NATIVE AMERICAN HEALTH SERVICES SPECIALIST at University of New Mexico - Hospitals

Department: Native American Health Svcs

FTE: 1.00
Full Time
Shift: Days

Position Summary:
Serve as liaison between hospital operations and the Native American Community. Facilitate care according to agreements between UNM Hospitals and the Indian Health Service (IHS) and the All Indian Pueblo Council (AIPC) and others. Receive and resolve complaints, coordinate with Hospitals leadership, answer phones, meet with parents and families and provide education to various groups. Assist with Care Management and discharge planning. Ensure adherence to Hospitals and departmental policies and procedures. No patient care assignment.

Detailed responsibilities:
* COORDINATION - Coordinate Native American Health Services patient access programs and related services
* CUSTOMER SERVICE - Work with pueblos, tribes and nations and community-based tribal health center leadership, the UNM HSC Center for Native American Health, The UNM Hospitals Native American Health Services Dept, The UNM School of Medicine HEROs program agents and other parties to facilitate access to UNM Hospitals/UNMHSC and to extend health resources to rural communities in New Mexico
* COMMUNITY RELATIONS - Represent the organization at various community and or/or business meetings; promote existing and new programs and/or policies
* AUTHORIZATION - Ensure the process of prior authorization and referral verification is adhered to throughout the patient access department
* LEADERSHIP - Provide leadership through identification of problems and opportunities for improvement, program planning, implementation, and evaluation
* PRIORITIZATION - Process priority one referrals by working with Hospitals providers, clinical staff, and referring providers/clinical staff to facilitate patient placement or outpatient services
* LIAISON - Under scope of position, serve as liaison for Tribal issues and problem-solving for Native American patients
* COLLABORATION - Develop collaborative relationships with other departments/services and community health care agencies facilitating and supporting quality care in area of clinical expertise; act as a resource on complex patient care activities
* NAVIGATION/ PATIENT ADVOCACY - Work to eliminate barriers to access to culturally competent medical services for all patients. Assist patients to access community resources, and financial assistance programs and services that are needed
* COLLABORATION - Collaborate with medical providers, multidisciplinary team members and community resource providers to assist patient to meet above described treatment goals
* CARE COORDINATION - Coordinate with community health workers, case managers, and social workers to overcome obstacles for patients. Provide consultative services to Clinical Social Work and Discharge Planners; coordinate with all appropriate hospital agencies to facilitate admissions for Native Americans
* COMMUNICATION - Use interpersonal communication strategies with individuals as well as groups of patients, families, significant others, and staff to achieve expected outcomes and patient/family and health care team satisfaction
* COMMUNITY OUTREACH - Build and maintain collaborative relationships with community agencies and community groups. Represent the department and Hospitals at community meetings. Participate in health fairs, presentations and community functions to increase community awareness of services available from the Hospitals
* INTERPRETATION - When qualified as a native speaker, may serve as a dual role interpreter to improve communication and understanding between healthcare staff and limited English proficient patients and families
* EDUCATION - Conduct educational sessions with hospital staff to increase awareness of Native American health trends, payment programs, and to facilitate customer service and cultural humility; conduct presentations on behalf of the hospital with various community leadership groups
* COORDINATION - Facilitate and/or participate in conferences that provide ongoing evaluation of interdisciplinary dynamics, and goals attainment
* CONTINUITY OF CARE - Collaborate with the health care team to ensure continuity of patient care throughout all health care settings; promote effective communication among health care team members including the patient, family, and significant others

Qualifications

Education:
Essential:
* Associate Degree
Nonessential:
* Bachelor's Degree
Education specialization:
Essential:
* Related Discipline
Nonessential:
* Related Discipline

Experience:
Essential:
2 years directly related experience

Nonessential:
Bilingual English, Spanish, Keres, Tewa, Tiwa, Towa, Zuni, or Navajo 3 years directly related experience

Credentials:
Essential:
* Not Applicable/Not Required

Physical Conditions:
Light Work: Exerting up to 20 pounds of force occasionally, and/or up to 10 pounds of force frequently, and/or a negligible amount of force constantly (Constantly: activity or condition exists 2/3 or more of the time) to move objects. Physical demand requirements are in excess of those for Sedentary Work. May require walking or standing to a significant degree or requires sitting most of the time but entails pushing and/or pulling of arm or leg controls; and/or may require working at a production rate pace entailing the constant pushing and/or pulling of materials even though the weight of materials is negligible.

Working conditions:
Essential:
* No or min hazard, physical risk, office environment
* May be required to travel to various work sites
* May perform subordinate tasks in high census/vol
* May be required or is required to perform on-call duties
* May work rotating shifts, holidays and weekends

Department: Education