Behavioral Health Consultant

Job Responsibilities

• Works in conjunction with the Health Home Coordinator, PCHH team, and other care team members to provide a close, fully integrated model of behavioral health care in the primary care environment, tied into our Patient Centered Medical Home model of care.
• Performs screenings/evaluations of individuals for mental health and substance use disorders.
• Performs brief interventions for individuals with behavioral health concerns.
• Provides behavioral health supports to assist individuals in improving health status and managing chronic illnesses as needed.
• Supports primary care provider/team in identifying and behaviorally intervening with patients who could benefit from such interventions.
• Participate in front line interventions with first looking to manage behavioral health needs within primary care practice.
• Identifies problem behavior, discusses impact of intervention, and decides what to change.
• Implements specific goal directed interventions using monitoring forms, behavioral health “prescriptions,” and multiple simultaneous intervention strategies.
• Provides tailored education to patients and families about specific issues via handouts, teach back strategies, and other methods.
• Consistently communicates with primary care provider about patient care, including descriptions of the action plan and follow-up care.
• Transitions patients to traditional behavioral health counseling as needed.
• Uses correct visit templates when documenting, and consistently differentiates visits between BCH and counseling.
• Dismisses each patient by walking them to the front office and communicating with office staff what the patient needs to be scheduled for and, if it is a BHC appointment, what number that session will be.
• Ensures Medicaid prior authorizations are obtained prior to a 5th patient visit.
• Provides comprehensive mental health care to patients per OCHC procedure and policy and collaborative practice agreement/protocol, utilizing supplies and procedures appropriate to ages of the patients serviced, including child, adolescent, adult, and geriatric patients.
• Obtains and documents all relevant health history.
• Performs mental health examination and documents relevant findings.
• Develops and implements a plan of care, with the patient and appropriate others, which may include additional testing, education, counseling, health promotion, referral, and follow-up, and documents in the patient record.
• Educates and counsels individuals and/or their families on health, health promotion, and illness, based on identified mental needs.
• Provides mental care related to consultation to and collaborates with community agencies and organizations.
• Completes and signs documentation within 72 hours after the patient has been seen.
• Provides correct documentation, diagnosis codes, and correct template to ensure correct coding/billing occurs.
• Completes corrections from coding in a timely manner.