Patient Navigator

Job Title: Patient Navigator
Location: Houston, TX
Duration: 3 Months (Possible Extension)
Shift: 8 AM - 5 PM CST

Description:
The Patient Navigator is a member of the care coordination team who is responsible for providing support in coordination of care activities and assisting patients to navigate through all the steps in obtaining the necessary and appropriate care. The navigator is responsible for helping to ensure a seamless transition from inpatient to post discharge follow-up in the outpatient clinic. Under the direction/supervision of the licensed nurse, the navigator is the key liaison between the patient/patient's family and required outpatient services. The navigator assists the patient and the patient's family in coping with illness by optimizing their self-care abilities and supporting their consumer rights.

Duties:

• Intake: Develops patient/family relationships prior to discharge to facilitate the inpatient-to-outpatient transition and serves as a communication link between inpatient and outpatient services.
• Communicates with patient/family during initial discharge period and tracks care coordination needs in transition from hospital discharge to outpatient.
• Interviews and obtains data about the patients progress toward goals with focus on the patients needs; works with patient/caregiver to modify and individualize the care plan (as necessary) and documents within the care plan in the patients health record
• Serves as the primary source of contact for paneled patients, act as a liaison between the service providers, and advocate for the patient.
• Follows up on all inpatient and outpatient encounters, based on patient stratification, and supports the hand-off to the multidisciplinary team
• Schedules appointments, assists with coordination of medical transportation, sends prescriptions and other documents, assists with DME requests and assists with insurance pre-authorization
• Identifies and communicates client preferences/needs, and any barriers to treatment plan implementation or goal attainment to the licensed care coordinator.
• Collaborates with key stakeholders to assist with coordination of activities
• Medical Terminology experience preferred

Skills:

• Knowledge of the patient population served.
• Ability to identify member/family resource needs and assist in the formulation of a plan to help meet these needs.
• Must have excellent verbal and written skills as well as be able to operate a personal computer, word processing programs, fax machine, photocopier and multi-line telephone.
• Must have excellent customer service skills, advanced communication and interpersonal skills with all levels of internal and external customers.
• This includes medical staff, patients and families, clinical personnel, support and technical staff, outside agencies, and members of the community.