Patient Navigator

Purpose of the Role: 

Serving persons with mental health conditions, substance abuse issues and/or disabilities, responsible for day-to-day client interactions and care coordination of assigned cases. Address immediate and emerging needs, set goals, resolve issues, advocate and connect clients to the needed resources such that their lives become stable, recovery centric and interactive. Enhance coordination of medical and behavioral health care with the focus on the needs of persons with multiple chronic illnesses.

 Essential Functions of the Role: 

• Responsible for referring patients to appropriate agencies, with specific focus on referrals to specialty care and public health insurance programs, as needed and appropriate.

 • Consult with medical staff to link patients to services through the provision of ancillaries such as translation, transportation assistance and application assistance.

 • Tracks referral appointments, obtains medical reports including follow up recommendations, keep patients informed of progress of scheduled appointments, monitor client’s adherence to medical/mental health appointments, obtains consent for release of information.

 • Assist patients in overcoming obstacles that would prevent them from receiving needed referrals. 

• Provide basic instruction/health education to clarify provider instructions, procedures and referral needs. 

• Conduct outreach activities specially to the loss to care patients • Conduct community outreach visits to patients 

• Provide expedited visit to patients for urgent situations such as hospitalization

• Notify Care Coordinators of outcome of contacting the patient for whom phone and mail outreach and engagement attempts have been successful and unsuccessful 

• Assist the patient in selecting a Primary Care Provider (PCP). 

• Offer assistance in arranging an initial visit with their PCP. • Provide the patient with the Health Home emergency number. • Provide patients with information on manage care 

• Advise patient of the availability of health promotion and educational materials including materials in alternate formats.

 • Advise patient about opportunities to learn more about Health Home policies and benefits. 

• Perform additional Health Home Care Management administrative duties 

• Schedules appointments with and for the Care Management team. 

• Participates in care conferencing regarding the provision and coordination of services.

 • Maintains the care records including filing progress notes, tracking due dates of periodic documentation such as: assessments, reassessments, care plans, medical updates, release of information forms and case conferences. 

• Assists the Care Management team in the monthly completion of billing for submission to the fiscal department, including weekly checks of patients’ Medicaid eligibility. 

• Escort clients to appointments – medical, mental health, housing related, for entitlements as needed. • Special projects as assigned by the Program Director/VP of Client Services.

• Special projects and other duties as assigned.

Qualifications for this Role: 

• Proven ability to empathize with the clients we serve.

 • Tenacity and passion for this work with the ability to balance objectivity with empathy. • Computer literacy required. 

• Valid NYS Driver’s License required and a driving record that will permit the use of an Agency vehicle to transport clients to appointments or other activities as needed.

 • Bachelor’s Degree required.

 • Associates accepted with experience. 

• Bilingual English/Spanish a plus

Compensation range: $36,500 - $40,000