Hospice Clinical Team Manager (RN Required)

About the role

The Team Manager leads the Patient Care Team, supervising, evaluating, and coordinating interdisciplinary team members to ensure continuity of care from admission to discharge or transfer to bereavement. This role serves as a patient advocate and coordinator for social service and healthcare providers, while maintaining patient records from intake through discharge.

Responsibilities

• Directs all patient care services, including volunteer and bereavement, ensuring integration with the interdisciplinary plan of care.
• Reviews pending admissions, new assessments, and discharges to confirm eligibility and appropriateness.
• Collaborates with team and attending physicians on palliative care for pain and symptom management.
• Ensures complete and accurate documentation for recertification decisions and timely decision-making.
• Reviews imminent discharges to facilitate effective discharge planning.
• Monitors team services (staffing, medications, supplies, level of care changes) to ensure appropriateness and responsiveness to patient/family needs.
• Manages the team schedule to coordinate 24/7 services for all patients.
• Facilitates team meetings to update and revise care plans based on patient and family needs.
• Participates in on-call rotation.
• Interviews, selects, trains, supervises, evaluates, and dismisses team staff in collaboration with the Patient Care Administrator.
• Ensures staff competence through field visits, documentation reviews, and team-based training.
• Acts as a resource and mentor for staff on clinical issues, documentation, and customer service.
• Oversees staff and volunteer schedules, territory assignments, and workload distribution to meet productivity expectations.
• Reviews and approves payroll, ensuring accurate time, mileage, and expense documentation.
• Monitors clinical records and team activities for accuracy, completeness, and compliance with VITAS policies and regulatory standards.
• Develops and implements performance improvement activities to address service challenges.
• Ensures completion of patient/family satisfaction surveys and implements quality improvement measures.
• Assists with regulatory surveys and performs substantive chart reviews to ensure quality care delivery.
• Participates in Outcomes Management and annual program reviews.
• Performs utilization reviews of continuous care and inpatient levels of care.
• Addresses and resolves patient/family or physician grievances and service failures promptly.
• Analyzes customer service issues and works with the team to improve performance.
• Engages with patients, families, and physicians to prevent unnecessary revocations.
• Visits long-term care and contract bed facilities to ensure care plan integration and customer satisfaction.
• Participates in customer inservices and community service organizations.
• Verifies and approves admitting diagnoses, treatments, staffing, and supplies for cost containment.
• Monitors resource utilization to ensure cost-effective service delivery.
• Controls productivity, labor, and patient care costs within budget.
• Approves bills and invoices related to patient care services.
• Attends educational seminars, workshops, and develops professional growth goals.
• Mentors newly hired Team Managers.

Requirements

• Reliable transportation with appropriate license and insurance coverage.
• Private telephone in home.
• Knowledge of primary medical and nursing care principles, with working knowledge of oncologic nursing and palliative care.
• Understanding of interdisciplinary team dynamics and the process of dying and bereavement.
• Working knowledge of VITAS information system (Vx) and ability to utilize management reports.
• Two years of successful supervisory experience or equivalent in a healthcare organization.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree preferred.
• Current and valid R.N. license to practice in the state where the VITAS program is located.