Patient Navigation (20 hours): • Approximately 5 hours per week processing referrals from Emory University Hospital Midtown Nephritis Clinic (Atlanta) in the Grady Lupus Clinic (Atlanta). • Approximately 5 hours per week at the LFA, Georgia Chapter office to follow up on patient inquires coming to the LFAGA office. • Approximately 10 hours per week building a volunteer based community impact program across the state incorporating
Community Outreach (20 hours): • Community Outreach will include, but will not be limited to:
o Education Program Design and Support
o Support Group management.
o Emergency Financial Assistance
The Lupus Community Impact Manager is committed to reducing the patient's barriers to care by identifying critical resources for patients, helping them navigate through health care services and systems, and promoting patient health. They will work closely with the Care Teams, which may include doctors, nurses, chapter staff, and other clinical staff to achieve positive client health outcomes.
The goal is to improve overall disease management which results in better health outcomes for the lupus patients. The Community Outreach Manager will utilize a variety of resources to support patients in the following areas by: • Providing community support to both newly and currently diagnosed SLE/LN patients. • Identifying and addressing barriers to care when possible. • Identifying and addressing social determinants of health when possible. • Providing educational resources to connect patients with reliable resources and clear, accurate health information.
The community impact role requires someone who has empathy, compassion, and an understanding of the cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in the community and is knowledgeable about community resources, including financial, educational, social, and emotional support services available to patients.
The community impact role requires good communication skills and the ability to collaborate with multiple physicians, ancillary support services, and an exceptional customer service skillset.
The community impact position will provide any needed emotional support and further support resources as needed.
Responsibilities
Direct care to patients with lupus: • Establishes close relationships with patients. • Communicate with the Emory Nephritis Clinic and the Grady Lupus Clinic team members to facilitate client care. • Observe, report, and assess client needs and barriers to care. • Identify resources for clients to overcome barriers to care, such as transportation, housing, and childcare arrangements. • Remain aware of current services offered by service providers, such as mental health, housing, and employment assistance. • Maintain strict confidentiality in accordance with agency policies. • Educate and empower patients to learn as much as possible about lupus. • Provide support by educating the patient and their family on understanding the importance of compliance with treatment, Refer patients to other support services as needed. • Meet with clients after clinic appointments to review and update care plan.
Organizational duties: • Maintain documentation of all client encounters and complete reporting requirements according to organization standards. • Track client information, schedules, files, and forms in a confidential manner. • Track client attendance at medical appointments and patient navigation sessions and initiate outreach and missed appointment procedures, as necessary. • Attend and represent the organization at professional conferences, in-service trainings, and meetings at the request of or with the approval of supervisor.
Qualifications
Personal skills: • Commitment to the mission of care coordination • Passionate, trustworthy, and empathetic when working with clients. • Ability to build relationships with different types of people, including patients, organization members, and health care providers. • Strong communication and interpersonal skills and ability to speak concisely to patients and Care Team members. • Organized with confidential client material and appointment tracking. • Flexible and adaptable in response to changing patient and health care providers' needs. • An Interest in working with people with lupus. • Excellent interpersonal skills to instill confidence and to advocate for patients. • Exceptional organizational skills, the ability to keep well-written documentation, and track patient progress.
Education and experience: • Experience in serving underserved populations. • Experience in developing strategies to overcome barriers that prevent patients from accessing services and completing self-management tasks. • Knowledge of both community and healthcare system resources. • College degree preferred but not required. • Experience working in a social work field is helpful but not required. • Bi-lingual is preferred (English/Spanish) but not required. • Computer literacy required.