Community Health Worker - Telephone Support

Hope Family Health•Westmoreland, TN

About The Position

The Community Health Worker (CHW) helps patients access and navigate HOPE Family Health services and community resources. This position is assigned to Medical Telephone Support, assisting patients by phone with follow-up and coordination of medical services. The CHW communicates with patients and care teams, identifies barriers to care, coordinates follow-up, and accurately documents services. Duties vary by assignment and may include medical or behavioral health telephone support, language access, referrals, outreach, care coordination, and connecting patients with resources such as food, housing, financial assistance, and transportation. CHWs perform duties within their assigned area, training, credentials, and HOPE policies; no individual CHW is expected to perform every listed duty. The role primarily operates 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. Approved employees must have a confidential, designated workspace. Occasional extended hours may be required based on organizational needs. The role may involve exposure to health hazards, including body fluids. Employees need sufficient vision and hearing to perform duties and communicate by phone and in person, and may occasionally need to lift or move items weighing up to 25 pounds. The position requires a high school diploma or equivalent. Relevant experience in health care, behavioral health, patient service, community outreach, or resource navigation is preferred. The ideal candidate demonstrates trustworthiness, respect, cultural humility, flexibility, a strong work ethic, compassion, and a patient-centered approach. HOPE Family Health Services is an equal opportunity employer. Some positions may be subject to restrictions based on criminal background or placement on State or Federal exclusion or debarment lists.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
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 to learn them with training.
Ability to communicate effectively in English, both verbally and in writing.
Sufficient vision and hearing to perform duties and communicate by phone and in person.
Ability to occasionally lift or move items up to 25 pounds.
Any clinical duties require applicable credentials and HOPE authorization.
Additional language proficiency, interpreter qualifications, professional credentials, and 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 promptly route clinical concerns to appropriate licensed staff or providers.
Help patients understand appointments, care plans, referrals, tests, and next steps using care-team-approved information; reinforce education and instructions without independently diagnosing, treating, or giving clinical advice.
Identify barriers to care, including transportation, insurance, cost, language, food, housing, and service access; connect patients with HOPE programs and community resources and follow up 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. Clinical triage or assessment is limited to staff authorized by their credentials, role, training, and HOPE policy.
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 under HOPE policy, 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.
For community-engagement assignments, participate in outreach, health fairs, patient education, resource navigation, and other community-based activities.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Team Leader to support departmental operations and organizational needs.