Discharge Planner

About the role

The Behavioral Health Center at Porter Health Village is a newly constructed, 48-bed facility that will significantly enhance behavioral health services in south central Oklahoma. It will more than double Norman Regional Health System’s inpatient capacity for adult and senior behavioral health patients and introduce new services like an intensive outpatient program and a dedicated geriatric behavioral health unit.

Responsibilities

• Coordinates with the admission staff and clinical staff to facilitate the meeting of patient’s treatment needs for the inpatient programs in accordance with Joint Commission, Federal and State regulations, Oceans’ mission, policies and procedures, and Performance Improvement standards.
• Acts as patient liaison for physician, clinical staff, and family member’s activities to coordinate resources and discharge needs.
• Works in coordination with the Performance Improvement Coordinator to conduct closed and concurrent reviews of medical records.
• Interacts with members of the medical/clinical team to provide a flow of communication, document timely and comprehensive information to support the level and intensity of services rendered, and facilitate timely discharge planning.
• Works with the primary therapist and nursing staff to facilitate treatment planning documentation, family contact, scheduling appointments, absentees from programming, and access to community resources.
• Performs additional discharge planning duties as required and coordinates flow of communication among staff involved in the patient's care; completes paperwork for judicial commitments and state bed packets.
• Completes referral process and necessary paperwork for all other levels of care and makes follow-up appointments; includes follow-up letters needed by the patient; completes all medication assistance forms and assists patients and families with follow-up care items.
• Conducts special retrospective studies/audits when needed by M&PS and/or other committee structures.
• Accurately conducts discharge reviews on 100% of all discharges per month; accurately inputs discharge review information into computer database; accurately completes all initial CQI+ forms and questionnaires in a timely manner.

Requirements

• Education / Experience: Associate degree with emphasis in healthcare or bachelor’s degree in social services field preferred. At least one year psychiatric/chemical dependency experience with good working psychiatric/medical knowledge preferred.
• Skills / Abilities: Demonstrates excellent assertive communication and customer service skills. Possesses in-depth knowledge of chemical dependency and psychiatric treatment, including the discharge planning process. Strong writing and composition skills. Understands regulatory requirements, fiscal reimbursement, and utilization review as integral components of patient care. Demonstrates strong patient advocacy skills. Able to organize, prioritize, and manage a high-volume workload effectively. Skilled in analyzing and utilizing data and systems to provide individualized, cost-effective, high-quality treatment. Functions independently with minimal supervision while maintaining a positive work attitude. Interacts cooperatively and professionally with staff to achieve optimal patient outcomes. Competent in addressing age-, disability-, and culturally related patient needs, relating to patients in a sensitive and respectful manner.
• Other: Must successfully complete and maintain Basic Life Support (BLS) certification and an Oceans approved behavioral health de-escalation program.