, documentation accuracy, and renewals.
• Employer-subsidized medical coverage with a supplemental cost-offset benefit.
• Dental and vision coverage, company-paid life and disability insurance from day one, and flexible spending accounts.
• 401(k) program with up to a $2,000 annual company match, Employee Assistance Program, and wellness benefit.

Hiring process

• The interview process covers performance targets and the incentive bonus plan before an offer is accepted.