Position Title:

Director of Behavioral Health

Department:

Behavioral Health

Supervisor:

Chief Medical Officer

Hours per week:

40 (negotiable with option for limited remote work)

Primary Function:

The Director of Behavioral Health oversees the operations of the entire Department. Responsibilities include the development and implementation of trauma-informed, culturally competent behavioral health, addictions, and psychiatry services. In addition, the individual develops and recommends goals and objectives for the Department and prepares and implements policies and procedures. The Director assesses performance in relation to goals and recommends new approaches and policies to effect improvement in the efficiency and scope of services provided. The Director works collaboratively with the Chief Medical Officer and other clinical and operational leadership to ensure effective integration of BH services into Primary Care.

Duties & Responsibilities:

Administrative:

• Participates in various committees and working groups as designated by the CMO.
• Collaborates with senior staff on development of Department budget and spending priorities.
• Hires, schedules, and supervises all department staff.
• Orients, trains, and guides staff in clinical methods
• Evaluates staff performance, including oversight of semi-annual peer reviews, and makes recommendations for personnel actions.
• Collaborates on development of in-service programs regarding social work and therapeutic approaches and concepts.
• Participates in curriculum development, teaching and supervision of social work interns and other trainees as needed.
• Maintains services available for BH crisis support and facilitates multidisciplinary reviews of incident reports involving behavioral issues of patients.
• Informs the Health Center on BH best practices.
• Supports and provides leadership to the BH department managers
• Prepares statistics and reports as requested by the CMO and other senior leadership with assistance from analytics staff.
• Ensures BH provider productivity standards are maintained.
• Reviews insurance billing procedures and claims denials for resubmission in collaboration with Finance team.
• Participates in Quality Improvement activities as designated by the CMO, specifically with respect to ACO quality measures on timely follow-up of hospitalization and ED visits for behavioral health issues and other measures as appropriate.
• Manages contracts and approves invoices as delegated in collaboration with Finance staff.

Clinical:

• Provides limited, direct care to patients using treatment modalities as appropriate for children, adolescents and adults.
• Provides weekly clinical supervision to licensed (or eligible) BH staff.
• Processes (or delegates processing of) all referrals from the Primary Care, Urgent Care, Home Care and PACE providers with assignment of cases to staff clinicians.
• Actively manages staff caseloads to ensure adequate access for patients.
• Reviews all case histories for team conferences and moderates such conferences.

Regulatory and External Representation:

• Maintains knowledge and compliance with BH and psychiatry program regulations.
• Represents UCHC at external meetings as designated by the CMO, e.g. BH Directors meetings of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers as well the C3 Accountable Care Organization.
• Maintains compliance regarding the confidential documentation of BH encounters in the electronic health record
• Oversees adherence to regulations and maintains clinic licensure for the Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, Massachusetts DPH.
• Participates in preparation for external audits and site visits, e.g. BSAS/MDPH, HRSA, etc.
• Handles other duties as assigned by the CMO or senior leadership.

Experience & Qualifications:

• Minimum educational level of MSW with full, active licensure in Massachusetts.
• At least five years of medical or clinical social work practice experience.
• Prior management or leadership experience, preferably at a FQHC, preferred.
• Strong commitment to community-based and integrated behavioral health.
• Bilingual in English with Spanish or Cape Verdean Creole preferred.
• Experience with and/or formal training in QI methodologies such as Lean Management in Healthcare and/or Six Sigma preferred.
• Familiarity and expertise in the use of the Epic electronic health record system preferred.

Independent Action:

The ideal candidate will have a strong record of independent thinking, as demonstrated by enactment of new initiatives and creative approaches to effective patient care, as well as experience in integrated BH care. In addition, the candidate will be self-motivated and responsive to leadership direction with a solid record of collaboration with medical care providers.

Supervisory Responsibility:

Director will supervise up to15 staff persons either directly or indirectly

Define Access Level to PHI:

Level 4 [Authorized to access full health information. UCHC position and job responsibilities involve the provision of patient care and working as a clinical team member. Staff in this category level, although allowed full access, should only access the necessary information for each respective treatment encounter/circumstance].