Hospital Social Worker

Min

USD $29.44/Hr.

Max

USD $45.64/Hr.

Overview

Join Memorial Health and make a real difference in the lives of patients and their families. As a Hospital Social Worker (LSW) with an MSW degree, you'll play a critical role in addressing complex psychosocial factors that affect health outcomes, contributing to holistic, patient-centered care.

Key Responsibilities:

• Conduct comprehensive biopsychosocial assessments to inform healthcare decisions.
• Address social determinants of health to prevent readmissions and adverse outcomes.
• Develop interventions that consider the full psychosocial impact of illness or hospitalization.
• Collaborate with the healthcare team to remove barriers to post-acute care.
• Facilitate timely referrals to community resources and promote patient self-reliance.
• Prevent unnecessary hospital admissions by addressing social needs and avoiding "social admissions."

Bring your LSW license and MSW degree to a dynamic team and help improve patient outcomes through compassionate, proactive care.

Qualifications

Education:

• Master's degree of Social Work from a School of Social Work accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.


Licensure/Certification/Registry:

• Illinois Licensed Social Worker required. Licensed Clinical Social Worker preferred.

• Where required, will accept a Memorial Health System car for business purposes only as deemed necessary by geography or mileage. Valid IL driver license and must be deemed as an acceptable driver in accordance with the MHS Fleet Safety Policy (five year MVR will be required).

Experience:

• Experience working with adults across the life span presenting with chronic or serious illness

• Experience identifying and coordinating the needs of chronically ill patients and families as well as supporting the care team

• Understanding of psychosocial implications of illness, hospice and/or home care death and dying issues.


• Knowledge of local community resources.

• Knowledge and understanding of individual development and human behavior as it relates to the effects of illness and of the influence of culture on healthcare

Other Knowledge/Skills/Abilities:

• Flexible problem solver who is eager to tackle complex problems and tasks

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills; ability to solve problems creatively

• Ability to work across multiple sites of care and multiple members of a care team while managing competing commitments through clear communications

• Ability to work in a changing and ambiguous environment.

• Self-starter with initiative

• Experience identifying issues and developing and implementing solutions


• Must possess strong oral and written communication skills, planning skills, problem-solving skills, and personal diplomacy skills.


• Demonstrates personal traits of a high level of motivation, team orientation, professionalism and trustworthiness.

• Excellent PC skills, including the use of Microsoft Office products. Familiarity with EMR clinical products preferred.

• Current driver's license and transportation.

Responsibilities

Biopsychosocial Assessment

• Utilizing specialized knowledge and experience, make assessment of patients' psychosocial needs, home situation and economic constraints
• Psychiatry assessments must be completed within 3 working days of patient's admission and include regulatory mandated information.

Community Resources

• Serve as liaison between patients/ families and community agencies
• Coordinate information and referrals for financial and community resources to link patients/families to the appropriate resources.
• Serve as resource to clinical team, patients and families regarding entitlement to programs and support services
• Develop strong working relationships with internal and external healthcare organizations and community resources.
• Work with patients to formulate an individualized plan to obtain medication, particularly, in light of Medicare coverage limitations including the facilitation of enrollment in various drug companies' patient assistance programs when warranted

Care Delivery

• Work closely and collaboratively with the clinical care team across sites of care
• Assist the team with care delivery by scheduling appointments, arranging interpreters, assisting with the completion of forms, ensuring that patients can access services, and arranging transportation to and from medical appointments as needed
• Participate in clinic office visits, team rounds, or family conferences with when needed based on site of care

Care Transitions

• Coordinate patient care with other disciplines involved in the plan of care and maintain appropriate documentation
• Confer with the patient, family, and clinical team to obtain information to coordinate efficient and quality patient care.
• Build relationships with primary care providers, skilled nursing facilities, and the community to promote continuity of care

Embody the Memorial Health Performance Excellence Standards of Safety, Courtesy, Quality, and Efficiency that support our mission, vision and values:

Support

• Provide crisis intervention and supportive counseling for patients and their families as needed
• Serve as patient advocate, assisting with navigation of patient eligible resources and programs
• Provide patients and families with support and information to overcome personal and environmental difficulties which pre-dispose toward illness or interfere with obtaining maximum benefits from medical care
• Assist patients to effectively utilize available resources to meet their personal health needs and help them develop their own capabilities
• Evaluate patients' ability to independently manage self and locate alternative resources when limitations are identified

Advance Care Planning

• Maintains a working knowledge of relevant medical/legal issues that impact patient care, e.g., advance directives, power of attorney, and guardianships.

Counseling

• When requested, provide group, individual, and family counseling to patients and their families as requested

Discharge Planning

• Initiate discharge planning when patient is admitted.
• Assure that discharge plans are secured when patient is medically ready for discharge
• Assure that all necessary information has been transmitted to next provider of care.

Record documentation for all social work activities in the electronic medical record in a timely and thorough manner.

• Psychiatry colleagues must document in record after each session and supports information needed for Utilization Review criteria and the patient treatment plan.

Adhere to department productivity standards.

Participate in the monitoring of quality and utilization metrics and participates in improvement efforts to refine the delivery of care to maximize clinical, quality, and fiscal outcomes.

Assists, as needed, in the staff training, new employee orientation, student education, community education, in-house activities, and general public relations activities.

Refer to ancillary teams when warranted.

Aware of and comply with department and hospital policy and procedures.

Demonstrates knowledge of care for older adults through accurate assessments, treatment and effective implementation of interventions.

Adhere to the NASW Code of Ethics.

Comply with the Illinois Mental Health Code and Confidentiality Act.

Participate in continuing education and in-service training to support professional growth and expertise.

Perform other related duties as assigned.

The intent of this job description is to provide a representative summary of the major duties and responsibilities performed by incumbents of this job. Incumbents may be requested to perform tasks other than those specifically presented in this description.