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Blue Shield of California
California · Hybrid

Behavioral Health Utilization Mgmt Clinician, Experienced

Mental Health Therapy 8.5 Work-LifeFull-Time

Listed compensation

$70.7K - $119.5K

The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed

Ask the employer about call expectations, weekend coverage, nights and shift pattern and time off.

Posted 4mo ago

Job Description

Your Role

The Behavioral Health Utilization Management team performs prospective & concurrent utilization reviews and first level determinations for members using BSC evidenced based guidelines, policies, and nationally recognized clinal criteria across multiple lines of business.

The Behavioral Health Utilization Management Clinician, Senior, will report to the Manager of Behavioral Health Utilization Management (BH UM).

In this role you will conduct clinical review of mental health and substance use authorization requests at various levels of care for medical necessity, coding accuracy, medical policy compliance and contract compliance.

Our leadership model is about developing great leaders at all levels and creating opportunities for our people to grow – personally, professionally, and financially. We are looking for leaders that are energized by creative and critical thinking, building and sustaining high-performing teams, getting results the right way, and fostering continuous learning.

About Blue Shield of California

As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun.

Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.

At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.

To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve.

We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.

Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!

Our Values

  • Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
  • Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
  • Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.

Our Workplace Model

We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration,

connection, creativity and flexibility:

  • For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
  • Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
  • For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.

The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.

Physical Requirements

Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork - Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.

Please click here for further physical requirement detail.

Equal Employment Opportunity

External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.

Key Responsibilities

Conduct clinical reviews of mental health and substance use authorization requests to determine medical necessity and coding accuracy. Perform prospective and concurrent utilization reviews using evidence-based guidelines and clinical criteria.

Requirements

Requires a current unrestricted CA license (LCSW, LMFT, LPCC, PhD/PsyD, or RN) and at least three years of healthcare experience. Must have one year of Behavioral Health Utilization Management experience within a health insurance or managed care environment.

Qualifications

Education
Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
Experience
2+ years of experience

Key Skills

Medical Necessity DeterminationCase ManagementMedical Coding AccuracyAnalytical SkillsCommunication SkillsTime ManagementOrganizational SkillsMicrosoft ExcelMicrosoft OutlookMicrosoft WordMicrosoft PowerPoint

Work-Life Balance Analysis

WeekdayDoc's proprietary algorithm rates Behavioral Health Utilization Mgmt Clinician, Experienced at Blue Shield of California a 8.5 out of 10 for work-life balance — classified as excellent. This places the position in the top 3% of all Mental Health Therapy healthcare professional listings evaluated on our platform. Contributing factors include remote work flexibility.

Mental Health Therapy Career Context

Blue Shield of California holds silver-tier status on WeekdayDoc's Top Employers work-life index, composite score 83/100, 16 active listings.

Of the 40 active Mental Health Therapy listings this role was benchmarked against, 30% are remote, 25% have no call, 65% require no weekends — this position is remote.

Mental Health Therapy pay on WeekdayDoc is up 4.3% vs. the prior quarter (through Sep 2026).

The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$95k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $86k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).

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Annual compensation range

Benefits & Perks18 jobs · 15 employers

401k / retirement match
100% this job
Sign-on bonus
6%
Loan repayment
6%
Relocation assistance
6%

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Work-life snapshot

8.5/ 10
Listing-based score
  • Hybrid
  • Remote
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About Blue Shield of California

Hospitals and Health Care

Benefits & Perks

Medical Insurance
Dental Insurance
Vision Insurance
401(k) Retirement Plan
Paid Time Off
Professional Development