Psychiatric Support Assistant - Full time

Suncoast Center•Saint Petersburg, FL

4d•Onsite

About The Position

Suncoast Center is seeking a compassionate and dedicated Psychiatric Support Assistant to support and advocate for clients of its behavioral health programs. The role supports children’s psychiatric services and helps clients and families navigate scheduled care, including telehealth and phone appointments. The position is office-based, Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., with an unpaid one-hour lunch break. It includes local travel for meetings, training, and assigned locations, and work in a busy, high-stress office with direct contact with others, including young children. The assistant works with clinical and medical staff to help ensure client flow, accurate records, appointment coordination, completion of required paperwork, and follow-up on client needs. The role also supports medication-related communication, referrals, coordination of care, and appropriate risk documentation. Other duties may be assigned. Suncoast Center provides behavioral health services including intensive community-based mental health care, forensic programs, office-based mental health and substance use care, and programs for children and families. The organization states that it has served the community for over 75 years.

Requirements

At least 2 years of work experience in a medical practice or behavioral health setting.
Ability to explain Zoom access requirements clearly and troubleshoot access issues with families to support telehealth sessions.
Experience with HIPAA, consents to treat, and releases of information.
Nonjudgmental attitude, positive disposition, and ability to maintain hope regardless of a customer’s state of mind.
Excellent customer service, telephone, and scheduling skills.
Ability to problem-solve computer and telephone access issues with others.
High school diploma or GED.
Must be at least 21 years of age.
Negative drug screening before hire and throughout employment.
Clear criminal background checks, including local checks before hire and annually, and DCF Level II screening before hire and as required by DCF; must meet fingerprinting and good moral character requirements.
Valid Florida driver’s license, acceptable motor vehicle record, reliable vehicle, valid registration, and valid vehicle insurance; comply with Florida laws and administrative codes.
Ability to provide official transcripts.
Ability to work in a high-stress environment, provide excellent in-person and telephone customer service, be flexible, multitask, and learn new procedures readily.
Ability to operate a multi-line switchboard, copy machine, personal computer, calculator, fax machine, and credit card machine.
Computer literacy in Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Excel, and familiarity with electronic medical records.
Must complete screening through the Clearinghouse.

Responsibilities

Explain the general process of psychiatric visits to clients and families, including support for Zoom telehealth and phone sessions.
Work with clinical staff to ensure timely client flow through scheduled services.
Follow up on pending client issues.
Follow department procedures for Avatar entries and maintain data quality and integrity.
Serve as backup for Central Intake or Front Office Operations overflow as assigned.
Enter data and outcomes accurately and on time for designated service areas, and generate required reports.
Schedule appointments for clients and providers, and make confirmation and follow-up calls for future and missed appointments.
Coordinate participation of guardians or legally authorized persons and youth in Zoom, phone, or in-person meetings.
Assist children’s psychiatric providers in supporting successful psychiatric visits.
Prepare and support documentation for psychiatric appointments, including medication authorizations and pharmacy consents, prior authorizations, special authorizations, guardianship and consent-to-treat verification, foster-care documentation, releases of information, school and parent forms, and records requests for care coordination.
Use the Electronic Health Record to identify documents requiring completion or updates.
Update electronic and other client paperwork before appointments.
Assist in coordinating treatment plan updates.
Educate clients and families about the Medication Line and coordinate Medication Line communications with providers.
Assist with internal referrals for additional services.
Provide medical staff with updated information about clients’ compliance with other services and care.
Report risks to the supervisor and ensure risk notes and safety plans are completed as appropriate.
Meet regularly with the program manager to review cases and job performance.
Accomplish individual goals.
Perform other duties as assigned.