Director of Patient Care Services

PRIMARY FUNCTION

The DPCS is the leader of the Patient Care Team and that member of the team whose function is to: supervise, evaluate and coordinate the various component members of the interdisciplinary team; assure continuity of care from admission to discharge or transfer to bereavement; serve as patient advocate and coordinator for other social service and health care providers in the community who are involved in the care of the team's patients; assume responsibility for the maintenance of patient records from intake through discharge or transfer to bereavement.

JOB RESPONSIBILITIES

1\. Patient Care Services

* Directs all patient care services for the team, including volunteer and bereavement, and ensures that services are rendered as integrated components of the interdisciplinary plan of care.
* Reviews information on all pending patient admissions, all new admissions (assessments and history) and “alive” discharges to assure that eligibility and appropriateness criteria are met.
* Collaborates with both the team physician and the attending physician regarding palliative care measures for patient and symptoms management.
* Assure complete and accurate data and documentation are available to make recertification decisions and further assure that those decisions are made on a timely basis.
* Ensures review of all “live” discharges to assure effective discharge planning.
* Monitors the type and level of team services provided (staffing, medications, HME, supplies, level of care changes to General In\-Patient and Continuous Care, etc.) to assure that they are appropriate and responsive to patient/family needs and expectations.
* Manages the team schedule and assures coordination of services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to all patients on the team.
* Facilitates the weekly team meeting, assuring interdisciplinary input into the update and revision of the plan of care in concert with the changing needs and expectations of the patient and family.
* Participates in on\-call rotation.

2\. Staff Supervision and Management

* Interviews, selects, trains, supervises, evaluates and dismisses team staff in conjunction with the Hospice Administrator.
* Assures staff competence and performance levels through making field visits, evaluating documentation and providing team\-based in\-services on Anthem Hospice values, hospice principles and practices, and specific team growth needs.
* Acts as a resource and mentor for staff related to clinical issues, documentation, inter\- and intra\-team problem solving and appropriate customer service behavior.
* Oversees staff and volunteer schedules, scheduling and territory assignments to assure that workload is distributed equitably and that all staff can meet overall productivity expectations.
* Reviews and approves payroll, assuring that employees have documented accurate time, mileage and additional expenses.
* Directs all volunteer patient care activities and ensures the team works together to coordinate the volunteer assignment process and support volunteers.

3\. Quality Improvement/Regulatory Compliance

* Monitors clinical records and all team activities to ensure that they are accurate, complete, and meet required standards in accordance with Anthem Hospice policy and all regulatory bodies.
* Develops and implements performance improvement activities to respond to service issues and challenges and participates from time to time in programs relating to quality and service improvement.
* Ensures that team completes proactive and other patient/family satisfaction surveys and implements Quality Improvement measures and standards.
* Assists with surveys and requests from regulatory bodies and intermediaries as directed by Anthem Hospice administration.
* Performs substantive chart reviews to assure there is evidence that quality care is being delivered.
* Participates in outcomes management and annual program review.
* Performs utilization review of Continuous Care and General In\-Patient levels of care for all patients on team.

4\. Customer Service/Sales/Marketing

* Assures that problems/grievances/service failures experienced by patients, families, physicians, or vendors are addressed with team members and other Anthem Hospice departments and are resolved promptly and satisfactorily.
* Analyzes customer service issues on team to identify causes and works with individual team members as well as entire team to improve performance.
* Ensures that staff have talked with patient/families and their attending physicians when patient is considering revocation to seek satisfactory solutions to avoid unnecessary revocation.
* Regularly visit Long Term Care and Contract Bed facilities to assure care plan integration, customer satisfaction and to discuss criteria for determining appropriateness.
* Participates in providing in\-services to customers along with other team members and Anthem Hospice Staff.
* Participates in professional, voluntary or community service organizations.

5\. Cost Containment

* Verifies/approves admitting and Initial Plan of Care diagnosis, treatments, staffing and supplies.
* Monitors utilization of resources by every patient to assure cost effective delivery of services.
* Controls and is accountable for productivity, labor and all related patient care costs with respect to budget.
* Approves all bills/invoices related to patient care services.

6\. Professional Development

* Attends in\-services, educational seminars and workshops.
* Develops and achieves professional growth goals and objectives.
* Participates as a mentor of newly hired Team Managers.

JOB REQUIREMENTS

* Private reliable telephone service.
* Reliable transportation with appropriate license and insurance coverage for drivers and passengers.
* Knowledge of the principles and practices of primary medical and nursing care, and palliative care.
* Basic understanding of the interpersonal dynamic’s operation within the working relationships of an interdisciplinary health care team, and knowledge of the process of dying and bereavement.
* Working knowledge of Anthem Hospice information system(s) and the ability to manage reports.

QUALIFICATIONS

* Bachelor's degree preferred.
* Current RN Licensed to practice in the state of California.
* Two years of Hospice experience.
* Two years of successful supervisory/management experience in a health care organization.

DIRECTION RECEIVED

* Reports to the Executive Director of Clinical Services.
* Confers with Medical Director regarding delivery of competent, appropriate medical care.
* Confers with Volunteer and Bereavement Coordinators.