Continuing Care Assistant

Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center is an 881-bed quaternary care academic medical center that is a joint venture between Baylor College of Medicine and CHI St. Luke’s Health. Located in the Texas Medical Center the hospital is the home of the Texas Heart® Institute a cardiovascular research and education institution founded in 1962 by Denton A. Cooley MD. The hospital was the first facility in Texas and the Southwest designated a Magnet® hospital for Nursing Excellence by the American Nurses Credentialing Center receiving the award five consecutive times. Baylor St. Luke’s also has three community emergency centers offering adult and pediatric care for the Greater Houston area.

The Continuing Care Patient Navigator primarily assists both patients and members of the department and healthcare team, but also may work with colleagues across the care coordination continuum. Duties include collaborating with the team members to achieve member goals, telephonically assisting members, and other administrative duties.

Essential Key Job Responsibilities

Customer Service

1. Provide excellent customer service to our patients, demonstrate ability to show kindness and empathy.
2. Listen to understand patient needs, and connect them to appropriate resources both inside and outside of the department / team.
3. Schedule appointments, assist with referrals, answer questions, and other similar duties as assigned, escalate issues as needed.
4. Receive patient requests and refer to appropriate members of the team, community, or within the organization.
5. Identify problems with healthcare access and utilization, along with providing alternatives if available, escalate as indicated/directed.
6. Act as liaison for members and families to physicians, staff, community resources, and others.

Collaboration

1. Efficiently communicate and collaborate with a multidisciplinary team across the care continuum in order to meet patient needs.
2. Participate in departmental and organizational committees, meetings and projects as directed.
3. Clearly communicate the purposes and services of assigned programs to the patient and caregivers.
4. Manage assigned caseloads and routinely document interactions as per company policy, escalating issues as directed.
5. Develop and / or maintain relationships with internal and external partners where applicable.
6. Model commitment to continuous quality improvement by engaging in quality improvement initiatives and projects, such as identifying and addressing gaps in care, and identifying, developing, and testing new workflows for improving the outcomes of patients.
7. Assist with outreach and inreach efforts for potential patient candidates to programs/care gaps as directed.
8. Assist with patient onboarding into the program as directed.
   

Clerical Duties

1. Participate in department and organizational projects, committees and meetings as assigned including but not limited to general workflow improvement or quality measurement / audit activities.
2. Review and escalate data and/or information from multiple different electronic platforms to team members as directed.
3. Assist with referrals to the healthcare team as well as assist with referrals from healthcare team members to other services.
4. Verify patient eligibility as needed.

May also be required to meet patients and/or family members either in the community, at clinic, home, or other locations. Other duties as assigned.

Disclosure summary:

The job summary and responsibilities listed above are designed to indicate the general nature of the work performed within this job. They are not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all job responsibilities required of employees assigned to this job. Employees may be required to perform other duties as assigned.

Required Education and Experience:

• High School Diploma/G.E.D.
• Two (2) years experience or more in a professional and/or healthcare environment.
• Preferred Experience: Knowledge and ability to work with various electronic medical records and platforms.

Preferred Licensure and Certifications:

• Preferred: MA certification

Required Minimum Knowledge, Skills, Abilities and Training:

• Excellent customer service skills.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary partners, a mix of clinical, operational, and business activities related to that partnership.
• Ability to identify and escalate issues / barriers to care.
• Ability to communicate effectively using written and verbal skills. Includes strong listening skills, listens to understand patient needs and wants.
• Excellent computer literacy, including ability to learn new systems.
• Proficient in email communications and internet usage along with basic use of Microsoft Excel and Word, as well as similar Google products.
• Able to adapt to changing environments and priorities.
• Strong organizational (time management) and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to escalate any internal and external customer concerns to the RN, SW, Supervisor, or other team member.
• Ability to handle multiple priorities with strong attention to detail.
• Schedule may include weekends.
• Self-starter, able to work independently and also take direction from team.