Patient Placement Coordinator - Evening Shift

Mass General Brigham•Somerville, MA

1d•Onsite

About The Position

The Patient Placement Coordinator supports hospital capacity operations within the MGH Capacity Coordination Center under the general direction of the Senior Manager of Admitting Services. The coordinator acts as a liaison among physicians, nursing staff, administrative staff, patients, families, and outside institutions to ensure timely, clinically appropriate patient placement in accordance with hospital guidelines and to use resources effectively. The role monitors hospital census and patient-account information, coordinates admissions, discharges, transfers, and bed assignments, and helps address capacity challenges. It also supports outside-hospital transfers, patient registration and authorization, death-certificate processes, and customer service for internal and external stakeholders. The position may provide backup admissions, scheduling-center, and front-desk coverage; mentor and train new employees; and participate in quality and process-improvement projects.

Requirements

Prior healthcare experience.
Knowledge of medical terminology.
Basic computer skills.
Exceptional customer-service skills.
Strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Ability to exercise judgment when handling sensitive and confidential information.
Ability to handle stressful situations that may arise while facilitating requests.
Willingness to learn and grow as a member of the team and department.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree preferred.

Responsibilities

Identify and assign beds for front-door, postoperative surgical, hospital-transfer, and emergency-department admissions.
Coordinate with clinical staff to place patients according to clinical needs, capacity needs, and Patient Placement Guidelines.
Monitor real-time hospital census and work with patient-care units to maintain accurate admission, discharge, and transfer information in Epic.
Help expedite admissions and discharges during periods of high occupancy.
Participate in daily meetings with patient-care-unit representatives to assess capacity and occupancy needs and share relevant placement considerations.
Work with Access RNs to monitor medical-team assignments and communicate with the Medical Officer of the Day and Capacity MD about exceptions and capacity challenges.
Coordinate timely transfers to and from intensive care units with Patient Care Services.
Respond to patient and family requests for special bed needs when clinical placement criteria are met, and ensure requests are properly coded in Epic.
Respond to Pre-Code Help, Code Help, and Capacity Disaster situations and provide leadership with detailed capacity and bed-availability information.
Carry out department leadership and Capacity Committee direction to prioritize or reprioritize patients as needed.
Perform daily ADT maintenance and help ensure patient accounts accurately reflect activity and account details, including demographics, insurance, guarantor, and advance-directive status.
Work with patients, families, referring institutions, and other agencies to obtain accurate registration and authorization information.
Facilitate outside-hospital transfers through the MD Connect phone line by connecting referring physicians with appropriate MGH physicians.
Respond promptly and professionally to referring and accepting physicians, and communicate pertinent information to facilitate patient transfer and transport.
Monitor patient transfer and transport processes and coordinate support services for referring institutions as indicated.
Collaborate across the institution to prioritize sensitive outside-hospital transfers during high occupancy.
Facilitate admission to another Mass General Brigham institution when appropriate based on bed availability, insurance agreements, and physician or patient preference.
Troubleshoot transfer and placement processes as needed.
Create death certificates for patients who die at MGH, receive and log expired-patient calls, and ensure medical-legal cases are reported to the Medical Examiner.
Notify the organ procurement agency of expired patients as required by Massachusetts law.
Review Report of Death forms, enter death-certificate information electronically for filing with the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and ensure physician certification.
Serve as a resource and customer-service representative for internal and external customers.
Provide backup support for Admissions Coordinators during off hours and assist with scheduling-center or front-desk coverage as needed.
Assist with management and inventory of patient valuables.
Mentor new employees and assist with hands-on training and support.
Participate in assigned productivity, quality, and process-improvement projects.