Heart Failure Program Specialist

About the Role

Under the direction of the RN Nurse Coordinator and Transplant Management, the Transplant Program Specialist proactively collaborates with the Transplant team to establish, coordinate, and perform all administrative duties required to support the team. This role uses critical thinking and advanced problem-solving skills to assist the Transplant RN Coordinators in growing the number of patients listed for transplant in accordance with regulatory requirements from UNOS and CMS. The position operates as the liaison between patient and the Transplant clinical staff in communicating relevant information by telephone and written correspondence.

University of Utah Health is an integrated academic healthcare system with five hospitals, including a level 1 trauma center, eleven community health centers, over 1,600 providers, and a health plan serving over 200,000 members. The system is nationally ranked and recognized for academic research, quality standards, and overall patient experience.

Responsibilities

• Primary intake for all program referrals, including assessment of clinical urgency and identification of key clinical records required for evaluation.
• Collaborates with Transplant Financial Coordinators to assure appropriate authorization is obtained for patients prior to evaluation visit.
• Schedules transplant recipient/donor complex appointments, including initial referral, special follow-up appointments, and medical workup.
• Creates and continually updates new patient charts, referral packets, educational materials, and all documentation needed for the entire multidisciplinary team.
• Coordinates transplant evaluation testing, which may include lab, radiology, cardiology, pulmonary testing, surgical and medical specialty clinics, social work, psychiatry, palliative care, gastroenterology, cardiac and pulmonary rehab, physical therapy, home health, and other consults as appropriate.
• Enters verbal orders, prioritizes orders based on clinical urgency, and ensures completion and follow-up by transplant clinicians in EMR and OSH.
• Facilitates scheduling of living and non-related organ donation and transplantation surgeries, including pre-surgery critical validation relating to blood type, serologies, and other key donor/recipient details.
• Conducts UNOS/UNET reviews and ensures a high percentage of accuracy with regulatory data submission.
• Receives and oversees completion of FMLA and Disability paperwork for patients and their caregivers.
• Manages program-specific calendars for the entire team and patient schedules.
• Participates in outreach activities, including educational events, clinics, and follow-up at sites internal and external to the UUH facility.
• Serves as a transplant team liaison with patients, their families, outside healthcare professionals, and ancillary hospital departments.
• Coordinates all educational materials, packets, patient questionnaires, electronic presentations, and other patient-facing materials as directed by the RN coordinator.
• Assists in managing clinic flow and conduct of clinic for all recipients and donors, including virtual or in-person meet-and-greets and testing procedures.
• Conducts medication reviews with patients.
• Collects, maintains, and updates all pre- and post-transplant medical records, including eHealth and OSH results, patient health maintenance information, and specialized testing.
• Accurately enters all transplant procedure charges at the time of transplant.
• Composes and distributes all written communications with patients and referring providers per transplant department protocols, including transplant listing and delisting regulatory letters.
• Triages patient/family, internal UUH clinical staff, and external provider calls into the program; assists nurse coordinator in determining clinical urgency of incoming calls.
• Coordinates discharge transition to outpatient settings, ensuring all appropriate appointments and testing are scheduled and the patient understands post-transplant follow-up requirements.
• Actively participates in multidisciplinary patient selection meetings and morbidity and mortality reviews, including preparation and minutes of organ-specific meetings.
• Acts as the point of contact for transplant patient death notification and post-mortem encounters.
• Maintains accurate transplant medical records through continuous review and updates of all critical transplant fields: Phase, Status, Reason throughout all phases of transplant.
• Monitors obituaries and mortality reports to ensure the Transplant Record is accurate for death, organ status, and other critical transplant data elements.
• Maintains advanced knowledge of all phases of transplant and systems used to capture transplant-specific details, including Epic Phoenix, UNET, SRTR, Breeze, XGY, OPO, and other regulatory-related data interfaces.
• Serves as the primary organ-specific contact for patients, staff, and external providers.
• Promotes excellence in customer service and guest relations with all transplant patients and their caregivers.

Requirements

• Associate’s degree in a related field or equivalency.
• Two years of relatable work experience.
• Current RQI Healthcare Provider eCredential through the University of Utah Health RQI system (to be obtained within 30 days of hire).

Qualifications (Preferred)

• Cardiology experience.
• Clinical background as HCA, MA, CNA, HUC, or similar.
• Willingness to commit to the job for at least 2 years.
• Availability to work weekday hours without conflicts from school schedules.

Skills

• Exceptional human relations and effective communication skills.
• Ability to remain calm when assisting chronically ill patients regarding potentially life-threatening symptoms or side effects.
• Ability to triage patient needs and direct them appropriately.
• Ability to organize complex appointments requiring coordination of multiple healthcare professional schedules.
• Ability to multitask complex issues while using critical thinking skills to assist chronically ill patients.
• Demonstrated proficiency in EHR order entry, including anatomy and physiology, basic laboratory values, critical thinking, electronic health records, HIPAA, medical terminology, and pharmacology.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

This position involves sedentary to light working conditions in a healthcare setting that may exert up to 20 pounds and may consistently require lifting, carrying, pushing, pulling, or otherwise moving objects. Employee must be able to meet the following requirements with or without an accommodation:

• Carrying, climbing, color determination, crawling, far vision, lifting, listening, manual dexterity, near vision, pulling and/or pushing, reaching, sitting, speaking, standing, stooping and crouching, tasting or smelling, walking.