Discharge Planning Assistant

Med Metrix•Garden City, NY

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Discharge Planning Assistant works closely with the Department to meet the discharge planning needs of our client hospitals’ patients. They collaborate with patients, nursing homes, and mental health and substance abuse facilities regarding target length of stays, payer requirements, and care options available to meet patients’ needs.

Requirements

College degree or work equivalency
Valid Driver’s License with clean driving record
Ability to learn internal databases (Prolaw)
Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite
Strong interpersonal skills, ability to communicate well at all levels of the organization
Strong problem solving and creative skills and the ability to exercise sound judgment and make decisions based on accurate and timely analyses
High level of integrity and dependability with a strong sense of urgency and results oriented
Excellent written and verbal communication skills required
Gracious and welcoming personality for customer service interaction

Responsibilities

Fax medical records to nursing home facilities based on patients’ continued care needs
Contact nursing homes to verify receipt of patients’ medical records and acceptance of patients into the facilities
Maintain a written record of the number of facilities contacted and the outcome of the telephone calls
Scan records into our internal database
Create accounts in our database and update accounts with detailed progress notes as needed
Maintain an updated list of nursing homes’ contact information
Produce Discharge Planning reports using Microsoft Excel and our proprietary database
Effectively communicate with client hospitals to assist in implementing an appropriate discharge plan to meet patients’ needs
Interact with health care providers to facilitate movement of the patient through the system
Facilitate timely discharges/transfers, seeking early identification of the appropriate reimbursement source for nursing home placement or rehabilitative services
Work effectively with hospital staff, patients, and families to reduce the incidence of avoidable days to lower the patients’ overall average length of stay
On occasion, travel to deliver and/or retrieve documents from our client hospital locations and nursing homes
Other duties as assigned
Use, protect and disclose patients’ protected health information (PHI) only in accordance with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards