Resource Specialist, Pediatrics

Summary/Objective

The Resource Specialist is a member of an integrated primary care and behavioral health care team the pediatrics clinic that connects patients to social resources to support their health and wellness (housing, transportation, food, utilities support, employment assistance, child care, and more).

Essential Functions

1. Meet with and outreach to patients to determine their social determinants of health needs
2. Provide referrals to government- and community-based organizations to address patients’ social needs. Track referrals until patient needs are met.
3. Educate patients on healthcare and social services available to them
4. Assist the patients in completing necessary referral forms to request resources
5. Liaise with government resources, community-based organizations, and providers at Dimock to advocate for patients’ needs
6. Use technologies to engage patients
7. Assist patients in completing surveys and screens for primary care clinic
8. Manage forms requests from patients, including utility shut off protection, housing accommodations,
9. Organize and track casework on electronic database
10. Update resource tracking database to generate reports on utilization
11. Keep up-to-date with community resources, participate in trainings regarding this area
12. Provide ongoing feedback to the team on improving efficiency, new patient resources
13. Assist in maintaining partnerships with community organizations/resources and in distributing resources to the community
14. Participate in meetings and trainings with integrated care teams
15. Work with student interns to delegate and triage referrals from social determinants of health screenings

Competencies

1. Excellent interpersonal and communication skills (written & verbal)
2. Engage in communication and relationship-building with patients, their guardians, and community organizations
3. Excellent problem-solving skills and receptive to constructive feedback, creativity in finding solutions and in community engagement methods
4. Culturally sensitive, embraces diversity, and is focused on patients and their needs
5. Respects confidentiality and is ethical
6. Ability to manage multiple priorities and meet deadlines, is reliable
7. Ability to adapt to new software systems and technologies
8. Flexibility to adjust to health center’s policies, procedures and regulations
9. Spanish proficiency preferred

Work Environment
This job operates in an office/clinical environment, at the health center dealing with patients of diverse background, nationalities and ages.

Physical Demands

1. Duties may require standing and walking, or sitting for long periods of time, and/or reaching.
2. May need to be able to lift weight to assist with clothing and food donation pick ups – up to 25lbs at a time

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

A typical day involves identifying any new patient tasks sent to the Resource Specialist by providers/positive SDOH screening, contacting patients to identify needs and appropriate resources to connect, coordinating with providers for form requests, following up on referrals already in place, as well documenting progress made. Student interns join the team on a semester basis to assist with tasks, so the Resource Specialist is expected to delegate/triage as necessary. Communicate with inside and outside providers as necessary.

Full time: Monday – Friday: 9am-5pm

Required Education and Experience

1. High school diploma or equivalent; Associate Degree or Bachelor's degree in health sciences, community health, social work, psychology, public health is preferred but not required.
2. Experience working in a health care setting preferred; medical terminology knowledge
3. Demonstrated ability to manage multiple patients and diverse tasks.
4. Demonstrated ability to utilize EMR and Microsoft Office software.
5. Reference Checks demonstrate strong work ethic and values

EEO Statement
The Dimock Center values diversity and its committed to equal employment opportunity regardless of age, color, disability, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status protected by law.

Other Duties
Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice.