Behavioral Health Assistant

Behavioral Health Assistant

The Behavioral Health Assistant (BHA) plays an essential role in our Integrated Primary Care Health Home Program. Working under the direct clinical supervision and guidance of a licensed Behavioral Health Consultant (BHC), the BHA provides vital care management, health promotion, and family support services. The BHA acts as a force multiplier for the BHC, helping to screen patients, deliver structured brief interventions, track care plan goals, and support stable patients who do not require the immediate resources of a licensed clinician. This role collaborates closely with the care team, including Care Coordinators (CCs), to ensure seamless, high-quality, whole-person care within an outpatient primary care setting.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct brief, age-appropriate preventative health screenings for patients to identify behavioral health needs, substance use, health risk behaviors, and social determinants of health (SDOH).
• For patients with positive initial findings, administer comprehensive, secondary screeners to determine if the patient requires basic education, health coaching, healthy behavior reinforcement, or formal referral for further assessment.
• Promptly route high-risk screening results to the supervising Behavioral Health Consultant (BHC) for formal assessment, diagnosis, or crisis management.
• Provide patient education, evidence-based health/wellness coaching, and healthy behavioral reinforcement under standing orders and established clinical protocols.
• Assist patients with self-management goal prioritization, action planning, and routine follow-up care to reinforce care plan objectives.
• Provide targeted outreach and proactive engagement for complex, high-utilizing patients to improve their healthcare navigation and stability.
• Monitor and assist patients receiving brief clinical interventions and short-term therapy services by providing structured follow-up and goal reminders.
• Accept referrals from licensed behavioral health staff to support and monitor patients who are clinically stable but still require accountability, coaching, and care continuity.
• Guide and support patients being referred to higher levels of care or external community resources, ensuring they successfully connect with services.
• Partner with Care Coordinators (CCs) to ensure scheduling, medical record transfers, referral feedback tracking, and program enrollment documentation are seamlessly executed.
• Attend huddles or case reviews with the BHC to discuss patient status updates, review clinical paths, and adjust coaching strategies.

Qualifications & Requirements:

• Bachelor of Science (B.S.) in Social Work, Psychology, Human Services, or a closely related behavioral health field.
• Minimum of 1 year of hands-on experience working directly within a behavioral health, mental health, or substance use care setting. Primary care or health home experience is highly valued.
• Must successfully complete additional program-specific training provided upon hire regarding standing orders, care paths, integrated screening protocols, and brief intervention modalities.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities:

• Basic knowledge of behavioral health conditions, substance use disorders, and chronic medical illnesses.
• Exceptional verbal and written communication skills to effectively build rapport with patients and consult with a multidisciplinary clinical team.
• Strong organizational skills to manage documentation, track screening data, and follow up with patient caseloads efficiently.
• Ability to strictly adhere to clinical boundaries, standing protocols, HIPAA guidelines, and privacy regulations.