Job Summary:
The Hospice/Home-Based Palliative Care Medical Social Worker provides home care services to Kaiser Permanente patients in community based and facility settings. This position may provide social services to patients in the hospice, home-based palliative care, or other programs under the direction of the patients physician(s) to primarily assist patients/families in coping with the social/emotional issues and practical arrangements related to the patients end of life care, goals, and needs. This care is provided through coordinating the delivery of high quality, cost-effective skilled, psychosocial care as part of a hospice/home-based palliative care interdisciplinary team.
Essential Responsibilities:
- Provides social work services consistent with agency policy, state practice acts, and applicable state and federal regulations as directed by the patients physician. Activities include assessment of social and emotional factors related to the patients illnesses, financial and community resources and patient safety.
- Develops and implements an individualized care plan, utilizing department and community resources in a cost effective manner.
- Actively participates in multidisciplinary care planning to facilitate coordination of care.
- Assures personal competency through maintaining working knowledge of current social work practice, available community services, member benefits and resources and regulatory standards.
- Utilizes Kaiser Permanente Continuing Care Services departmental and community resources in a cost-effective manner. Consults with other interdisciplinary team members and shares work social expertise and perspective.
- Actively participates in quality management and quality improvement activities within the department including, but not limited to, clinical record review, occurrence reporting, focused studies, process and outcome measurement, peer review and continuous quality improvement projects.
- Performs other duties as requested.
Basic Qualifications:
Experience
- Minimum one (1) year experience in elder care or healthcare setting OR successful completion of a hospice or palliative care MSW Graduate Student Internship or Post Graduate Fellowship.
Education
- Masters degree in social work.
License, Certification, Registration
- Licensed Social Worker Associate-Independent Clinical (Washington) within 6 months of hire AND Licensed Clinical Social Worker (Oregon) within 6 months of hire AND Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (Washington) within 6 months of hire
OR
- Licensed Advanced Social Worker License (Washington) within 6 months of hire AND Masters Social Worker License (Oregon) within 6 months of hire
OR
- Basic Life Support within 0.5 months of hire
Additional Requirements:
- Experience in evaluation of mental status, including depression scale.
- Demonstrated ability to perform comprehensive assessments of psychosocial and emotional needs.
- Expertise in palliative care principles and the dying process, including psychosocial impact of specific illnesses.
- Ability to successfully complete a typing test.
- Ability to operate a laptop computer to perform clinical documentation.
- Knowledge of counseling skills.
- Knowledge of medical terminology.
- This position requires a reliable automobile to travel to and from patient homes.
Preferred Qualifications:
- One (1) year of experience in a hospice and/or palliative care setting.
- Previous work experience in a home care setting.
- Experience with interdisciplinary team function.
- Working knowledge of the managed care industry.
- Knowledge of Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participations, regulations/requirements.
- Knowledge of Kaiser Permanente and community resources.
- Knowledge of family dynamics.
- Ability to work autonomously and manage patient case load.
- Ability to apply Principles of Documentation for medical records.
- Excellent time management, organizational, problem solving and customer service skills.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
- Operational knowledge of computerized clinical documentation and office application systems including the use of laptop/notebook computers.
Notes:
- Shifts/hours/working days may vary
