Behavioral Health Consultant Supervisor

About the Role

Responsible for working with the integrated healthcare team of Primary Care Providers, Pharmacists, Dietitians, Nursing, and support staff to provide quality health care to patients and their families. This position recognizes and addresses psychological symptoms and conditions using the biopsychosocial model, providing behavioral health consultation to children, adolescents, adults, and families to improve psychosocial functioning.

In addition to direct service duties, this role supervises, trains, and monitors the performance of other Behavioral Health Consultants.

Responsibilities

Supervisory Duties

• Directly supervises behavioral health consultants.
• Train assigned staff on the integrated care model.
• Ensure staff complete SBIRT (Screening Brief Intervention Referral to Treatment) with patients in the clinic.
• Address performance challenges according to CIHA policy.
• Ensure behavioral health support for all assigned primary care teams.
• Identify training priorities for assigned staff.
• Provide reports to the direct supervisor and other leadership members as needed.
• Ensure documentation of all treatment and clinically significant events in the Electronic Health Record as prescribed by CIHA policies and procedures and quality assurance standards.
• Communicate regularly with the Adult Services Manager, other hospital departments, and CIHA Executive Management staff as needed.
• Provide staff training as directed, according to expertise and scope of practice.
• Ensure the supervised program completes performance improvement projects in areas needing improvement.
• Participate in completing performance appraisals of direct reports with the applicable manager/supervisor.
• Assist in attaining and maintaining accreditation by the Joint Commission of Health Care Organizations.
• Ensure implementation of provisions contained in all applicable privacy/confidentiality policies, procedures, and practices for maintenance and release of patient records and clinical information, including EBCI, CIHA, IHS, DHHS, HIPAA, JCAHO, 42 CFR, or other licensing bodies.
• Assist with the recruitment and hiring process for employees.
• Develop and maintain collaborative relationships with community stakeholders.
• Participate in BH Departmental meetings as assigned.
• Assist the Adult Services Manager with special projects or other delegated tasks to support the BH department.
• Provide training and support to Primary Care staff about BH practice areas.
• Assist CIHA Tribal Option Care Managers as needed.

Direct Service Duties

• Create, develop, and nurture culturally appropriate interactions and connections with each other, customer-owners, and the community.
• Provide professional expertise and consultation to the primary care provider.
• Propose changes to achieve more effective working relationships to improve performance and services provided, and connections with other departments.
• Work with Primary Care Providers to develop the “core” behavioral health skills needed on an integrated primary care team.
• Make appropriate referrals to the Crisis Intervention Team and seek resources to aid customer-owners.
• Assist, lead, or co-lead customer-owner case conferences and customer-owner support or counseling groups with the primary care provider.
• Work with members of the treatment team (internal and, where appropriate, external), including mentors, educational and vocational instructors, clinical staff, etc., to further the goals of the individual educational and/or treatment plans.
• Develop and maintain a trusting and partnering relationship with assigned customer-owners to assist in the success of the treatment plan.
• Work with the provider to monitor and manage “at-risk” and “chronic” customer-owners.
• Work to improve the provider and customer-owner working relationship.
• Perform assessment and brief treatment for a wide range of psychological disorders using brief therapy.
• Obtain complete and accurate information in a courteous, respectful, and culturally sensitive manner to determine a diagnosis and appropriate treatment plan.
• Assess the treatment needs of the customer-owners, and design and implement various treatments indicated to best meet customer-owner needs.
• Participate in presenting customer-owner reviews to a multi-disciplinary team and provide feedback regarding clinical issues.
• Strive to ensure that appropriate diagnostic evaluations and treatment plans are achieved to provide the highest quality of care for the customer-owner.
• Advise customer-owners and family members in methods that facilitate a capacity for self-care and a movement towards a healthcare partnership between the healthcare providers, the customer-owners, and their families.
• Participate in the after-hours/weekend, on-call rotation with other BH department clinicians.
• Provide effective triage of customer-owners in need of specialty behavioral health.
• Participate in fulfilling the mission, vision, goals, and objectives of the organization.
• Assist in committee and other duties within the department.
• Assist in maintaining a clean work environment, including adequate supplies and upkeep of the unit and equipment.
• Assist in reporting defective or missing equipment and safety hazards.
• Assist in disaster planning and activities.
• Intervene and diffuse situations involving agitated, confused, or emotional customer-owners and/or family members.
• Maintain currency of job knowledge and skills to assist customer-owners in assuming self-care and to provide customer-owners and family members with appropriate information regarding home care.
• Respond to consultation requests from the emergency department or inpatient unit as needed.
• Participate in division/program meetings to review and identify opportunities to improve the program and treatment provided, and recommend changes when challenges are identified.

Communications & Teamwork

• Share and receive information, opinions, concerns, and feedback in a supportive manner.
• Work collaboratively by building bridges and creating rapport with team members within departments and across the organization.
• Perform job duties as a member of the primary care team.
• Provide simultaneous focus on health and behavioral health issues.
• Attend Outpatient and/or Pediatric staff meetings, training sessions, and urgent treatment team meetings.
• Participate in regularly scheduled individual and group supervisory sessions.
• Develop educational, training materials and conduct sessions or disseminate information to the primary care team on recent advances in the field.
• Utilize professional communication and conflict resolution skills with customer-owners and staff.
• Effectively coordinate with multi-disciplinary team and CIHA providers in accomplishing goals/objectives of treatment plan.
• Present clinical cases at clinical review meetings.
• Seek out additional learning opportunities to continue to develop the technical and professional skills needed now and in the future.
• Consult and coordinate with the Primary Care Providers (PCP).
• Support provider decision-making and build on provider-customer-owner interventions.
• Work in coordination with the PCP and case managers to develop treatment plans for customer-owners.
• Adhere to agency policy regarding documentation and medical records procedures.
• Practice appropriate assessment techniques, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric disorders in children, adolescents, and adults.
• Efficiently and effectively manage multiple clinical tasks.
• Evaluate suicidal individuals or individuals in crisis and manage their safe disposition.
• Maintain quality, safety, and infection control standards.
• Independently produce professional and accurate written work (assessments, treatment plans, documentation, and discharge summary reports) with minimal supervisory correction or editing.
• Utilize different therapeutic modalities including group therapy, individual, child, family, couples counseling, family support services, and wrap-around services.
• Independently develop, coordinate, and facilitate psycho-educational classes, groups, and customer-owner activities as relevant to the treatment plan/program.
• Demonstrate expanding capability to be self-directed in the management of responsibilities.

Additional Responsibilities for Behavioral Health Consultant Supervisor

• Meet all requirements of Behavioral Health Consultant I & II.
• Demonstrate ability and skills to serve in the capacity of “lead” clinician or serve as a resource on behavioral health/treatment issues for program staff.
• Plan, develop, and facilitate training on specific mental health/treatment approaches for program staff.
• Facilitate Clinical and Treatment Reviews for the program.
• Make independent decisions/problem solve on issues of intervention strategies and crisis interventions.
• Train staff on use of therapeutic models, investigate new models, and determine applicability for clients/programs served.
• Work collaboratively as part of the Primary Care Team in managing chronic and behavioral health conditions.
• Work in a “readiness to change” model versus a long-term therapeutic model of care.
• Optimize the roles and responsibilities of all primary care team members to facilitate health and healing.
• Serve as a clinical supervisor for BHC’s or other clinical staff.
• Chair or facilitate new initiatives or groups in the Outpatient Department or Pediatrics Clinic.

Requirements

• Master’s Degree in social work, psychology, or counseling; OR PhD/PsyD in Clinical or Counseling Psychology from an accredited university accepted by the appropriate licensing agencies in NC.
• Must be licensed in NC in a specific discipline, including Licensed Clinical Social Work, or Licensed Clinical Mental Health Counselor.
• Completion of Alcohol and Drug credentialing by the North Carolina Substance Abuse Professional Practice Board (CDAC or LCAS).
• Two (2) years of supervised clinical work experience for master’s level or two (2) years of post-graduate clinical experience for PhD or Psy.D. level.
• Must be approved for and maintain medical credentialing upon hire.
• Must possess a valid driver's license.

Preferred Qualifications

• Leadership or supervisory experience.
• Specific experience working with Native Americans.

Complexity of Duties

This position is responsible for assisting in maximizing the available resources to meet the behavioral health needs of the community. Must have the ability to interpret policy, laws, and regulations to make decisions when a precedent is not available. Duties require the application of clinical judgment and problem-solving skills in order to be effective. Judgment often involves decisions that may have life-or-death results.

Supervision Received

Works under the direct guidance of the Adult Services Manager, where responsibilities and assignments are often broadly defined. The position must demonstrate considerable initiative and ability to work independently within applicable licensing regulations, with latitude for creative thinking, initiative, and discretion to achieve department goals