Medical Social Worker Palliative Care Clinic - Float

Company: Kaiser
Location: Lake Oswego
Posted on: March 19, 2023

Job Description:

The primary role of the Palliative Care Social Worker is to assist patients and families/care givers cope with the social/emotional issues and practical arrangements related to the patients illness . Under general direction from the Social Work supervisor, delivers age-appropriate social work care to patients and their caregivers in accordance with agency policy and procedure and state and federal regulations. The Palliative Care Social Worker serves as an integral member of the healthcare team providing assessments, coordination, treatment planning, information and referral to community resources and other social work services to meet the complex needs of patients and families in the clinic setting.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Provide psychodynamic interventions, crisis intervention, grief/bereavement counseling, problem solving, stress reduction & developing healthy coping strategies in individual/family/group settings. Provide counseling for disease acceptance & understanding. Responsible for developing & implementing individual Plan of Treatment for patients and families. Completes psychosocial assessments. Partners with patient to identify needs and develop and implement mutually agreed upon treatment plans. Discusses options for care proactively including Kaiser resources and external community/government resources to assist patient and family in developing short and long term care plans as appropriate. Team with other disciplines in assessing, planning & providing services for patients utilizing biopsychosocial information. Assist patient in advocating for self to receive appropriate services and in the community. Assist patient and family with care planning and discharge plans. Takes, reviews, evaluates and prioritizes written and oral referrals. Maintains documentation, records and data collections. Responsible for completion of required documents in a complete and timely manner. Liaison between patient and Kaiser for maintaining positive relationship with Kaiser and providing for continuity of care. Understanding of Kaiser, Medicare & Medicaid benefits. Instructs & counsels clients regarding compliance with prescribed therapeutic regimens and medications within scope of practice. Provides Palliative Care including education on the Advance Directives.
• Ensures patient smoothly transitions from one area of care to another; serves as a patient navigator and contact for patients during transition. Assists patient and family in conjunction with the team to develop a plan of care that identifies specific interventions, objectives and goals. Coordinates and schedules the team interview/consult with the patient/family. Participates in team interview/consult and ensures that findings from assessment are incorporated into consult. As part of the consult the social worker will also be responsible for validating patient/family experience and offer psychological/emotional support, and supporting the discussion around potential therapies for distressing symptoms. The social worker will document the plan of care and share with the patient/family at the end of the consult. Participates in post consult team meetings and is responsible for sharing concerns and feedback. The social worker will update the plan of care as necessary. Communicates the plan of care to the appropriate health care providers for the patient (referring physician and specialists).
• Develops and maintains effective working relationships with care teams that generate superior clinical and business performance.
• Performs other duties as requested.
  
  Basic Qualifications:
  
  Experience
  • Minimum of one (1) year of post MSW licensure experience in the use of psychosocial assessment and psychotherapeutic modalities in a hospital, clinic, or agency.
    Education
    • Masters degree in Social Work.
      License, Certification, Registration
      • Current Oregon AND Washington unrestricted license required (Oregon: LCSW, LMSW, CSWA; Washington: LASW, CSWA, LCSW, LICSW, LSWAIC). License in state where assigned required upon hire/transfer, application for license in secondary state required within 2 weeks of hire/transfer and must be obtained within 6 months.
      • Valid driver's license.
      • Basic Life Support (BLS) for Health Care Providers required within 90 days of hire/transfer.
      • National Provider Identifier (NPI) required prior to employment start date.
        
        Additional Requirements:
        • Willing to work with adults who are at the end of life with complex medical and social needs.
        • Excellent written and verbal skills, problem solving and customer service skills - including serving as point of contact for designated patients.
        • Strong assessment and intervention skills with a diverse population.
        • Demonstrated ability to triage and manage own work.
        • Functional knowledge of computers.
        • Demonstrates customer-focused service skills; patient centered, positive problem solving advocate.
        • Excellent verbal and written communication, negotiation, delegation, time management and problem solving skills.
        • Demonstrated ability to work on a multidisciplinary team.
        • Must have solid psychosocial assessment skills.
        • Knowledge of chronic and acute disease and how it impacts patient and family functioning.
        • Demonstrated excellent oral/telephone communication skills and written documentation.
        • Must be computer-literate and, preferably, experienced in automated clinical information systems.
        • Must demonstrate ability to effectively and efficiently handle demanding workload involving multiple tasks.
        • Demonstrated ability to function independently as a collaborative, supportive team member.
        • Must be able to master detailed and complex information regarding benefits and coordination of care.
        • Must be willing to work in a Labor Management Partnership environment.
        • Note: This position requires a reliable automobile to travel to and from patient homes.
          
          Preferred Qualifications:
          • Previous experience with Palliative Care social work focus.
          • Patient education or presentation experience in regard to Palliative Care.
          • LCSW.
          • Working knowledge of KPNW services and benefits.
          • Expertise with short term counseling interventions.
          • Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively within a multi-disciplinary team to provide palliative support, connection and coordination.
          • Demonstrated proficiency working with frail, complex, and failing patients, families and caregivers in a clinical or hospital setting.
          • Ability to work effectively on a multi-disciplinary team.
            
            Note:
            • Float position - will work at CIN, WMC, and SKY.
              
              Job Schedule:
              Job Category: Behavioral Health, Social Services & Spiritual Care

Keywords: Kaiser, Portland , Medical Social Worker Palliative Care Clinic - Float, Healthcare , Lake Oswego, Oregon