Social Worker Case Manager 2 - Pediatric Cardiology

The Division of Pediatric Cardiology at Inova Children's is seeking a full-time case manager social worker to support our rapidly growing team within our Inova Children's Cardiology ambulatory offices.

The Heart Center at Inova Children's has been caring for the children of Northern Virginia and the Greater Washington Region for more than 30 years. Each year, the program is responsible for approximately 550 procedures.

The program provides surgical repair of the most complex congenital heart defects, including hypoplastic left heart syndrome. In addition to providing care for children with complex congenital anomalies, the program provides a lifetime of care as part of the Inova Schar Heart and Vascular, which includes the Adult Congenital Program. Inova Children's Heart Center is a comprehensive team, including congenital cardiac surgery, outpatient cardiology, fetal cardiology, non-invasive cardiology, adult congenital cardiology, diagnostic and interventional catheterization, and electrophysiology and advanced heart failure therapies.

The team includes 23 board-certified pediatric cardiologists, 8 pediatric cardiac intensivists, 3 pediatric cardiac surgeons and 17 advanced practice providers. With respect to non-invasive imaging, the division currently performs fetal, transthoracic, and transesophageal echocardiography, and partners with radiology on cMRI and CT scans. A team of inpatient and outpatient dedicated congenital sonographers support the division. The Pediatric Noninvasive Imaging Lab (ICAEL accredited) at Inova Children's Hospital is the largest program in Virginia performing 11,000 outpatient and 2,600 inpatient echocardiograms per year.

Inova LJ Murphy Children's Hospital is a 226-bed children's hospital at Inova Fairfax Hospital medical campus, located in Northern Virginia. As the only dedicated children's hospital and pediatric heart center in Northern Virginia, we provide care in a welcoming environment that offers the latest in technical innovation in kid-friendly spaces.

The children's hospital has a 108-bed, level IV Neonatal Intensive Care Unit with approximately 17,000 annual deliveries. The Pediatric Cardiac Intensive Care Unit and Acute Care Step-Down Unit are part of the Inova Children's Heart Center.

Our ideal candidate will be energetic, enthusiastic, and work effectively as part of a team. The candidate must be an outstanding clinician dedicated to the care of children and their families.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Coordinates a patient's plan of care which may include appointment scheduling, confirming parents' and caregivers' attendance, transportation, assisting with referral process, and answering parent's and caregiver's questions.

Initiates and facilitates referrals to clinics, home healthcare, hospice, SNF, acute rehab, LTAC, TCM, medical equipment and supplies as indicated.

Collaborates with the interdisciplinary care team, patients and families in the assessment/coordination of discharge planning needs, delivery of post-discharge planning needs, delivery of post-discharge services and transition of patients from the hospital to the discharge setting as well as ongoing care in the community.

Provides educational information and advocacy to the parents and caregivers throughout the care process in accordance with service line policies and procedures.

Functions as a single point of contact to internal and external community/family services for parents and caregivers in need of services such as screening, diagnostic treatment, clinical research participation, support services, and follow-up/aftercare plan.

Assists families with resolving financial, psychosocial, functional, and administrative issues by advising of options and referring to appropriate resources.

Develops and maintains reliable systems to document, track, and monitor patient data.

Demonstrates proficiency with caseload assignment and ability to manage complex cases effectively.

Uses specialty background to provide patient care and resources specific to pediatric diseases and conditions.

Educates family, caregivers, and members of the healthcare delivery team regarding treatment options, community resources, insurance benefits, self-care management, etc. to facilitate timely and informed decision-making throughout all phases of the continuum process.

Encourages and coaches parents and caregivers to be engaged in their child's care planning and to embrace their essential role in the decision-making process.

Collaborates with a multidisciplinary team to address the parents' and caregivers' questions and responses about the care process and treatment options. Discusses payor criteria and issues on a case-by-case basis with clinical staff and follows up to resolve problems with payors as needed.

Ensures satisfaction with the integrated health care delivery model and access to appropriate care or facility.

Actively participates in obtaining quality outcomes such as decreasing times between referral, diagnosis, and treatment.

Provides a personal, single point of contact for parents and caregivers, provides referrals to support and ancillary services as needed, and ensures that the family has appropriate access to health care services and providers.

Ensures that all options available to support a successful transition and elements critical to patients' care plans have been communicated to patients/families and members of the healthcare team and are documented as necessary to ensure continuity of care. Refers cases and issues appropriately to resolve barriers to care progression. Acts as an advocate for patients to resolve barriers to care progression.

May perform additional duties as assigned.

Position Highlights:

Highly competitive salary with incentives

Full Medical, dental and vision

Generous PTO and paid time to attend CME

Paid Parental Leave Program

Located Northern Virginia

Requirements

Masters Degree in Social Work (MSW) required.

A minimum of two years experience in a clinical care or clinical case management setting required.

Requires certification as an Accredited Case Manager upon start (ACM or CCM or CCTSW or N/ASW-CM (ASWCM) or LCSW).

Advanced oral and written communication skills to effectively and professionally liaise with patients, families and medical staff.

Knowledge of regulatory requirements.

Working knowledge of case management processes, needs assessments, principles of utilization review/quality assurance, discharge planning and reimbursement structures (i.e. Medicare, Medicaid and HMO).

Must understand post-acute care criteria and documents appropriate referrals based on patients' clinical presentation and education needs.