Within the Capacity Management division, the Admission Triage Associates, in partnership with Patient Flow Coordinators (PFCs) and Admission Triage Coordinators (ATCs), coordinate and optimize patient flow across University Hospital, Mott Hospital, and Cardiovascular Center. In order to promote quality and safe patient care, Admission Triage Associates provide accurate and timely data entry into systems, screen and manage incoming phone calls, support communication with referring customers while maximizing throughput.
Duties include but are not limited to:
- Answer, screen, handle and/or route all department bed requests. Track messages and assist with responses.
- Provide service excellence and effective communication with team members, other departments and external customers.
- Provide accurate and timely follow-up with staff, patients and families.
- Process accurate and timely admissions as requested.
- Patient placement in accordance with placement guidelines, fill algorithms and in collaboration with PFCs as needed.
- Prioritize patient placement from multiple in-coming locations i.e. home, clinic, outside hospital transfers, PACU, and emergency department from all hospitals.
- Verify census and update discrepancies in associated systems (Epic) to ensure real-time status for all patients.
- Ensure bed tracking systems reflect real-time, accurate status for all patients and bed status.
- Provide status report and ongoing issue update at shift change.
- Coordinate coverage issues with co-workers and take the necessary steps to ensure appropriate staffing.
- Collaborate with PFCs and medical providers to assist with placements based on level of care required for current patients in ICU/Moderate Care/Telemetry.
- Facilitate intra-unit transfers to optimize medically necessary private rooms and patient satisfaction.
- Partner with PFCs to identify and problem-solve patient placement barriers to expedite bed assignment process.
- Assist and prepare for placement of next day scheduled admissions in collaboration with the PFCs by updating electronic systems.
- Assist facilitation and participate with daily bed briefing in both Adult and Mott Hospitals.
- Facilitate communication to inpatient units, charge nurses, inpatient clerks, and medical providers regarding bed availability by using phone, MiChart Secure chat, Microsoft Teams, paging, and email.
- Manage multiple competing tasks and deadlines with energy and efficiency.
- Additional duties and responsibilities as assigned.
Leadership
- Participate in the orientation and training of on-boarding capacity management staff.
- Participate in activities to promote own continued learning and professional growth.
Continuous Quality Improvement
- Participate in the development, implementation and ongoing evaluation of policies and procedures related to patient flow and utilization management.
- Assess and evaluate new or revised systems which support Capacity Management goals and objectives.
- Recommend and facilitate improvements in the patient placement process based on data analysis.
- Document notable events for follow-up and make recommendations for quality improvement.
- Maintain required documentation to support quality improvement and performance metrics.