Community Health Worker - Behavioral Health Telephone Support

Hope Family Health•Westmoreland, TN

About The Position

The Community Health Worker (CHW) is assigned to Behavioral Health Telephone Support, assisting patients by phone with scheduling, follow-up, and coordination of behavioral health services. The CHW helps patients access and navigate HOPE Family Health services and community resources by communicating with patients and care teams, identifying barriers to care, coordinating follow-up, and documenting services accurately. Duties depend on the assignment, training, credentials, and HOPE policies; individual CHWs are not expected to perform every duty in the position description. The role builds respectful, trusting relationships with patients and families and supports patient choice and self-advocacy through culturally responsive communication. The CHW may contact patients by phone, electronic message, or in person; respond to questions; relay approved information; identify needs; and promptly route clinical concerns to appropriate licensed staff or providers. The CHW helps patients understand appointments, care plans, referrals, tests, and next steps using care-team-approved information, without independently diagnosing, treating, or providing clinical advice. The CHW identifies barriers to care and connects patients with HOPE programs and community resources, coordinating with care teams and external partners to support continuity and timely follow-up. The role maintains accurate records in the electronic health record and other approved systems, protects confidential information, and participates in team meetings, training, quality improvement, and workflow and resource updates. Assignment-specific duties may include telephone support, referral coordination, qualified language access, records and care coordination, and community engagement. The role functions primarily in a professional office or clinical environment, with occasional travel between HOPE sites. Off-site work is not required, but some tasks may be completed remotely with prior Team Leader approval and a confidential, designated workspace. Occasional extended hours may be required based on organizational needs. The position may involve potential exposure to health hazards, including body fluids, and occasional lifting or moving of items up to 25 pounds.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent required.
Ability to communicate clearly and respectfully with patients, colleagues, and community partners.
Ability to organize competing tasks and use sound judgment about when to escalate concerns.
Ability to use electronic health records and standard office software, or learn them with training.
Ability to communicate effectively in English, verbally and in writing.
Sufficient vision and hearing to perform duties and communicate by phone and in person.
Occasional ability to lift or move items up to 25 pounds.
Any clinical duties require applicable credentials and HOPE authorization.
Additional language proficiency, interpreter qualifications, professional credentials, or Basic Life Support certification may be required for specific assignments.

Nice To Haves

Relevant experience in health care, behavioral health, patient service, community outreach, or resource navigation.
Knowledge of local resources and barriers to care.
Fluency in a second language.

Responsibilities

Build respectful, trusting relationships with patients and families; communicate in a culturally responsive manner and support patient choice and self-advocacy.
Contact patients by telephone, electronic message, or in person as assigned; respond to questions, relay approved information, identify needs, and route clinical concerns promptly to appropriate licensed staff or providers.
Help patients understand appointments, care plans, referrals, tests, and next steps using information approved by the care team, without independently diagnosing, treating, or providing clinical advice.
Identify barriers to care, connect patients with HOPE programs and community resources, and follow up on connections as assigned.
Coordinate with medical, behavioral health, pharmacy, and other teams and external partners to support continuity of care and timely follow-up.
Maintain timely, accurate records of contacts, referrals, services, and follow-up in the electronic health record and other approved systems; protect confidential information.
Participate in team meetings, training, quality improvement activities, and updates to resource information and workflows.
For telephone support assignments, manage incoming and outgoing patient communications, route messages, relay provider-directed results or instructions, and support medical or behavioral health workflows.
For referral coordination assignments, track referrals, gather and transmit information through approved channels, obtain required authorizations, coordinate specialty appointments, inform patients of status and next steps, and follow up on completion.
For language-access assignments, provide bilingual navigation and, when separately qualified and authorized, interpret spoken communication or translate written material; arrange qualified language assistance when needed.
For records and care-coordination assignments, process assigned records and correspondence, obtain or document appropriate releases, support discharge follow-up and external service coordination, and respond to authorized information requests.
Participate in outreach, health fairs, patient education, resource navigation, and other community-based activities when assigned.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Team Leader to support departmental operations and organizational needs.