Patient Placement Coordinator

Job Title

University of Utah Health Dispatch Coordinator

Job Description

As a patient-focused organization, University of Utah Health exists to enhance the health and well-being of people through patient care, research and education. Success in this mission requires a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. University of Utah Health seeks staff that are committed to the values of compassion, collaboration, innovation, responsibility, integrity, quality and trust that are integral to our mission. EO/AA

This position is responsible for coordinating dispatch services between requested departments. The incumbent uses a multi-line telephone system to receive and relay information to the appropriate units and creates and logs encounters. This position routinely works with clinicians and physicians to help coordinate throughput and placement of patients.

Corporate Overview: University of Utah Health is an integrated academic healthcare system with five hospitals including a level 1 trauma center, eleven community health centers, over 1,600 providers, and a health plan serving over 200,000 members. University of Utah Health is nationally ranked and recognized for our academic research, quality standards and overall patient experience. In addition to our clinical delivery system, we have a School of Medicine, School of Dentistry, College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, and College of Health providing education and training for over 1,250 providers annually. We have over 2 million patient visits annually and research grants exceeding $350 million. University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics represents our clinical operations for the larger health system.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions:

• Provides a high level of customer service.
• Answers incoming telephone calls on a multi-line system.
• Contacts the appropriate personnel to ensure the safety and protection of persons and property.
• Works closely with other dispatch centers.
• May communicate scheduled and emergency utility outages to affected departments.
• Disseminates all relevant information to the appropriate persons via telephone or two-way radio, and answers questions.
• Collaborates with physicians, nurses, administration, emergency medical services, fire departments and law enforcement to coordinate inter-facility transfers and optimize patient throughput within the organization.
• Coordinates placement and admissions of patients into the hospital.
• Coordinates and facilitates all Tele-Medicine calls and encounters; this is a separate Tele-Hub line and service that is provided through the Transfer Center.
• Collaborates with the Hospital Nursing Supervisor in establishing plans to support the hospital and prevent Divert Status.
• Prioritizes and triages patient placement according to medical necessity, current location, room availability, and the current capacity state of the hospital. This may include 1:1 close-supervision staffing needs, placement of VIPs, prisoners, special precautions patients, etc.
• Assists with daily Acute Care Service line bed huddle and capturing real time demand information.
• Assists with and reports patient safety regulations, compliance, and billing.
• Responsible for system reports and WQs to create surgical and medical accounts for incoming patients.
• Works within multiple electronic systems for financial and clinical operations of patient throughput and admissions.
• Works with Case Management and the inpatient units to ensure correct billing patient class and accommodation codes.
• Gathers comprehensive patient information, enters it into the appropriate electronic system, and verifies the accuracy of the data. This may include documenting conversations with various internal and external departments or agencies to ensure proper follow-up.
• Updates patient demographics and registration information as needed.
• Responsible for assisting with scheduled and unscheduled system downtimes within the organization.
• At the discretion of department operational and patient care needs, this position is required to work rotating schedules, which may include variable hours, weekends, nights, and holidays to meet the staffing and patient care demands of a 24/7 complex health system. Regular, reliable, and punctual attendance during assigned shifts is considered an essential function of the role.

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities:

• Demonstrated availability to work variable and rotating shifts, including nights, weekends, and holidays, in a 24/7 patient care environment.
• Demonstrated the ability to perform the essential functions as outlined above.
• Demonstrated human relations and effective verbal/written communication skills.
• Ability to speak concisely and distinctly and remains calm and competent.
• Demonstrated ability to prioritize and manage a large workload in a stressful, fast-paced environment.
• Demonstrated ability to critically think and problem solve.
• Ability to navigate between multiple computer systems; demonstrates efficient computer skills.
• Strong customer service skills.

Qualifications

Required:

• Six months of related experience, or equivalency.

Qualifications (Preferred)

Working Conditions and Physical Demands:

• Employee must be able to meet the following requirements with or without an accommodation.
• This is a sedentary position in an office setting that may exert up to 10 pounds and may lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. This position involves sitting most of the time and is not exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Physical Requirements

Listening, Sitting, Standing