Registered Nurse (RN) Utilization Management Team Lead - FT/ Day - Augusta

How would you like to work in a place where your contributions and ideas are valued? A place where you can serve with compassion, pursue excellence and honor every voice? At Wellstar, our mission is simple, yet powerful: to enhance the health and well-being of every person we serve. We are proud to have become a shining example of what's possible when the brightest professionals dedicate themselves to making a difference in the healthcare industry, and in people's lives.

Work Shift

Day (United States of America)

Job Summary:

The Team Leader is responsible for oversight of staff UM RNs to ensure coordination and function of a team across the continuum during the patient's acute, chronic and long-term stages of illness for a defined patient population. This includes utilization management, patient advocacy, and monitoring quality indicators to demonstrate outcomes for the team resulting from the service provided. Collaborates with all team members to optimize hospital's throughput, length of stay, and reimbursement accuracy.
The Team Lead of On-site UM is responsible for Training, Supervision, and Coordination of On-site UM
staffing. Provides direction/assistance to all UM Staff, students and WellStar customers. The
Team Lead of On-site UM will assist with overall coordination of the department's goals, process
improvements, policies and procedures.
It is expected that all RN Clinical Nurses are licensed, knowledgeable and uphold the practice of nursing as outlined by the Georgia Professional Nurse Practice Act and implements the Scope of Practice and Code of Ethics Standards put forth by the American Nurses Association. As a member of the patient services team, it is expected that the individual upholds the voice of the patient, system policies and procedures while supporting service excellence goals.
As an on-site Hospital Utilization Management (UM) Nurse Team Lead, you are the primary link between the clinical floor and administrative compliance. Unlike remote roles, this position relies heavily on real-time, face-to-face interaction with doctors, patients, and interdisciplinary teams to optimize hospital resources.
Key On-Site Responsibilities
Physician and Clinical Collaboration
o Physician Consultation: Meet in person with attending/admitting providers to discuss cases where documentation does not support medical necessity or the current level of care.
o Medical Provider Liaison: Function as the primary on-site link between the attending/admitting provider and the Physician Advisor for complex medical necessity determinations.
Real-Time Patient Class Decision Support
o Interdisciplinary Huddles: Attend daily bedside rounds or departmental "bed huddles" to provide immediate input on medical necessity and criteria-led care progression.
o ER Throughput Management: Provide consultation as needed on cases being admitted through the Emergency Department to assess new admissions and recommendations for the most appropriate level of care.
Administrative & Financial Compliance
o Medical Necessity Reviews: Use criteria like InterQual or MCG to perform on-site concurrent reviews of active patient care.
o Issuing Official Notices: Deliver and explain legally required documents in person, such as condition-code 44 or Medicare observation notices (MOON).
o Denial Prevention: Proactively identify "avoidable days"hospital days that do not meet clinical criteriaand escalate them to the management team to minimize financial loss.

Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions:

Team Lead Duties
Coordinate care care with Manager, Director and other Healthcare Team Leaders.
Oversee staffing daily staffing/ evaluates daily work distribution regarding levels &
demands of staff.
Daily monitoring and coaching of staff productivity and denial ratios, reports for daily volume
without medical reviews completed, management of Epic WQs, peer to peer outcomes, E.H.R
use with outcomes, avoidable days documentation and reporting, and barriers impacting
utilization management workflow
Supervise, coach, mentor on general practice.
Head a team of peers to participate in the interviewing process with the Directors.
Manage QA & PI activities
Provides leadership in conflict resolution
Provide guidance during the orientation process ensuring that the new employee is firmly
educated in UM and Social Service issues.
Assists with yearly performance evaluations
Completes all initial and ongoing professional competency assessment, required mandatory
education, population specific education.
Serves as a preceptor and/or or mentor for other professional and/or students, to ensure that
there is a current and future qualified workforce.
Utilization Management
* Initiates assessment for necessity and appropriateness of health services by the application of established screening criteria (e.g. MCG)
* Assesses insurance and coverage such as managed care, PPO, HMO, and the identification of preferred providers for OON payors.
* Identifies issues relating to patient class and/or appropriateness of admission and collaborates with physician/physician advisor for resolution
Provide consultation as needed on cases being admitted through the Emergency Department to assess new admissions and recommendations for the most appropriate level of care.
* Responsible for timely and accurate certification of hospital admission
* Provides required information to payors
* Monitor and evaluate patient/clients ongoing plan of care and facilitates modification utilizing established screening criteria to determine level of care with documentation in the computerized Utilization Management module
* Serves as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for Utilization Review, MCG, and WQ management in Epic
* Assists in training and orientation of new staff members
* Manages the daily work schedule for staff
* Monitor and evaluate the appropriateness of managed care denials and collaborate with attending physician and managed care representative and Medical Director.
* Monitor for compliance of Medicare/Medicaid regulations (e.g. order for patient type for billing, appropriate billing).
* Responsible for timely and accurate certification of hospital admission.
* Participates and supports performance improvement inclusive of all stakeholders, research and research utilization to promote safe, quality patient care including initiating and/or leading such activities as well as, promoting an inter/intra-disciplinary process and actively supports/participates in shared governance at all levels in the system.
Documentation
* Ensure all records are up-to-date and legible.
* Complete all Epic UR software screens.
* Ensures timely and accurate documentation of clinical reviews and insurance updates as required by payors.
* Participates in data collection, poses relevant clinical questions to advanced evidence-based practice. Consults appropriate experts and uses appropriate resources and evidence to address practice questions.
Deliver and explain legally required documents in person, such as condition-code 44 or Medicare observation notices (MOON).
Proactively identify "avoidable days"hospital days that do not meet clinical criteriaand escalate them to the management team to minimize financial loss.
Assessment
Initiates assessment for necessity and appropriateness of health services by the application of
established screening criteria (e.g. MCG).
Assess insurance and coverage issues such as managed care, PPO, HMO, and the
identification of preferred providers.