Qualified Mental Health Associate (QMHA)
Evergreen Family Medicine is committed to providing excellent care for your family with clinics in Roseburg, Sutherlin and Myrtle Creek Oregon. Evergreen Family Medicine serves outpatient needs, including Urgent Care, Family Practice, Womens Health, Occupational Health, and school-based telehealth.
Evergreen Family Medicine is a Drug Free Workplace. All candidates that are offered employment will be required to pass a pre-employment drug screen and background check.
Qualified Mental Health Associate
POSITION SUMMARY:
The Behavioral Health Coordinator (BHC) QMHA, is responsible for interviewing patients to take a basic mental health history, gather and input historic medical records for mental health into the chart, administer GeneSight tests where covered by insurance and appropriate (in cases of multiple medication failure) and administer questionnaire-based assessments (including the DSM Cross-Cutting Measure and the North Carolina Social Determinants of Health) to provide baseline before the patients first appointment with their BHC providers.
The BHC QMHA, is also responsible for requesting records, coordinating communication between members of the patients care team (including therapists and other specialists that may not be members of Evergreen Family Medicine), and completing screenings and assessments after the first mental health consult with BHC as directed by the clinician to further clarify the primary areas of importance for the patients care plan.
Other duties of the BHC QMHA include maintaining updated screenings, adjusting for BHC providers needs and sourcing new tools as needed, providing social support in collaboration with CHW team, performing brief interventional counseling in the form of warm handoffs when not in appointment with intakes, and arranging for referrals for in house therapy when longer term follow up is appropriate.
The BHC QMHA supports behavioral health and primary care providers through an integrated approach, smoothly bridging care to assure a high standard of care to the patients.
Responsibilities and Duties:
Responsible for establishing trusting relationships with patients and their families while providing general support and encouragement.
Provide interventional motivational interviewing (warm handoffs).
Engage in case management and skills development (individual and groups) with EFM patients.
Provide referrals for services to therapists, PMHNPs within EFM and CHWs as appropriate.
Maintain updated versions of all screenings; research and add screenings and assessments to available materials as directed by BHC providers.
Request medical records as needed to establish mental health care history for continuity of care
Exhibit excellent working relations with patients, providers and staff.
Work closely with providers to help ensure that patients have comprehensive and coordinated care plans.
Work collaboratively with other clinical personnel assigned to the same patient.
Maintain knowledge about community resources appropriate to needs of patients/families.
Record patient encounter information in the EMR and other software no later than 24 hours after
patient contact.
Attend regular staff meetings, trainings and other meetings, as requested.
Maintain HIPPA compliance at all times.
Qualified Mental Health Associate
Qualifications and Skills:
Bachelor's degree in psychology, social work or a related human services field.
Ability to be qualified as a Qualified Mental Health Assistant (QMHA) as defined by MHABO
https://www.mhacbo.org/en/certifications/ Good organizational skills to handle multiple priorities while remaining professional and calm.
Ability to work with many diverse people, including children and teenagers.
Effective telephone skills.
Strong level of confidentiality due to the sensitivity of materials and information handled.
Ability to make suggestions on workflow or system efficiency and effectiveness.
Ability to work independently and be self-directed and flexible.
Ability to prioritize.
Ability to perform functions with minimal supervision.
Ability to work at a high-volume level of accuracy.
General Expectations:
Be committed to the mission of the EFM.
Behave in a professional manner and consistently demonstrate and promote the values of respect,
honesty, and dignity for the patient, families, and all members of the healthcare team.
Committed to the constant pursuit of excellence and teamwork in improving the care of the patient
and families of EFM.
Be punctual for scheduled work and use time appropriately.
Perform duties in a conscientious, cooperative manner.
Perform required amount of work in a timely fashion with a minimum of errors.
Be neat and maintain a professional appearance.
Maintain confidentiality and protect the Practice by abiding by laws and principles related to
confidentiality; keep information concerning Practice Operations, patients and employees
confidential.
Maintain compliance with EFMs compliance standards, including its Standards of Conduct,
Compliance Program, and policies and procedures. Such compliance will be an element considered
as part of the Administrative Assistant's regular performance evaluation.
Competencies and activities related to this position:
1) Demonstrate Ethical and Professional Behavior:
a. Practice using informed consent
b. Adhere to agency policies and procedures
c. Review and demonstrate compliance throughout progress notes and discharge notes that
follow agency standards
d. Seek feedback from supervisors on interactions with clients and interdisciplinary teams
during weekly supervision.
e. Demonstrate appropriate professional use of written and verbal communication and
documentation in a timely manner.
2) Engage diversity and difference in practice
a. Create a climate of inclusion that builds on the strengths of diverse constituencies, integrates
diverse points of view, and facilitates full engagement in ways that embrace the cultural and
spiritual histories of people
b. Explore personal biases through intentional awareness of emotional responses; identify and
alleviate personal bias through coursework, journaling and discussion with field instructor
c. Be mindful of my use of language (especially around the use of a diagnosis as a label) and
how it impacts my practice and relationships.
d. Incorporate discussions related to identity and social influence into individual treatment
plans and therapeutic sessions
e. Practice humility. Acknowledge and seek repair when I do not know or make mistakes
3) Advance human rights and social, economic and environmental justice
a. Identify advocacy efforts aimed at reducing barriers to access services
b. Advocate for patients to receive the maximum support, information and community
resources available, while honoring the policies of EFM
c. Practice recognizing social and economic barriers that clients are faced with, as well as
problem-solving resources and solutions.
4) Engage in Practice-informed research and research-informed practice
a. Complete any free online or agency offered trainings, such as Crisis Intervention:
Communication and De-escalation Techniques, and so on
b. Seek community resources for clients, collect lists for agency to disseminate
c. Review relevant peer-reviewed research around issues my clients face and discuss the
implications and impacts to improve my practice with target populations
5) Engage with Policy Practice
a. Provide verbal informed consent and confidentiality procedures to clients
b. Attend EFM meetings in which policies are reviewed, developed, discussed and/or
implemented.
6) Engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities
a. Shadow therapists/clinicians to learn more about engagement skills, discuss with supervisor
what is observed and learned.
b. Collaborate with integrated health teams including physicians, medical assistants,
psychiatrists, pharmacists and other social work/behavioral health staff by providing clientcentered
updates and information on plans developed with patients.
c. Participate in management meetings and community meetings as needed.
d. Shadow psychiatrist/psychiatric nurse practitioner completing assessments with patients.
Discuss with supervisors what is observed and learned.
7) Assess individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities
a. Discuss suicide risk assessments and how to complete them when relevant.
b. Observe suicide risk assessment, complete assessment while being observed
c. Participate in group staff meetings that involve discussing and debriefing difficult situations
and clients.
d. Attend an ASIST training
e. Attend Mental Health First Aid Training.
8) Intervene with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities
a. Collaborate with patients to identify supportive goals to guide intervention
b. Work to expand intervention skill set through peer consultation and diagnosis specific
exploration/research 9) Evaluate practice with individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities
a. Take into account the clients whole situation and environment to see which micro and macro
interventions may be most beneficial for them.
b. Utilize brief assessment tools such as GAD-7 and PHQ-9 to facilitate conversations with
clients in therapy around effectiveness of interventions.
Working Conditions and Physical requirements:
Must attend provider meetings and other collaborative meetings, such as QAPI and PCPCH.
Must be able to work flexible hours.
Physical requirements for this position include hearing, seeing, speaking, feeling, talking, stooping,
kneeling, crouching, reaching, grasping, and repetitive motions.
This position requires sitting for long periods of time and walking and/or standing is only required
occasionally.
This position requires exerting up to 20 pounds of force and/or 10 pounds frequently in order to
move objects.
May experience potentially assaultive clients and family members.
Our culture and values are every employees responsibility: The needs of our patient come first S.P.I.R.I.T
Stewardship
Patient & Population Focused Health Care
Integrity
Respect
Innovation
Teamwork
Benefits:
Health, Dental, Vision benefits
Life Insurance
401k with a company match up to 6%
Paid Time Off