Medical Social Worker/LICSW - St.Joseph Medical Center, Tacoma

**$5000 SIGN-ON BONUS ELIGIBLE**

Monday-Sunday, variable days, alternating weekends

Job Summary:

Provides a wide range of clinical social work services in a primary care, inpatient care or home health setting, including support and consultation to care team in managing patients. Evaluate psychosocial assets and deficits for the purpose of enabling the pt to maintain the greatest level of independence. Coordinates with others to establish a plan of care. Provides short-term counseling, teaching and brokering with other resources for care giving needs.

Essential Responsibilities:

• Provide appropriate social work interventions to all age patients and their families including but not limited to psychosocial assessment, brief individual or family, advocacy, linkage, referral, group work, case coordination, and long-term care planning and placement.
• Consultation and coordination with multidisciplinary team of care professionals and primary care site medical/nursery staff, to include family conferences, care conferences, team meetings etc.
• Assesses patient and family needs for care and communicates with other health care providers appropriately. Collects data relevant to visit with ongoing assessment throughout the duration of care. Evaluate psychosocial assets and deficits for the purpose of enabling the pt to maintain the greatest level of independence.
• Evaluates patients/family needs through timely assessment, communication and observation. Modifies plan of care through assessment based upon patient/care systems response.

• Provides crisis intervention, grief/bereavement counseling, problem solving, stress reduction and developing healthy coping strategies to patients in home based, clinic, or inpatient care setting.
• Conducts comprehensive psychosocial assessment and partners with patient to identify needs and develop and implement individual plan of care based on mutually agreed upon goals in order to assist patients and families to cope and/or restore social, emotional, financial and environmental factors which affect and/or are affected by illness. Responsible for implementing this plan.
• Discuss options for care proactively including Kaiser resources and external community/government resources to assist patient and family in developing short and long term care plans as appropriate. Team with other disciplines in assessing, planning and providing services for patients utilizing biopsychosocial information.
• Assist patient in advocating for self to receive appropriate services within Kaiser and in the community.
• Takes, reviews, evaluates and prioritizes referrals and is responsible for daily scheduling of visits.
• Identifies appropriate levels of care and facilities for patients and obtains placements, where applicable.
• Collaborates with internal and external resources in Kaiser and the community to meet mutually agreed upon goals and objectives. Provides information and referral to community resources as requested.
• Coordinates exchange of information between Kaiser, families, members, and care facilities (including adult family home, assisted living and LTC/skilled nursing facilities).
• Determines application of Kaiser, Medicare and/or Medicaid benefits to specific patient situations.
• Assists in coordinating communication between home health/hospice, clinics, hospitals, and field staff to triage psychosocial needs of members.
• Performs other related duties as necessary.

Basic Qualifications:

Experience

• Minimum one (1) year of previous social work experience.
• Per the National Agreement, current KP Coalition employees have this experience requirement waived.

Education

• Masters degree in Behavorial Science OR Masters degree in Social Work.

License, Certification, Registration

• Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (Washington) OR Licensed Advanced Social Worker License (Washington) OR Mental Health Counselor License (Washington) OR Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (Washington)

• Basic Life Support required at hire
  

Additional Requirements:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrated success as part of a multi-disciplinary team and commitment to diversity.

• Demonstrated ability to work on a multidisciplinary team.
• Knowledge of chronic and acute disease and how it impacts patient and family functioning.
• Excellent interpersonal and oral and written communication skills.
• Must be computer-literate and preferably experienced in both automated clinical information systems and electronic medical record systems.
• Demonstrated ability to function independently as a collaborative, supportive team member.
• Must be able to master detailed and complex information regarding benefits and coordination of care.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Two (2) years of post-masters experience.
• Care coordination experience in managed care system, in-/outpatient setting, skilled nursing or long-term care facility.
• Knowledge of social case management, conflict resolution and team building practices.
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office.
• Familiarity with electronic charting.

• Competence in medical social work case management.
• Demonstrated ability to complete multiple tasks/objectives in a timely manner
• Accuracy in psychosocial assessment of patients and development of effective plans of care
• One (1) year experience providing direct service in medical or home health/ hospice setting - MSW internship considered.