Patient Placement Bed Manager- Per Diem

Baystate Health•Springfield, MA

About The Position

This Registered Nurse facilitates accurate patient placement throughout the health system based on clinical needs and care-management principles, while supporting organizational fiscal goals. The role serves as the clinical expert and decision-maker for daily patient throughput at BHS, integrating clinical and financial considerations to support appropriate levels of care and placement decisions. The Patient Placement Bed Manager coordinates BH ED admission requests and Regional Transfer Center requests to ensure patients are placed in an appropriate BH hospital and setting. The role consults specialty providers when needed before accepting transfers, manages internal patient flow between levels of care and beds, and supports appropriate bed assignments. The position also collaborates with the Patient Placement Assistant, clinical supervisors, physicians, unit staff, and other health care team members to address capacity, placement barriers, and timely throughput.

Requirements

Five years of clinical nursing experience.
Bachelor’s degree in Nursing.
Registered Nurse certification or licensure in the State of Massachusetts.
Working knowledge of community resources and Utilization/Quality Review standards.
Ability to organize and prioritize workload to meet deadlines.
Understanding of hospital patient-placement guidelines and patient throughput.
Critical-thinking skills and ability to assess and prioritize decisions in a rapidly changing environment.
Excellent interpersonal skills for interacting with health care providers and support staff at all levels.
Excellent computer, telephone, organizational, and relationship-building skills.

Nice To Haves

Five years of emergency department or critical-care nursing experience.

Responsibilities

Facilitate efficient patient movement from the access point to the appropriate level of care and location; review admissions to identify level of care, potential practice-guideline use, anticipated length of stay, and care needs.
Work with the health care team to evaluate patients’ medical, psychosocial, and physical needs, including family needs, and support appropriate bed placement.
Perform utilization analysis on admission using established screening criteria and guidelines, nursing expertise, and judgment; communicate findings to the health care team as appropriate.
Coordinate requests for appropriate beds based on patients’ levels of care and clinical needs, and act as the patient-throughput decision-maker.
Assess admission appropriateness and level of care, communicate changes to the health care team, and facilitate plans for delivering care in the appropriate setting.
Intervene according to departmental policies and communicate excessive length of stay, placement problems, and other issues to the department manager.
Use clinical knowledge to support quality, evidence-based care and ensure patients are assigned to the appropriate level of care, status, unit, and BH hospital.
Participate in quality-management initiatives and assist the department manager with data collection, supporting metrics, and performance metric achievement and sustainment.
Determine when physician intervention or review is needed for patients who do not meet admission or transfer criteria.
Coordinate three-way provider calls for Transfer Center request acceptance, consult specialists before transfer when needed, and plan bed assignments after acceptance.
Escalate Transfer Center requests with untimely provider responses or conflicting information to service-line leaders.
Collaborate with the clinical supervisor on placement needs and escalate barriers on nursing floors that hinder throughput.
Work with unit staff to support timely placement, assess capacity against demand, and seek alternative units when demand exceeds a unit’s capabilities.
Monitor and assess the clinical needs of patients placed in-house to determine triage capability and collaborate with physicians on clinical needs.
Maintain mandatory programs and education records in accordance with hospital and departmental guidelines.
Serve as a resource and content expert for throughput software and Transfer Center applications.
Provide resource information and identify alternative care locations when the primary unit is unavailable.
Collaborate with the Patient Placement Assistant and ensure effective communication about bed-placement plans, patient flow, and Transfer Center requests.