Behavioral Health Assessor Licensed

Job Summary

Functioning under the leadership of the Manager of Behavioral Health or designee, the Behavioral Health Assessor-Licensed performs comprehensive, face-to-face and tele-mental health-based assessments, psycho-education, and interventions with patients who are receiving services for various psychological, behavioral, or substance-related disturbances. The Behavioral Health Assessor works in conjunction with the physician and other care team members to assess and plan for safe care delivery and transition planning to the appropriate level of care.

Specific Responsibilities

• Provide individual assessments of patients in the emergency department and/or acute care floor to assist in determining the most appropriate next level of care.
• Collaborate with physicians, social workers, and other specialty providers to ensure optimal, individualized, and integrated treatment for behavioral health patients.
• Work with patient’s family members and identified supports to determine a safe discharge plan.
• Assess, refer, and coordinate care for patients with unique and complex psychiatric conditions, including assisting with legal holds and referrals to the identified level of care.
• Participate in service line functions and initiatives, as directed by Behavioral Health leadership.

Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions

• Patient Assessment:
• Conduct and interpret comprehensive clinical assessments in-person or via tele-mental health for the Emergency Departments and acute care units.
• Complete Suicide Risk Assessment.
• Collaborate with collateral/support contacts.
• Provide a level of care recommendation appropriate for the clinical, medical, and biopsychosocial presentation and resource needs of the patient.
• Consult with Physicians, On-Call Psychiatrists, Nursing staff, and other appropriate team members to establish the behavioral health plan of care.
• Review the behavioral health plan of care with the patient/guardian to ensure comprehension of program services available and provide recommendations.
• Reassess patients every shift, or more often as patient status and acuity changes.
• Discharge Planning/Patient Placements:
• Coordinate with the Assessment and Resource Center to facilitate age-appropriate referrals to the recommended level of care following evaluation and in conjunction with the provider.
• Identifies and documents barriers to timely disposition.
• Obtains collateral from patients’ family/identified supports to plan for continued care.
• Provides education/counseling to patient/family to assist in understanding, accepting, and following medical recommendations of their conditions.
• Understands eligibility processes and criteria for referrals to identified levels of service and resources.
• Develops a Safety Plan with all patients.
• Affords consideration for any cultural or religious beliefs in providing services and continuity of care.
• Ensures the Assessment and Resource Center has all documentation necessary to facilitate referral to the recommended level of care.
• Documentation:
• Documents initial psychosocial/functional assessment in the electronic medical record.
• Documents suicide risk assessment in the electronic medical record.
• Documents ongoing reassessments, and safety plan in the electronic medical record.
• Documents each patient contact.
• Assists with legal documentation as needed for patient placement, i.e., 1013, 1014, 1015.
• Documents all contact with collateral contacts, support systems, and resource referrals in a timely and accurate manner.
• Professional Development and Initiative:
• Adheres to ethical business practices by striving to perform in a manner that conforms to the highest standards of ethical behavior, integrity, and honesty.
• Maintains confidentiality of all patient information.
• Maintains attendance/punctuality in accordance with system policy and procedure.
• Attends and participates in staff meetings, required in-services, process improvement activities, and other meetings as requested.
• Completes all initial and ongoing professional competency assessments, required mandatory education, and population-specific education.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• Complies with all Wellstar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

Required Minimum Education

Masters Social Work or Masters Professional Counseling

Required Minimum License(s) and Certification(s)

• BLS - Basic Life Support or ARC-BLS - Amer Red Cross Basic Life Support or BLS-I - Basic Life Support - Instructor
• LAPC - Lic Associate Pro Counselor or LMSW - Lic Master Social Worker GA or LCSW - Lic Clinical Social Worker GA-Preferred or LPC - Lic Professional Counselor-Preferred
• AVADE (Wellstar) - Workplace Violence Prvtn Trng or AVADE-P (Wellstar) - Workplace Violence Prvtn Trng - Provisional (30 Days) within 30 Days

Additional License(s) and Certification(s) Required Minimum Experience

Minimum 3 years experience working with adult/child populations

(candidates have experience working with behavioral health patients. Internships and volunteer experiences may apply)

Required Minimum Skills

• Ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
• Capacity to think abstractly and develop innovative services that can better meet organizational and patient needs.
• Specific interest in behavioral health and willingness to work at various WellStar sites depending upon need.
• Knowledge of behavioral health best practices.
• Basic technological capabilities in Word, and Excel, as well as the ability to utilize a Telemedicine cart for remote assessments.