Payer Sales Development Representative

Payer Sales Development Representative at Athenahealth summary:

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Join us as we work to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Role Summary

Are you ready to launch your career in healthcare sales with a focus on payer organizations? As a Sales Development Associate based in Boston, MA, Austin, TX, or Atlanta, GA, this hybrid - role offers the opportunity to engage with leading payer organizations and help transform healthcare through innovative solutions. You will be a key contributor in identifying and initiating conversations that drive athenahealth’s growth in the payer market. This position reports directly to the Senior Manager, Sales Development.

Team Summary

We’re seeking a highly motivated Sales Development Representative (SDR) focused on the P ayer segment to accelerate athenahealth’s expansion in this critical market. In this role, you will collaborate closely with our payer sales team to identify and engage decision-makers at large national insurers, regional health plans, Medicare Advantage organizations, Medicaid MCOs, and commercial payers. Your outreach will uncover strategic opportunities where athenahealth’s solutions can support payer initiatives such as care coordination, value-based care, and data interoperability.

Your efforts will be essential in generating qualified leads, initiating meaningful conversations, and building a robust pipeline of opportunities that foster collaboration between payers and providers through athenahealth’s platform. This role requires a consultative communication style, healthcare and payer knowledge, and a disciplined approach to prospecting and pipeline management.

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Conduct targeted outreach to payer organizations through tailored emails and calls aligned with payer structure and strategy.

• Research payer organizations to understand their markets, provider networks, and strategic priorities before engagement.

• Engage payer executives and operational leaders with consultative messaging that uncovers workflow inefficiencies

• Manage and maintain accurate records in Salesforce, ensuring clean notes, strong handoffs, and pipeline hygiene.

• Collaborate cross- functionally with sales, product, and provider teams to align messaging and strategy.

• Handle objections professionally, particularly around existing solutions or provider-side focus, to advance conversations.

Additional Job Responsibilities

• Support sales team initiatives by providing market insights and feedback from payer interactions.

• Assist in refining outreach messaging based on engagement data and payer feedback.

• Participate in team meetings and training sessions to deepen healthcare and payer knowledge.

• Contribute to the development of sales collateral tailored to payer audiences.

• Monitor industry trends and regulatory changes impacting payer priorities.

• Help coordinate events or webinars targeting payer audiences.

• Support administrative tasks related to sales development activities as needed.

Expected Education & Experience

• 1 to 2 years of experience in sales, healthcare, or related fields.

• Demonstrated understanding of payer operations including claims, prior authorization, eligibility, remittance, and value-based care basics.

• Familiarity with payer pain points such as administrative burden, provider abrasion, data accuracy, and interoperability challenges.

• Comfort with healthcare acronyms and workflows to engage in credible, consultative conversations.

• Strong communication skills with the ability to engage executive-level payer leaders.

• Experience or aptitude for targeted prospecting, account research, and objection handling.

• Proficiency with CRM tools, preferably Salesforce, and a data-driven approach to sales development.

• Ability to work in a hybrid environment based in Boston, Austin, or Atlanta

Expected Compensation

The base salary range shown reflects the full range for this role from minimum to maximum. At athenahealth, base pay depends on multiple factors, including job-related experience, relevant knowledge and skills, how your qualifications compare to others in similar roles, and geographical market rates. Base pay is only one part of our competitive Total Rewards package - depending on role eligibility, we offer both short and long-term incentives by way of an annual discretionary bonus plan, variable compensation plan, and equity plans.

About athenahealth

Our vision: In an industry that becomes more complex by the day, we stand for simplicity. We offer IT solutions and expert services that eliminate the daily hurdles preventing healthcare providers from focusing entirely on their patients — powered by our vision to create a thriving ecosystem that delivers accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all.

Our company culture: Our talented employees — or athenistas, as we call ourselves — spark the innovation and passion needed to accomplish our vision. We are a diverse group of dreamers and do-ers with unique knowledge, expertise, backgrounds, and perspectives. We unite as mission-driven problem-solvers with a deep desire to achieve our vision and make our time here count. Our award-winning culture is built around shared values of inclusiveness, accountability, and support.

Our DEI commitment: Our vision of accessible, high-quality, and sustainable healthcare for all requires addressing the inequities that stand in the way. That's one reason we prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion in every aspect of our business, from attracting and sustaining a diverse workforce to maintaining an inclusive environment for athenistas, our partners, customers and the communities where we work and serve.

What we can do for you:

Along with health and financial benefits, athenistas enjoy perks specific to each location, including commuter support, employee assistance programs, tuition assistance, employee resource groups, and collaborative workspaces — some offices even welcome dogs.

We also encourage a better work-life balance for athenistas with our flexibility. While we know in-office collaboration is critical to our vision, we recognize that not all work needs to be done within an office environment,   full-time. With consistent communication and digital collaboration tools, athenahealth   enables   employees to find a balance that feels fulfilling and productive for each individual situation.

In addition to our traditional benefits and perks, we sponsor events throughout the year, including book clubs, external speakers, and hackathons. We provide athenistas with a company culture based on learning, the support of an engaged team, and an inclusive environment where all employees are valued.

Learn more about our culture and benefits here: athenahealth.com/careers

Keywords:

payer sales, healthcare sales, sales development representative, Medicare Advantage, value-based care, Salesforce, prospecting, payer operations, pipeline management