Outreach Specialist - Manhattan

Outreach Specialist - Manhattan

Compensation Range: $20/hr - $23/hr commensurate with experience

Benefits: We have three comprehensive healthcare plans to choose from based on your priorities and budget. Housing Works covers most of the plan; you pay a portion, based on your salary. Staff begins accruing PTO immediately for a total of up to 30 days earned in the first year. We offer employees an educational benefit. This money is available for tuition loan reimbursement, tuition costs, and textbooks.

Overview: The Outreach Specialist/Patient Navigator leads case finding activities in their assigned borough to identify eligible clients for the program. They also address HIV healthcare disparities by facilitating access to care and other services through a client-centered, holistic, and comprehensive approaches to meeting the needs of people living with HIV (PLWH) with team-based care management. The program makes use of a navigation approach to identify, advocate for, and coordinate the complex healthcare and social service systems necessary to ensure improved outcomes among PLWH. Patient Navigators provides all home-based HIV health promotion, support, and skills-building services to patients on a quarterly, monthly, weekly or daily basis. The role reports to the Program Manager. This position works collaboratively with a care team that includes the medical provider, client navigators, outreach staff/peers, nurse coordinator, and additional support and administrative staff. Utilizing a multidisciplinary care team approach in a primary care and community setting, team members work with a complex population that includes people who use drugs, people experiencing housing instability/homelessness, people with mental health issues, and others experiencing the effects of social and structural determinants of health.

Responsibilities:

• Leads case finding including outreach to clients who have fallen out of care.
• Participates in outreach and testing events to connect with eligible individuals.
• Educates, coaches and empowers patients living with HIV to obtain and maintain medical stability.
• Accompanies patients to routine primary care appointments and to other health care and social services encounters, as warranted.
• Is responsible for administering HIV health promotion curriculum and tracking the patient's progress through the curriculum.
• Regularly meets face to face with clients on time per individual track level
• Coordinates ongoing navigation and logistical support for appointment keeping reminders, transportation, childcare arrangements, or other barriers.
• Works with the client, care coordinator and primary care provider to develop and follow up on the integration of intake assessment, care plan and reassessment.
• Actively provides integrated services with other health services programs
• Completes client data entry on time in all electronic records, (Eshare, EIcare) to ensure appropriate payments are received
• Keeps accurate detail record keeping of client's progress in progress notes per program requirements, electronically as well as in chart form.
• Provides critical feedback to other members of the health care team based on his/her observations in the field.
• Provides DOT services at client's home, work or any other location that is convenient for clients

Requirements:

• Minimum of two years' experience in the health field or case management.
• Ideal candidate has an Associates/bachelor's degree in related field or field-based experience in lieu of degree
• Lived experienced and/or peer certification preferred
• Bilingual English/Spanish is preferred
• Ability to participate in an interdisciplinary team including medicine, social work, psychiatry, nursing, administration, and other paraprofessionals
• Ability to work with and understand issues of people with HIV/AIDS, mental illness and substance use populations
• Good verbal and written communication skills
• Embraces a harm reduction approach to working with underserved populations
• Experience with eSHARE and/or eClinical Works is preferred

The following additional competencies are viewed as important to success in this position:

• Demonstrated ability to work effectively independently, manage a team, and collaborate across departments, required
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, required
• Strong managerial skills including communication, motivating employees, problem solving, and progressive discipline
• Commitment to maintaining the highest levels of confidentiality
• Demonstrated ability to build the trust and respect of patients, staff, colleagues, external contacts, and other Housing Works members
• Sensitivity to needs of culturally and linguistically diverse patient and employee population
• Demonstrated ability to meet or exceed the Service Excellence Standards of Housing Works
• Willingness and ability to work some evenings and weekends, as needed
• Demonstrated ability to utilize electronic medical records (EMRs) and related computer software, and willingness to adapt to the evolving technological requirements of modern health center practices