The HMS Patient Throughput Specialist coordinates referrals from ER Physicians, Community Physicians, and other Healthcare Providers to the Hospital Medicine Service by utilizing medical expertise, experience, and comprehensive knowledge of the current state of the Hospital Medicine Service. Triages patients to individual teams and ensure that patients are seen promptly, accidents prevented, and delays minimized throughout the hospital course including post-discharge. Also facilitates communication into and within the department ensuring that all interactions run efficiently, and match patients’ needs with the clinical care manpower to meet those needs.

1. Matches the clinical needs of HMS Acute Care Patients with the most favorable clinical environment/capacity to meet those needs.

• Communicates and coordinates HMS services between numerous referring physicians/clinicians and receiving physicians.
• Maintains knowledge of physician staffing and clinical tasks being performed by HMS
• Maintains knowledge of physician bylaws and service-to-service interface agreements to avoid inappropriate referrals.
• Also summarizes scenarios that lead to delays or inappropriate patient care to improve interface agreements and physician education
• Maintains knowledge of teaching service staffing, census and cap limits.
• Maintains knowledge of HMS PCP coverage arrangements with participating PCPs.

Consistently maintains knowledge of City Call Schedule and hospital census data in order to manage and coordinate patient throughput. Coordinates with bed control with pending requests, patient acuity, demographic and financial information. Also maintains strong understanding of bed management/utilization an patient flow methodologies as they relate to continuum of care.
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1. Manages the global HMS census

• Manages reports regarding new patient contacts (admit, observation, consults) and discharged patients (discharges, transfers, signoffs and deaths)
• Ensures that patients primary care providers are aware of admissions and discharges of their patients

Maintains Core Measures specific census for appropriate Surgical Care Improvement Project measures affecting Value Base Purchasing
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3. Publishes and adjusts HMS Physician and Nursing assignments daily.
Continues to maintain real-time knowledge of HMS census, staffing, and projections.
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1. Responds to all external and internal requests for physician services through a single point of service

• Acting as liaison between HMS and referring physicians.
• Performs prompt review of recent physician care to better direct patients to physicians who have recently seen the patient
• Enables hospitalists to see more patients in a shorter period of time, thus improving throughput, efficiency and satisfaction.
• Enhances the ability to obtain pertinent medical records from Our Lady of the Lake RMC, transferring facilities, clinic offices, and other healthcare providers both productively and professionally

Responds to pages and phone calls in a prompt, courteous and professional manner
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1. Enhances Patient Safety

• Tracks all patients from referral to discharge ensuring that they are: accounted for at all times, assigned to a Hospital Medicine Service Team, and seen by a hospitalist
• Prepares night-time cross-coverage binders for on-site night-time hospitalists to facilitate Joint Commission standards for physician-to-physician handoffs, timely and informed cross-coverage for admitted patients
• Resolves post discharge issues until the patient has had sufficient time to re-establish care with the primary care physician or community care provider
• Participates in data collection for quality improvement initiatives
• Communicates to oncoming Hospital Medicine Physician(s) a comprehensive state of the Hospital Medicine Service, all patients and their locations, incoming referrals and their locations, suggested future individual team assignments, and other pertinent information prior to end of shift
• Gathers from outgoing Hospital Medicine Physicians all prior patient referrals (seen or pending) at beginning of shift

Assists Medical Director of Hospital Medicine with research regarding patient complaints
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1. Financial soundness

• Ensures that Hospital Medicine Physician patient billing is complete, accurate and timely
• Coordinates patient billing status i.e. (inpatient, observation) between hospital and Hospital Medicine Service, ensuring the patients status is accurate and in concordance
• Consistently available in the Hospital Medicine Office to provide both operational and clinical insight regarding the entirety of the Hospital Medicine Service (patients, healthcare providers, billing, meetings, etc.) to internal and external parties

Manages and coordinates work order requests for the Hospital Medicine Service to enhance/repair clinical efficiency
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1. Other duties

• Performs other duties as assigned

Experience
2 years nursing experience in an acute setting
Education
Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree
Licensure
Current unrestricted Louisiana RN; BLS

• Performs other duties as assigne