Behavioral Health Coordinator (Per Diem)
About The Position
The Behavioral Health Coordinator responds promptly to help minimize patients’ time in the Emergency Department or on medical units and contribute to reducing overcrowding and boarding. The role gathers behavioral health and psychosocial history, identifies providers, State agency involvement, and health-related social needs, and supports patients and families with timely updates throughout the assessment and disposition process. After a Psychiatric Provider determines disposition in accordance with medical necessity criteria, the coordinator presents relevant assessment information to the payer and obtains authorization. The coordinator works with the Behavioral Health admissions team, conducts and maintains bed searches, coordinates admissions and transfers, and arranges transportation. The role also supports discharge planning and connections to community-based services, provides referrals and psychoeducation, and updates or creates crisis prevention and safety plans. The coordinator completes required encounter documentation, maintains a comprehensive community resource list, participates in the annual process improvement plan, and consistently provides service excellence to patients, families, visitors, volunteers, and coworkers. This is a per diem position.
Requirements
- Bachelor’s degree in human services.
- Working knowledge and proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Excel, and Outlook, and internet search engines.
- Excellent organization and time management skills.
- Complete Crisis Prevention Intervention Training within one month of hire.
- Current BLS certification.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree.
- One to three years of experience working with programs treating mental health, substance abuse, or co-occurring disorders.
- Experience using electronic health record documentation systems to document program notes.
Responsibilities
- Respond promptly to minimize the duration of patients’ time in the Emergency Department or on medical units and help reduce overcrowding and boarding.
- Take a behavioral health history, including prior inpatient admissions and admissions to other levels of behavioral health care.
- Gather information from patients, families, or providers about current functioning at home, school, and in the community, along with educational, social, familial, legal or court-related, and environmental factors that may have contributed to the crisis.
- Identify current providers and State agency involvement.
- Identify health-related social needs, including housing or food insecurity, transportation access, health insurance needs, difficulty paying for prescriptions, and education or literacy needs.
- Support patients by providing updates as the process progresses.
- After disposition is determined by the Psychiatric Provider, present relevant assessment information to the payer and obtain authorization for services in compliance with medical necessity criteria.
- Work with the Behavioral Health admissions team on inpatient and partial hospital admissions, authorizations, and service coordination.
- Conduct ongoing bed searches for patients who meet medical necessity criteria for inpatient psychiatric care or less restrictive levels of care.
- Arrange admission or readmission to the same facility when a bed is available.
- Keep the patient or accompanying parent or guardian updated during the ongoing bed search.
- Coordinate transfers and admissions to appropriate facilities, including obtaining the accepting physician’s name and requested arrival time and faxing information when required.
- Arrange transportation, including ambulances.
- Update existing crisis prevention or safety plans, or create new plans using the Crisis Planning Tool.
- Collaborate, with appropriate consent, with involved or newly referred service providers to share information about the Psychiatric Provider’s treatment plan.
- For patients discharged home, support linkage with the patient’s natural support system and arrange services based on the Psychiatric Provider’s assessment.
- Identify strategies to reduce unnecessary hospitalization and Emergency Department utilization by connecting patients with alternative community-based services.
- Provide resources and referrals for additional services and supports, including recovery-oriented and consumer-operated community resources.
- Answer incoming calls to the Psychiatric Provider.
- Provide psychoeducation about recovery, wellness, and crisis self-management.
- Complete all encounter documentation required for the position.
- Maintain a comprehensive community resource list.
- Perform other work-related duties as requested or directed.
- Participate actively in the annual process improvement plan.
- Consistently provide service excellence to patients, family members, visitors, volunteers, and coworkers.
