Social Worker (LMSW) Emergency Room

This position will focus on comprehensive emergency room initial assessments and multi‑visit patients. At Houston Methodist, the Social Worker II (SW II) position comprehensively provides compassionate, clinical social work, psychosocial assessments, diagnosis and treatments, and complex discharge planning to patients and their families of a targeted patient population on a designated unit(s). In collaboration with physicians and the interprofessional health‑care team, the role sensitizes other providers to the social and emotional aspects of a patient’s illness, facilitates efficient quality care, and achieves desired treatment outcomes while positively affecting patient and family outcomes.

The SW II uses case‑management skills to help patients and families address and resolve the social, financial, and psychological problems related to their health condition. The position holds joint accountability with case managers, ensuring psychosocial and continuing‑care issues are addressed across the continuum of care and is responsible for unit or departmental social‑work program development. It serves as a hospital‑wide, service‑line leader for psychosocial issues, complex discharge planning activities, and population disease management.

Exempt

• Master's degree in social work from accredited university

• Three (3) years social services experience in a healthcare setting

Required

• LMSW – Licensed Medical Social Worker – State Licensure – Texas Department of Licensing and  and
• Magnet ANCC‑recognized Case Management certification

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through ongoing assessments and evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform essential functions with patient or employee safety in mind
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and coworkers in a customer‑service focused manner and applying positive language principles
• Knowledge of community resources, health‑care financial and payer issues, and eligibility for state, local and federal programs
• Maintains individual competencies around critical social‑work functions including payor rules, psycho‑social assessments and discharge planning methods
• Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment in interactions with physicians, payors, patients and families
• Well versed in Microsoft Office Suite (Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Word)
• Critical thinking, collaboration, negotiation and mediation skills
• Time management and prioritization skills
• Adherence to clinical practice standards set by NASW for healthcare settings, especially hospitals and medical centers
• Maintains level of professional contributions as defined in the Career Path program

• Role models communication in an active, positive, effective manner to all health‑care team members and reports pertinent patient‑care and family data comprehensively and unbiasedly, listens and responds to others’ ideas, uses therapeutic communication to establish relationships and communicates the discharge plan, facilitating transitions and hand‑offs; supports patients and families in clinical or ethical issues.
• Provides staff education specific to patient populations and departmental processes, functions as a preceptor and mentor to new employees, and identifies opportunities for professional growth of self and peers.

• Serves as a hospital/post‑acute‑based leader for comprehensive case‑management activities, including assessing high‑risk patients, leading the team to identify at‑risk patients, participating in daily Care Coordination rounds, and resolving barriers to efficient patient throughput. Completes a full assessment based on the social‑work assessment, leading and addressing solutions of social determinants through patient/family interview, reviewing medical records, labs, plan of care, physician orders, nursing and progress notes.
  
  Uses advanced knowledge and clinical expertise…