[Hiring] Senior Behavioral Health Care Advocate @UnitedHealth Group

Role Description

Due to our ongoing business relationship with the County of San Diego, Optum Behavioral Solutions has an immediate need for a CA licensed Senior Care Advocate. As a Senior Care Advocate you will focus on authorizations for psychiatric and chemical dependency patients and supporting the larger Utilization Management (UM) team with data entry and questions. This is primarily an administrative position with no patient contact. This position is part of a bargaining unit.

Schedule: This telecommute position requires working a schedule of Monday-Friday, 8:30am – 5:00pm Pacific Time. You’ll enjoy the flexibility to work remotely from anywhere within the U.S. as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Acquire and maintain access to the County of San Diego’s electronic health record (EHR) and/or other electronic databases
• Based on documentation, determining appropriate levels of patient care
• Obtaining information from providers on authorization requests for treatment
• Determining if documentation meets medical necessity requirements for payment through Medicaid or the County of San Diego
• Managing mental health and/or SUD cases throughout the treatment episode
• Administering benefits and reviewing treatment documentation
• Coordinating benefits and transitions between various areas of care
• Identifying ways to add value to treatment plans and consulting with facility staff or outpatient care providers on those ideas
• Data entry of clinical documentation submitted into the County’s Electronic Health Record or Designated Database
• Assist other teammates and/or other sub teams within Utilization Management as needed with questions, data entry, guidance, and support
• Monitor and oversee sub team workload and arrange coverage as needed and/or cover as needed
• Support implementation of any new requirements and current policies, procedures, and processes or assist in updating current processes and creation of new processes
• Assist leadership with projects, running reports and updates as needed
• Attend weekly leadership meetings
• Take initiative to assist other team members with their workloads and support the team
• Assist Supervisor with various tasks for business needs and serve as liaison with other departments
• Assist in interviewing, onboarding and training of new hires
• Ensure all work products are covered and turnaround times met for the sub team and/or the larger Utilization Management team
• Assist with problem resolution as needed
• Participate in Quality Assurance activities as needed and delegated
• Provide feedback to Manager or Supervisor on opportunities for improvement of the department or operations
• Knowledge of outcome focused clinical models and interventions in mental health and SUD
• Strong written and verbal communication and customer services skills
• Ability to work autonomously
• May serve as back up to other Senior Care Advocates across the larger team
• Serve as key point of contact for external stakeholders, providers and County staff as needed
• Support Access and Crisis Line as needed
• Model positive, professional and solution-oriented attitude
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Licensed, Master's Degreed Clinician in Psychology, Social Work, Counseling, or Marriage / Family Counseling, a Licensed Ph.D., or an RN with experience in behavioral health
• Licenses must be independent, active and unrestricted in the State of California
• 2+ years of experience in mental health / behavior health environment
• 1+ years of Leadership, Subject Matter Expert or Team Lead experience
• Intermediate level of computer proficiency (including MS Word/Excel/Office) and must be able to type and talk at the same time in addition to navigating a Windows environment

Preferred Qualifications

• Electronic Health Record experience
• Experience in a managed care setting
• Dual diagnosis experience with mental health and substance use treatment
• Medi-Cal system experience
• Experience working in an environment that requires coordination of benefits and utilization of multiple resources for patients
• Experience in telephonic roles
• Experience in Utilization Management
• Experience with high risk psychiatric or SUD patients working in community settings such as psychiatric inpatient, LTC, or SUD treatment
• Proven solid data entry and presentation skills

Benefits

• Comprehensive benefits package
• Incentive and recognition programs
• Equity stock purchase
• 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements)

Salary Information

The salary for this role will range from $72,800 - $130,000 annually based on full-time employment. Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc.

Application Deadline

This will be posted for a minimum of 2 business days or until a sufficient candidate pool has been collected. Job posting may come down early due to volume of applicants.