At Houston Methodist, the Patient Placement Coordinator position is responsible for assisting with patient flow and appropriate patient placement according to diagnosis and service line. This position collaborates with Patient Access Services and all hospital departments in appropriate patient and census management. The Patient Placement Coordinator also serves as a liaison to physicians, patients, families and staff as appropriate. This position may also assist with insurance verification, registration and other duties of a similar nature that relate to effective and efficient patient throughput.

PATIENT AGE GROUP(S) AND POPULATION(S) SERVED
Refer to departmental "Scope of Service" and "Provision of Care" plans, as applicable, for description of primary age groups and populations served by this job for the respective HM entity.

HOUSTON METHODIST EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS

• Provide personalized care and service by consistently demonstrating our I CARE values:
  • INTEGRITY: We are honest and ethical in all we say and do.
  • COMPASSION: We embrace the whole person including emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual needs.
  • ACCOUNTABILITY: We hold ourselves accountable for all our actions.
  • RESPECT: We treat every individual as a person of worth, dignity, and value.
  • EXCELLENCE: We strive to be the best at what we do and a model for others to emulate.

• Practices the Caring and Serving Model

• Delivers personalized service using HM Service Standards

• Provides for exceptional patient/customer experiences by following our Standards of Practice of always using Positive Language (AIDET, Managing Up, Key Words)

• Intentionally collaborates with other healthcare professionals involved in patients/customers or employees' experiential journeys to ensure strong communication, ease of access to information, and a seamless experience.

• Involves patients (customers) in shift/handoff reports by enabling their participation in their plan of care as applicable to the given job

• Displays cultural humility, diversity, equity and inclusion principles

• Actively supports the organization's vision, fulfills the mission and abides by the I CARE values

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Promotes a positive work environment and contributes to a dynamic team focused work unit that actively helps one another to achieve optimal departmental and organizational results.

• Collaborates with hospital departments in census management.

• Communicates with other departments (clinical and non-clinical) to facilitate patient placement process and ensure all patient placement needs are met. Collaborates with Operations Administrators as needed to resolve patient placement issues.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Gathers information on patients waiting for admission from various portals, develops a plan for all admissions and transfers where appropriate and assigns patients. Identifies patient placement issues and takes appropriate steps to resolve.

• Continually monitors bed availability to ensure bed status is updated, taking appropriate steps to resolve any issues. Monitors and facilitates unit discharge activity as projected.

• Completes daily reports pertaining to census demand, bed capacity and house operations. Maintains morgue census and assists with autopsy consents when necessary.

• Provides additional support to the department to bolster efficient and effective patient throughput and the patient experience.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Enters and updates patient and operational data into various database systems with a high level of thoroughness, accuracy and timeliness.

• Organizes and leads work efforts during shift to assure smooth operations and communicates pertinent hand-off information

• Communicates to resolve patient access and quality service matters. Keeps open channels of communication with physician, patient and service areas regarding action taken and outcome.

• Ensures patient information is conveyed to others appropriately while complying with patient confidentiality and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) regulations.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Accurately records information when performing functions such as registration and insurance verification/coordination to ensure financial objectives are met.

• Organizes time effectively, minimizing incidental overtime and sets priorities. Utilizes time between heavy workloads efficiently and helps other team members.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Displays initiative to improve job functions; offers suggestions to streamline process for efficient patient flow and other quality or service matters.

• Seeks opportunities to expand learning beyond baseline competencies with a focus on continual development.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises.

EDUCATION

• High School diploma or equivalent education (examples include: GED, verification of homeschool equivalency, partial or full completion of post-secondary education, etc.)

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Three years of experience in a healthcare environment, to include experience in registration, scheduling, insurance verification, and/or business office.

• Experience with patient placement and/or unit secretary highly preferred.
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LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - REQUIRED

• N/A

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations

• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security

• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles

• Proficient understanding of medical terminology and diagnosis/procedural codes

• Proficient computer skills and ability to learn and navigate multiple software programs

• Excellent customer service and professional communication skills

• Ability to handle detail work accurately and rapidly

• Critical thinking and independent decision making skills

• Ability to analyze and solve problems

• Ability to remain calm in stressful situations with patience and understanding

• Ability to work independently and as a part of the healthcare team

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform No
• Scrubs No
• Business professional Yes
• Other (department approved) Yes

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. DIsaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* No

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area No
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area No

Houston Methodist The Woodlands opened in 2017 as the eighth hospital in the Houston Methodist system. This 187-bed, 470,000-square-foot, full-service, acute care hospital offers many of the same services as our flagship hospital in the Texas Medical Center. Also on the $380 million hospital campus, located at the intersection of I-45 and TX 242, is a medical office building, which opened in 2016. Medical Office Building 1 includes a breast care center, cancer center & infusion center, orthopedics & sports medicine, rehabilitation services, wellness services, and an outpatient laboratory in addition to multi-specialty physician practices. A second medical office building and 785-car parking garage opened in 2018.