Certified Investigator

Description

 The Certified Investigator manages Verland’s incidents in accordance with federal, state, and regional regulations, and agency practices to recognize, report and investigate incidents. Interprets guidelines for incidents and collaborates on incident management policies and procedures development. Provides education, guidance, and training to employees regarding incident management processes and reporting. Engages in Administrative Reviews and Certified Investigation Peer Reviews to ensure processes meet regulatory standards and uphold the requisites of speed, objectivity, and thoroughness of certified investigations.

 Responsible for incident management of incidents reported internally through the Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. Tracks monthly incident data. Collaborates in continuous quality improvement efforts as part of agency’s Quality Plan and agency’s risk mitigation efforts. This is a salaried, exempt full-time position.

 Contributions: 

• Promotes the health, safety, rights, and well-being of the individuals receiving services and seeks to enhance their dignity by the elimination of recurring and/or preventable incidents.
• Conducts certified investigations in compliance with PA Office of Development Program (ODP) and CMS regulations to maintain speed, objectivity, thoroughness, and timeliness of investigations.
• Attends to all reportable data entry in the Enterprise Incident Management System (EIM) in compliance with regulations with accuracy and timeliness.
• Responsible for completing investigations including, but not limited to, securing evidence, obtaining witness statements and interviews, retrieving information from electronic surveillance, reviewing staff schedules, compiling information from the agency’s EHR system, and developing a chronological summary of factual findings from occurrence to closure.
• Complies with required incident management reporting timeframes, ensuring incidents are filed, finalized and/or extended according to the timelines set forth by regulatory and agency standards to maintain speed, objectivity, and thoroughness.
• Responsible for incident management of incidents reported internally through the EHR system to play a lead role in managing accuracy, completeness, and timeliness of data entry and sign offs. The incumbent champions management of an incident by facilitating discussions on why an incident occurred, what was done immediately, and how the reoccurrence can be prevented.
• Ensures the in-services are completed with immediacy and are maintained on file.
• Maintains knowledge of incident management regulations (federal, state, and regional), manuals, bulletins, other published protocols, guidance and reference materials, and the state reporting systems. Communicates changes and develops and revises policy and/or procedures accordingly.
• Provides orientation and training for staff to enable them to respond to, report and, where possible, prevent incidents. Provides ongoing training on the recognition and reporting of abuse and neglect incidents. Assists in the training of new Incident Management staff.
• Assists with obtaining documentation for corrective actions for all certified investigations with respective department managers and ensures completion of corrective actions within required timeframes. Ensures completion of certified investigation hard copy files maintained on-site. 
• Acts as the liaison to protective services, law enforcement, and state and/or county personnel when required. Responds to questions from leadership, staff, and family members related to incidents as necessary.
• Engages in quarterly Certified Investigation Peer Reviews to build systemic capacity and to enhance the quality of certified investigations.
• Supports incident management surveys, information requests, and audits conducted by the regulatory bodies.
• Tracks monthly and quarterly incident data and uses trend analyses to identify systemic issues. Tracks medication errors trends and reviews monthly status update. Collaborates on completing the supporting documentation on file.
• Supports running and uploading incident reports from EIM in the Power BI Dashboard SharePoint environment.
• Attends daily morning huddles to discuss relevant incidents and seek status updates. Attends the plan update meetings on individuals involved in incidents as needed.
• Must be able to maintain a flexible work schedule as required by certified investigation situational needs. Be on the Incident on-call schedule on a rotation basis, including the weekends.
• Reviews daily incident reports and follows up with supervisors on pending information, assists in edits, sends pending notifications to the Incident Reporting email, and attends to any other items as needed. Maintains ongoing monitoring of the timeliness and completeness of information on incidents in the EHR.
• Be part of the Administrative Review Committee as a Certified Investigator. Serves as a member of the Certified Investigation Peer Review Committee and Verland Quality Management Committee.
• Collaborates closely with Risk Management and Compliance regarding Incident Management.
• Performs other related duties, as assigned.

Exceptional Benefits:

Minimum of 30 hours worked, and employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package:

• Health (UPMC), Dental and Vision Insurances (1st of the month following 30 days from start date)
• Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (HSA)
• 403b – Traditional and Roth with Company Match 
• Tuition Reimbursement (for core positions)
• Competitive PTO Plan
• 8 Paid Holidays
• Incentive in lieu of Medical coverage
• Career Development
• Whole Person Wellbeing Resources
• Mental Health Resources and Support

Requirements

Must maintain a current PA-Office of Development Program (ODP) Certified Investigator certificate.

• Familiarity with PA Enterprise Incident Management (EIM) required. 
• Must have a thorough understanding of all ICF/ID governing regulations on incident management and develop an understanding of facility policies and procedures related to the health, safety, and welfare of the individuals.
• Must have good writing and typing skills with attention to details including grammatical and spelling accuracy.
• Must maintain a professional demeanor and the ability to interact effectively with staff at all levels.
• Be open and willing to initiate new procedures and explore alternative methods of incident prevention.
• Must be willing to make timely decisions on safety and health issues related to incident prevention and the incident management process.
• Must be sensitive to the confidentiality of information pertaining to our individuals and comply with HIPAA regulations when discharging responsibilities.

Minimum Training and Experience:

• Bachelor's degree in a health care related field is preferred with two years’ experience working in an Intermediate Care Facility (ICF)/Intellectual Disabilities (ID).
• Working proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite is required.
• Familiarity with protective services laws and mandated reporter regulations required.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills required.
• Ability to conduct thorough investigations and ability to manage competing priorities is required.
• Valid Pennsylvania driver's license and insured vehicle required.
• Act 33/34 clearances, FBI required.

Verland is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state, or local laws.