Director of Behavioral Health for Community Health Centers

Harbor Health Services is an innovative, growing, mission-based organization that lives, serves and collaborates with our community members to achieve our mission to help individuals reach their full potential through access to local, affordable services that promote health. Harbor provides medical, behavioral health, dental, and support services to more than 34,000 patients in Boston, the South Shore, and Cape Cod. Harbor Health also operates two Programs for All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly in Mattapan and Brockton and a Woman, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition Program. To help further the mission of Harbor, we are looking for a Director of Behavioral Health for Community Health Centers to join our team. Locations include Dorchester, Plymouth and Hyannis.

Harbor Health offers an excellent, comprehensive benefits package including Health, Dental, Vision, Life, & Disability insurance, 403b Savings Plan, Generous Paid Time Off plus 11 additional Holidays and much more!

Role:

The Director of Behavioral Health provides strategic and operational leadership for all clinical and administrative functions across the Behavioral Health Departments of Harbor Health Services, Inc. Community Health Centers (HHSI, CHCs). This role oversees budgeting, staffing, contractual relationships, and the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure high-quality, compliant care. The Director ensures adherence to regulatory standards, ensures optimal billing and reimbursement processes, and leads performance improvement initiatives. Additionally, the role fosters community partnerships, supports training programs, and develops services that enhance patient and community health outcomes. This position includes clinical time, clinical administrative time and director level administrative time.

Responsibilities:

• Provides direct clinical care to patients consistent with specific licensure and training.
• Provides overall leadership and direct management of all clinical and administrative functions for Behavioral Health Departments across Harbor Health Services, Inc. Community Health Centers (HHSI, CHCs)
• Develops, oversees, and manages departmental budgets.
• Develops policies for credentialing and privileging Behavioral Health (BH) providers and reviews organization-wide policies to ensure staff meet required competency standards for their roles at HHSI.
• Works with other BH leaders to establish operational practice norms (Principles of Practices) consisting of productivity expectations, medical record charting standards, coding rules and other practice related issues.
• Leads and develops Behavioral Health staff, including hiring, training, compensation, and professional development; oversees recruitment and retention efforts; and provides direct supervision of clinical and administrative staff.
• Provides administrative supervision for all HHSI CHC Behavioral Health staff in coordination with the Operations Department, including scheduling, ensuring appropriate staffing levels and coverage, facilitating staff meetings, and serving as a liaison between Behavioral Health and other HHSI departments.
• Designs, implements, and maintains behavioral health policies, procedures, and operational standards.
• Monitors and ensures clinician compliance with treatment standards, documentation requirements, and HHSI policies and procedures; ensures adherence to regulatory requirements (e.g., Department of Public Health, Boston Public Health Commission and applicable HMO's; and oversee related compliance activities.
• Oversees and ensures completion of peer review process for all Behavioral Health providers.
• Leads performance improvement initiatives, including identifying issues and implementing corrective actions.
• Supports the insurance authorization process and with the billing office to ensure accurate, timely reimbursement in accordance with established protocols.
• Ensures timely completion of Utilization Review and monitors service effectiveness.
• Assesses patient and community needs and develops proposals for service expansion and new treatment modalities (e.g., group services, psychological testing, short-term therapy), including the growth and management of SUD and other Behavioral Health programs to enhance patient care and better serve the community.
• Builds and maintains relationships with community leaders and external stakeholders to support organizational goals.
• Develops a behavioral health quality assessment and improvement plan that adheres to Harbor Health, credentialing agencies and outside reviewers’ requirements and standards, including but not limited, to Behavioral Health standards, DPH clinic regulations, MassHealth regulations, DPH substance abuse program regulations and other third-party requirements.
• Coordinates, negotiates and manages contractual agreements and partnerships.
• Oversees student and intern programs that enhance patient care and benefits the broader community.
• Monitors and responds to incident command issues impacting behavioral health staff and operations.
  
  

Requirements:

• Masters or Doctorate degree from an accredited program based on required licensure level
• Current Massachusetts independent clinical license (LICSW, LMHC, LADC1, or PMHNP) or licensed psychologist (Ph.D. or Psy.D.)
• Current BLS (Basic Life Support for Healthcare Providers) Certification required
• Leadership experience in outpatient behavioral health and/or substance abuse treatment setting
• Minimum of 4 years post-degree clinical experience with a wide range of clients and therapeutic modalities required
• Minimum of 2 years’ experience providing clinical supervision preferred
• Experience with the Epic/OCHIN electronic health record strongly preferred, provider-builder level training in Epic desired
• Intermediate skills with Office 365 including Word, Excel and Outlook and Teams required
• Excellent verbal and written communications skills
• Familiarity with DPH requirements for behavioral health in community health centers.
• Clinician with experience working in a community health center and/or similar environment preferred
• Familiarity with managed care settings preferred
• Must be able to travel to all Harbor site locations in a timely manner
  
  

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability or veteran status.

The salary range and/or hourly rate listed is a good faith determination of base compensation that may be offered to a successful applicant for this position at the time of this job advertisement. When determining actual base salary and/or rate, several factors may be considered as applicable (e.g. location, years of relevant experience, education, training, and other factors as permissible by law).