Bachelor’s-prepared staff assist case managers
Work closely with health management specialists
Spartanburg (SC) Regional Healthcare System has just started using health management extenders — bachelor’s-prepared staff who work side-by-side with the hospital’s health management specialists. The hospital also hires people with an associate degree and at least three years’ experience in health care.
"We foresee that as the extenders take the burden off the health management specialists, they will be free to truly work on issues that need their level of expertise," says Angela Roberson, RN, BSN, CPUM, manager of health management.
Before creating the new role, Roberson and her team used flowcharts to outline the processes handled by the health management specialists and colored the areas they identified that could be carried out by someone else.
"The role requires a great attention to detail and a certain knowledge and understanding of the health care arena," she says.
Even though the extenders are college-prepared and paid accordingly, it’s more cost-effective to hire them than licensed individuals, Roberson says.
"We’re expecting they will pay attention to the details and make sure all the detail-oriented pieces that have to happen are there and in place," she says.
Before the new positions were designated, the hospital used clerical staff members to fax and copy. Now the extenders are responsible for those tasks. The hospital has a new computer system for referrals to post-acute services that both the health management specialists and the extenders use.
A wealth of knowledge
After the health management specialist has assessed for need and set the initial wheels in motion, the health management extenders take it from there, contacting multiple providers, setting up care or equipment, and making sure that the transfer occurs in a timely manner.
"We feel that when we are asking people to set up post-acute placements and to be held accountable, along with the health management specialists, they need to be college-prepared," she says.
"These people are actually trained in many of the processes we carry out in our department, but they don’t come out of school able to sit for the nursing exam or social work certification. They have a wealth of knowledge and no way to use it. The extender role is perfect for someone with that type of degree and a high level of knowledge about health care," she says.
The goal of the new level of employee is to free up the health management specialists to spend more time with difficult utilization management and discharge planning cases.
"It’s becoming more and more difficult every day. Unemployment rates are high here and many people have been faced with difficult issues. We are hoping this will free up the health management specialists to spend more time with them," Roberson says.
The hospital started with three extenders, approved by the administration who recognized the benefit of freeing up the licensed staff.
"We feel like the impact will be great and that we probably will have enough work for four or five extenders," Roberson says.
Spartanburg (SC) Regional Healthcare System has just started using health management extenders bachelors-prepared staff who work side-by-side with the hospitals health management specialists. The hospital also hires people with an associate degree and at least three years experience in health care.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
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