Responsibilities

The Social Worker provides supportive and informational counseling and discharge planning to adult, pediatric, adolescent and geriatric patients/families as they relate to the patient's emotional, functional, financial and social adjustment to illness, hospitalization and discharge.

The Social Worker's goal is to collaborate with patients, families and healthcare providers to promote health and manage illness. The Social Worker facilitates the use of assessment, coordination and education to achieve quality patient care outcomes while coordinating Interdisciplinary comprehensive and cost-effective care for the patient.

Essential Functions:

• Provides consultation to members of hospital staff, community agencies and other groups to resolve patient problems.
• May facilitate a support group of patients/families/community members to discuss similar concerns related to a specific disease or aspect of care.
• Obtains and updates information on community resources when indicated to provide patients, families and staff with accurate and relevant information.
• Participates in multidisciplinary team meetings as assigned.
• Works collaboratively with other healthcare disciplines to facilitate discharge planning and meet patient and family needs.
• Develops and maintains good working relationships with community agencies and reaches out to the community on a regular basis to develop new resources to meet patient needs.
• Participates in community planning activities as assigned by department manager as related to the interests of the patients and the hospital.
• Works collaboratively with other healthcare disciplines (PT, RT, Dietary, nursing, physicians), utilizing the expertise of all in a team effort, to facilitate discharge planning and meet patient/family needs.
• Intervenes with physicians and ancillary departments concerning clinical and utilization issues to ensure an optimal patient outcome.
• Conducts psychosocial and discharge planning assessments within 1 working day and performs reassessments per departmental policy.
• Documents all interventions in the medical record via computer according to departmental standards on the day of occurrence.
• Pre-certifies services for discharge as needed.
• Participates in Quality Management projects according to departmental monitors to ensure appropriate Case Management intervention and to provide a mechanism for problem resolution.