Behavioral Health Care Manager - Birmingham, AL

Behavioral Health Care Manager

$7,500 Sign-on Bonus for External Candidates

Landmark Health, part of the Optum and UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, was created to transform how healthcare is delivered to the most medically vulnerable members in our community. Our medical group provides home-based medical care primarily to geriatric patients that are medically complex and chronically ill, many of whom are ill-equipped to navigate our overwhelming healthcare system.

At Landmark, our interdisciplinary teams collaboratively manage our complex patient panels. These teams are led by Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and Physician Assistants, with supporting care provided by RN Nurse Care Managers, Social Workers, Pharmacists, Behavioral Health Clinician, and other team members.

Position Summary

The Behavioral Health Care Manager (BHCM) is a core member of the collaborative care team, including the patient's longitudinal medical provider and behavioral health consultant, as well as the larger interdisciplinary team (IDT). The BHCM is responsible for supporting and coordinating the mental and physical health care of patients on an assigned patient caseload with the patient's longitudinal provider and, when appropriate, community behavioral health providers.

Prioritize completing the assessment and care plans in-person to better understand a patient's needs, after this initial home visit; patient follow up is routinely done via video or telephonically with clinical discretion regarding any additional visits that should be completed in-person.

You will plan and manage your daily schedule to provide high quality care that is patient-centered and timely. This Monday-Friday role will be based; both in the field and your home office, with no on-call, evenings, or weekends.

If you are located within Birmingham, AL you will have the flexibility to work remotely* as you take on some tough challenges. 60/40 (remote and in the field - home visits)

Primary Responsibilities:

• Support the mental and physical health of Landmark patients on an assigned patient caseload
• Closely coordinate care with the patient's longitudinal Landmark provider and, when appropriate, community behavioral health providers
• Screen and assess patients as well as provide patient education for common behavioral health and substance use disorders. Facilitate patient engagement and follow-up care
• Systematically track treatment response and monitor patients (in person or by telephone) for changes in clinical symptoms and treatment side effects or complications
• Support psychotropic medication management as prescribed by the longitudinal Landmark provider, focusing on treatment adherence monitoring, side effects, and effectiveness of treatment
• Provide brief behavioral interventions using evidence-based techniques such as behavioral activation, problem-solving treatment, motivational interviewing, or other interventions as appropriate until linkage to a community provider
• Provide or facilitate community referrals to evidence-based psychosocial treatments (e.g. problem-solving treatment or behavioral activation) for on-going treatment as clinically indicated.
• Participate in regularly scheduled (usually weekly) caseload consultation with the behavioral health consultant and communicate resulting treatment recommendations to the patient's longitudinal Landmark provider. Consultations will focus on patients new to the caseload and those who are not improving as anticipated under the current treatment plan. Case reviews may be conducted by telephone, video, or in person
• Track patient follow-up and clinical outcomes using a dashboard built into the Electronic Medical, Ubiquity. Document in-person and telephone encounters in the EMR and use the system to identify and re-engage patients
• Document patient progress and treatment recommendations in the EMR to be shared with the longitudinal Landmark provider, behavioral health consultant, and other IDT members
• Facilitate treatment plan changes for patients who are not improving as expected in consultation with the longitudinal Landmark provider and the behavioral health consultant and who may need more intensive or more specialized behavioral health care
• Facilitate referrals for clinically indicated services outside of Landmark Health (e.g., social services such as housing assistance, vocational rehabilitation, mental health specialty care, substance use disorder treatment)
• Develop and complete a relapse prevention self-management plan with patients who have achieved their treatment goals and are soon to be discharged from the caseload

You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.

Required Qualifications:

• Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW)
• Experience with screening for common mental health and/or substance abuse disorders
• Experience with evidence-based counseling techniques
• Experience with assessment and treatment planning for common mental health and/or substance use disorders
• Working knowledge of differential diagnosis of common mental health and/or substance abuse disorders, when appropriate
• Ability to effectively engage patients in a therapeutic relationship, when appropriate
• Ability to work with patients by telephone, video, as well as in person
• Working knowledge of evidence-based psychosocial treatments and brief behavioral interventions for common mental health disorders, when appropriate (e.g., motivational interviewing, problem-solving treatment, behavioral activation)
• Basic knowledge of psychopharmacology for common mental health disorders that is within appropriate scope of practice for training of provider filling role
• Full COVID-19 vaccination is an essential job function of this role. Candidates located in states that mandate COVID-19 booster doses must also comply with those state requirements. UnitedHealth Group will adhere to all federal, state and local regulations as well as all client requirements and will obtain necessary proof of vaccination, and boosters when applicable, prior to employment to ensure compliance. Candidates must be able to perform all essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation

Preferred Qualifications:

• Demonstrated ability to collaborate and communicate effectively in an interdisciplinary team setting
• Proven ability to maintain effective and professional relationships with patients and members of the care team

To protect the health and safety of our workforce, patients and communities we serve, UnitedHealth Group and its affiliate companies require all employees to disclose COVID-19 vaccination status prior to beginning employment. In addition, some roles and locations require full COVID-19 vaccination, including boosters, as an essential job function.

Careers with Optum. Here's the idea. We built an entire organization around one giant objective; make health care work better for everyone. So when it comes to how we use the world's large accumulation of health-related information, or guide health and lifestyle choices or manage pharmacy benefits for millions, our first goal is to leap beyond the status quo and uncover new ways to serve. Optum, part of the UnitedHealth Group family of businesses, brings together some of the greatest minds and most advanced ideas on where health care has to go in order to reach its fullest potential. For you, that means working on high performance teams against sophisticated challenges that matter.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes.

Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.

UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.