Sr Care Advocate for New Castle County in Delaware - Full-time / Part-time

You're looking for something bigger for your career. How about inventing the future of health care? Optum is offering an innovative new standard for care management. We're going beyond counseling services and verified referrals to behavioral health programs integrated across the entire continuum of care. Our growth is fueling the need for highly qualified professionals to join our elite team. Bring your skills and talents to a role where you'll have the opportunity to make an impact on a huge scale. Join us. Take this opportunity to start doing your life's best work. (sm)  

The overall purpose of the Field Care Advocate (FCA) is to improve the enrollee's ability to remain stable in the community and out of the hospital. The FCA role is to engage the person in the treatment process and then assist his/her to access the appropriate community services so they can pursue their treatment goals in the community and avoid institutionalization. 

1)   Receives referrals from medical plan partners or UBH for high risk enrollees 

2)   Is UBH liaison and subject matter expert for medical partner with goal to work toward holistic needs of the member 

3)   Assists enrollees with appointments, if needed  

4)   Follows up with enrollees to determine any obstacles to making scheduled appointments  

5)   Provides subsequent member follow-up telephonically and face-to-face as determined by individual member needs 

6)   Works with enrollees to identify gaps in care or obstacles to care and problem solves for successful connection to needed services and community resources/programs 

7)   Attends clinical rounds with health plan as needed to review high risk cases 

8)      Assists with medication refills or other service gaps as needed  

9)      Reviews treatment progress and facilitates care coordination via contact with BH provider  

10)  Coordinates with IP Care Advocate to discuss treatment needs and aftercare planning for the member  

11)  Attends clinical rounds with BH staff and is able to appropriately provide case input as well as escalate any identified issues to Clinical Manager or MD. 

12)  Meets with members in the community to complete BH specific assessments and plan of care. May go to facility to meet with treatment team if needed, to coordinate care and assist in development of a successful aftercare plan  

13)  With member permission, includes the member's family/guardian in the coordination process to ensure that aftercare/continued care is successful and gaps/barriers are removed as much as possible  

14)  Attends state, professional, and association meetings as needed  

15)  Meets with community providers/facilities as UBH liaison to foster good rapport and relationships with them and to identify new programs

Required Qualifications: 

1)     At a minimum, must be a master's-degreed behavioral health professional, an associate's-degreed nurse, or a doctorate-degreed psychologist with 2 or more years of experience in behavioral health. 

2)    Requires an active, unrestricted professional license:  

o    Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor; or  

o    Independent Marriage & Family Therapist; or 

o    Licensed Independent Social Worker; or 

o    Licensed Independent Chemical Dependency Counselor 

o    Licensed Psychologist 

o    Registered Nurse 

3)     2 years experience in a related behavioral health environment 

4)     Proficient computer skills and good working knowledge of Microsoft Word 

5)     Excellent customer service skills 

6)     Excellent interpersonal and problem-solving skills 

7)     Function independently and responsibly with minimal supervision 

8)     Strong team player and team building skills 

9)     Strong interpersonal skills 

10)  Able to function independently and responsibly with minimal supervision 

11)  Maintain direct and open communication with all levels of the organization 

12)  Able to handle sensitive issues with members and providers in a confidential manner 

13)  Demonstrates initiative in achieving individual, team, and organizational goals and objectives 

14)  Ability and flexibility to assume responsibilities and tasks in a constantly changing work environment  

15)  Strong oral and written communication skills — specifically telephone skills

Additional Preferred Assets  

16)  Medical/Behavioral setting experience (i.e. hospital, managed care organization, or joint medical/behavioral outpatient practice) 

17)  Dual diagnosis experience with mental health and substance abuse  

18)  Experience working in an environment that required coordination of benefits and utilization of multiple groups and resources for patients 

19)  Experience working with low-income populations 

20)  Experience working with the aged, blind or disabled 

21)  Clinical training experience

Careers with Optum. Here's the idea. We built an entire organization around one giant objective; make health care work better for everyone. So when it comes to how we use the world?s large accumulation of health-related information, or guide health and lifestyle choices or manage pharmacy benefits for millions, our first goal is to leap beyond the status quo and uncover new ways to serve. Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, brings together some of the greatest minds and most advanced ideas on where health care has to go in order to reach its fullest potential. For you, that means working on high performance teams against sophisticated challenges that matter. Optum, incredible ideas in one incredible company and a singular opportunity to do your life's best work.SM

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.