Admissions Counselor

About the role

The Clinical Intake / Admissions Counselor is a frontline clinical professional responsible for facilitating admissions, completing intake assessments, and managing utilization review processes. This role ensures timely, clinically appropriate admissions and a seamless experience for patients, families, and referral partners.

Responsibilities

• Respond to inquiries about the facility within facility policy timeframes.
• Develop therapeutic relationships with patients and families.
• Perform benefit eligibility to ensure patient benefits are active at the time of admission.
• Communicate benefit eligibility to the business office and the patient or significant other.
• Collaborate with facility medical and psychiatric personnel to ensure appropriate recommendations regarding pending referrals.
• Carefully coordinate admission and transfer from referral sources and between levels of care within the facility.
• Maintain knowledge of milieu management.
• Communicate projected admissions to designated internal representatives promptly.
• Ensure all clinical information from referral sources or patients (including medical comorbidity information) is received, when possible, prior to patient admission.
• Schedule (when applicable) and complete pre-admission assessments, consult with the admitting physician and communicate disposition recommendations to the patient or their family.
• Possess skill in preparing and maintaining appropriate medical record documentation that will result in authorization at the level of care being requested of the payor.
• Complete initial pre-authorization for treatment and admission prior to admission, when possible, and within payor timeframe guidelines.
• Admit the patient to the registration and accounting system.
• Complete all admission and consent forms with the patient.
• Demonstrate a positive, empathetic, and professional attitude toward customers always.
• When patient needs are not met, acknowledge and work to resolve complaints.
• Recognize that patient safety is a top priority.
• Coordinate care for patients who are not being admitted and ensure that they receive appropriate follow-up care and referrals.
• Conduct safety checks and ensure that supervision is conducted at 15-minute intervals, as noted in special precautions, or by individualized supervision guidelines as needed.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in a social services field required (if state allows).
• Master’s degree in a social services field (psychology, counseling, social work, sociology, health administration, nursing) or RN preferred.
• One or more years’ experience in mental/behavioral health working with individuals in a clinical or observational capacity preferred.
• Current licensure, as preferred for the area of clinical specialty, as designated by the state in which the facility operates.
• CPR and de-escalation/restraint certification required (training available upon hire and offered by facility).
• First aid may be preferred based on state or facility.