Primary Care Physician Assistant - Herself Health

Primary Care Physician Assistant – Job Description 

Employment Type: Full-Time, Exempt (1.0 FTE) 
Location: Lyndale Clinic | 5450 Lyndale Ave S., Minneapolis, MN

Who we are:  

At Herself Health, we're on a mission to help women get more life out of life, together. We are building a new model of primary care for women 65+ to solve long-standing problems: rushed appointments, long wait times, and care that's generalized rather than specialized towards women's needs later in life such as post-menopausal care, bone density, weight management, and mental, social and emotional well-being.  

Our patient-centric Primary Care clinics are dispersed across Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. We are thrilled to serve the Twin Cities metro in our clinics located in Highland Park (St. Paul), Crystal, and South Minneapolis with new clinics launching soon in both Rosedale and Eagan. Our team of 100+ colleagues is on a mission to innovate the primary care landscape for women 65+. We're seeking like-minded individuals who share in this passion to join us! 

About you: 

As we grow our early team, we are seeking strategic thought leaders who have a passion for building and innovating. We foster a culture of collaboration, excellence and the willingness to roll up our sleeves and learn as we grow. We have a customer first mindset, and we are looking for team members who share that. Our ideal candidates have strategic prowess and the ability to use data to build best practices and implement great ideas in collaboration with our team and our community.   

About the Nurse Practitioner Role:  

The Nurse Practitioner (NP) or Physician Assistant (PA) is a key member of our care team. S/he will evaluate patients' acute and chronic conditions, manage their multiple medications, mental health, social-emotional needs, and educate them in a thorough, professional and empathetic manner. The NP/PA will partner with and support fellow members of the care team in assessing, planning, and providing excellent patient care. Ensuring delivery of the highest quality care will be a fundamental expectation of this role, in accordance with the company's core values and culture. 

NP/PA Job Functions:

• Get to know every patient as a human being, understand their core values and goals of
  care. Provide whole-person care consistent with those values.
•  Evaluate, diagnose and treat acute or chronic medical conditions and common psychological health conditions in women aged 65 and older.
• Prevention and care of specialized health conditions most prevalent in this age group such as osteoporosis, arthritis, perimenopausal conditions, heart disease and others.
• Provide preventive health services such as Medicare annuals, peri-operative care, comprehensive care and transition of care visits (hospital discharge follow-up).
• Elicit and interpret relevant patient history, symptoms, physical findings, and diagnostic work-up to develop appropriate diagnosis and treatment plans.
• Order, interpret and appropriately use results of common diagnostics, such as blood tests, urinalysis, electrocardiograms (EKGs), mammograms and radiographs (x-rays).
• Perform pap smears and basic primary care procedures.
• Prescribe medications responsibly, based on evidence, efficacy, safety, and cost as legally authorized. Deprescribe potentially risky medications as appropriate. Optimize medication regimens to prevent and mitigate polypharmacy.
• Counsel patients about drug regimens and expected side effects or interactions.
• Develop evidence-based treatment plans following widely accepted standards of practice and professional society guidelines.
• Educate and coach patients on self-management of acute or chronic illnesses, evidence-based lifestyle and behavioral interventions to mitigate potential health risks.
• Tailor care and instructions to patients' individual circumstances and preferred learning styles, involving family members/caregivers in discussions where appropriate.
• Provide oversight and guidance to nursing and clinical support staff regarding clinical care of patients.
• Actively monitor, evaluate and manage overall health of our patient population (population health) and strategically implement initiatives to improve quality of care delivered. Advocate to reduce unnecessary utilization and costs to patients.
• Document, code and close patient charts in a timely manner.
• Practice standards of appropriate coding for patient conditions, including HCC, and evaluation and management codes for billing.
• Respond to chart reviews and coding/billing audits in a timely manner.
• Provide and receive feedback on quality of care being delivered to ensure NCQA, HEDIS and other regulatory standards are met.
• Be an active member of the care team by sharing call coverage with the clinician team, caring for other clinicians' patients and assisting with urgent messages as necessary during absences of peers.

Required Qualifications:

• Masters degree in Nursing (required), Doctor of Nursing Practice (preferred) OR Masters degree in Physician Assistant (required)
•  Adult or Family Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant with experience in Geriatrics (preferred), Primary Care, Palliative Care or Family Medicine
• Documentation of completion of an accredited Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant program.
• Completion of 2080 hours of post-graduate collaborative practice hours as an NP or PA in an integrated clinical care setting is required.
• A sound knowledge base of evidence based primary care geriatrics, behavioral health and medication management, with solid clinical skills to guide appropriate diagnosis and treatment of various medical conditions in our patients.
• Knowledge and practice of evidence based preventive health care guidelines.
• Familiarity with population health and experience in achieving quality metrics.
• Nurse Practitioner Certification from American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) / the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP) OR PA-C designation via a PA program certified by the ARC-PA and passing the PANCE
• Registered Nurse Licensure by Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Minnesota OR valid PA License in state of Minnesota
• Maintenance of Licensure - all APCs will be expected to remain current in certification and state licensure during the duration of their employment at Herself Health
• American Heart Association (AHA) Accredited Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification (required), Advanced Life Support (preferred). 

Essential Soft-Skills and Behaviors:

• Genuine interest in getting to know our patients as human beings.
• Passion for working with the senior women population and addressing their unique health issues and needs.
• Good understanding of human behavior, motivations and performance.
• "Customer service first" mentality and ability to meet and perform a thorough patient needs assessment, meet highest quality standards, and evaluate patient satisfaction.
• Excellent bedside manner and a high degree of professionalism.
• Superior communication and coaching skills to help effectively educate patients and engage them in shared decision making.
• Keen ability to demonstrate empathy and lead through compassion.
• Ability to assess and address external factors that impact health and behavior.
• Proven reliability, consistency, timeliness and responsiveness as a team member and healthcare provider to patients.
• Strong team-player who communicates with team members clearly and collaborates effectively.
• Driven to make meaningful improvements to our services, processes and effectiveness.
• Driven to make fiscally responsible, cost effective and highest quality, value added care for our patients.
• Ability to be hands-on, adaptable, focused, flexible, data-driven, and results-oriented.
• Keen problem solving and decision-making skills.
• A "lifelong learner" mindset who leads by example and with a sense of curiosity and open-mindedness.

Other Requirements:

• Eligibility to obtain or holder of a DEA License and an NPI number.
• Regular maintenance of board certification and CME requirements.
• Passage of the pre-employment drug screen.
• Passage of the pre-employment background check.
• Eligibility and completion of credentialing.
• Eligibility and completion of registration with Medicare and private payers.
• Valid Driver's License.
• Proof of US Citizenship or Eligibility to Work in the US with a permanent resident card.

We support Equal Employment Opportunities (EEO). We are committed to an inclusive workplace. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender identity or expression, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, parental status, political affiliation, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

All employees of Herself Health are expected to fully understand abide by the practice's compliance policies and procedures. Employees are provided training upon hire and annually and regularly notified of changes as needed. It is an expectation that all employees will report any suspected violations of any federal or state laws to their direct supervisor, Human Resources, or the Compliance Officer.