CLINICAL NURSE NAVIGATOR-CANCER CENTER

Cook County•Chicago, IL

17h•Onsite

About The Position

Under the administrative direction of the Director of Operations, CCH Cancer Programming & Initiative and clinical oversight with the Nursing Leadership, the Clinical Nurse Navigator is the first point of contact with the CCH Cancer Center. This position provides a concierge level customer service to ensure patients receive pertinent information and understand the complete care continuum process. This position evaluates, assesses, and documents patients' concerns, symptoms, and pertinent medical history. Assess patients based on the patient's own evaluation and responses to questions. Refers and schedules patients to doctors and specialty service in accordance with clinical conditions. Prioritizes level of urgency and determines essential needs and available resources. When appropriate provides callers with advice on self-management and circumstances to watch for. Performs outbound follow-up calls to determine illness improvement and/or additional healthcare needs and referrals. This position is exempt from Career Service under the CCH Personnel Rules.

Requirements

Licensed Registered Professional Nurse in the State of Illinois or must obtain license prior to starting employment, is required (Must provide proof at time of interview if already obtained).
A minimum of three (3) years of Registered Nurse (RN) clinical experience with at least one (1) year of Oncology nursing experience is required.
Proficient with Microsoft Office is required.
Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification, required (Must provide proof at time of interview)

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree of Science in Nursing (BSN) from an accredited college or university, preferred.
Master's degree from an accredited college or university, preferred.
Prior experience as a clinical navigator or in care coordination, preferred.
Prior experience with leading performance improvement initiatives (e.g., LEAN six sigma), preferred.
Experience with telephone counseling or triage, preferred.
Experience tracking clinical metrics and generating report, preferred.
ONS Certified, preferred.
Bilingual, preferred.

Responsibilities

Triages and schedules clinic appointments for patients requiring specialty evaluation at Cook County Health (CCH) facilities.
Obtains internal and external referrals prior to scheduling clinic/procedure visits, when appropriate.
Requests and obtains medical records to facilitate decision making during clinic visits.
Schedules, reschedules and cancels oncology appointments assigned service lines as needed.
Calls patients to remind and confirm them their scheduled appointment
Works with Medical Assistants and Cancer Patient liaisons to verify insurance as current prior to the initial appointment as well as again prior to surgery/procedure.
Communicates with all oncology patients to set up appointments, provides patients with information about the appointment, advanced testing, informs patients of timelines, and answers any insurance-related questions about their appointment. Contacts insurance carriers, as needed.
Assists with connecting patients to various supportive services as necessary to ensure the patients ability to attend appointments.
Assists with authorization for dietary and home health.
Works with internal and external departments to coordinate and facilitate multidisciplinary care planning.
Orders appropriate labs, tests and further clinical appointments as needed.
Ensures patients adhere to appointments and all testing and assists in rescheduling, if necessary. Makes it a point to follow-up on no call no shows to reschedule and limit delay in care.
Acts as a liaison between the patient, navigators, the financial pre-authorization team, and the patient liaison team.
Follows up on all orders for patients to make sure all appointments are scheduled in a timely manner and that all appropriate documentation is in the chart.
Makes rounds with assigned staff to assess and ensure efficient clinic throughput and patient progression toward their scheduled appointments to minimize cancelations and missed appointments
Coordinates social work and insurance as appropriate to obtain any necessary approvals medications, physical and occupational therapy, and supplies as appropriate.
Shares patient medical records with referring provider to assure transparency in healthcare treatment plan.
Performs other duties as assigned.
Wound care including but not limited to skin toxicities from radiation treatments, Immunotherapy rash, chemotherapy rash, severe mucositis, trach stoma care, colostomy, surgical incisions, and infected central line sites
Makes rounds on patients/ families post therapy/procedure to ensure that appropriate follow up care is provided and that established protocols are followed.
Provides patient education regarding disease-specific cancer care and testing to patients and families