Case Manager - Care Coordination - Full Time 8 hours Day (Union, Non-Exempt)

Keck Medicine of USC; Arcadia (CA); On-site; USD 63,369 - 104,697; Full time

Job summary

University of Southern California Arcadia Hospital is seeking a Case Manager to support the physician and interdisciplinary team in delivering high‑quality patient care while controlling costs and ensuring timely payer information. The role coordinates utilization management, care facilitation, and discharge planning for a designated caseload.

You will partner with medical staff and ancillary teams to remove barriers to timely care, document accurately in the patient record, and ensure smooth

Qualifications

• Associate's degree in nursing and active RN license in California.
• Knowledge of discharge planning, utilization management, and managed-care reimbursement.
• Strong communication, negotiation, and organizational skills.

Responsibilities

• Actively participates in discharge planning and care progression.
• Coordinate with physicians and multidisciplinary teams to ensure timely and cost-effective care.
• Document plan of care and communication with payers and family.
• Support pre-certification and payer authorization processes and monitor LOS.

Skills

Discharge planning

Utilization management

Case management

Performance improvement

Interdisciplinary collaboration

Communication skills

Organizational skills

Data management

Negotiation

Team coordination

Education

Associate’s Degree in Nursing

Tools

Affinity GUI

Job description

The purpose of the Case Manager position is to support the physician and interdisciplinary team in the provision of patient care, with the underlying objective of enhancing the quality of clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction while managing the cost of care and providing timely and accurate information to payers. The role integrates and coordinates utilization management, care facilitation, and discharge planning functions. The Case Manager is accountable for a designated patient caseload and plans effectively in order to meet patient needs, manage the length of stay, and promote efficient utilization of resources. Specific functions within this role include facilitation of pre-certification and payer authorization processes, facilitation of the collaborative management of patient care across the continuum, intervening as necessary to remove barriers to timely and efficient care delivery and reimbursement, application of process improvement methodologies in evaluating outcomes of care support and coaching of clinical documentation efforts, serving as a clinical resource for coders, ensuring that documentation accurately reflects severity of illness and intensity of service, and coordinating communication with physicians.

Job Accountabilities

• Actively participates in clinical performance improvement activities.
• Applies approved InterQual criteria to monitor appropriateness of admissions and continued stays.
• Assists in the compilation of physician profile data regarding LOS, resource utilization, denied days, cost, case mix index, patient satisfaction, and quality indicators.
• Assists in the collection and reporting of financial indicators including case mix, LOS, cost per case, excess days, resource utilization, readmission rates, denials, and appeals.
• Collaborates and communicates with the multidisciplinary team in all phases of the discharge planning process, including initial patient assessment, planning, implementation, interdisciplinary collaboration, teaching, and ongoing evaluation.
• Collaborates with medical staff, nursing staff, and ancillary staff to eliminate barriers to efficient delivery of care in the appropriate setting.
• Collaborates with the physician and all members of the multidisciplinary team to facilitate care for the designated caseload, monitor the patient’s progress, and intervene as necessary to ensure that the plan of care and services are patient focused, high quality, efficient, and cost effective.
• Facilitates timely completion and reporting of diagnostic testing, completion of treatment and discharge plans, modification of the plan of care as needed, communication to third‑party payers, assignment of appropriate levels of care, and completion of all required documentation in Affinity GUI screens and patient records.
• Collaborates/communicates with external case managers.
• Collects delay‑in‑service data and data for specific performance and/or outcome indicators as determined by the director.
• Communicates with the Financial Counselor to facilitate covered‑day reimbursement certification for assigned patients.
• Discusses payer criteria and issues on a case‑by‑case basis with clinical staff and follows up to resolve problems with payers as needed.
• Completes utilization management for assigned patients.
• Coordinates/facilitates patient care progression throughout the continuum.
• Documents relevant discharge‑planning information in the Affinity GUI System according to department standards.
• Ensures that all elements critical to the plan of care have been communicated to the patient/family and members of the healthcare team and documented as necessary to ensure continuity of care.
• Ensures/maintains plan consensus from patient/family, physician, and payer.
• Facilitates transfer to other facilities.
• Identifies at‑risk populations using an approved screening tool and follows established reporting procedures.
• Initiates and facilitates referrals to the Home Health Liaison for home health care, hospice, and medical equipment and supplies.
• Issues Notices of Non‑coverage per hospital policy.
• Manages all aspects of discharge planning for assigned patients.
• Meets directly with patient/family to assess needs and develop an individualized plan in collaboration with the physician.
• Monitors all transfer DRG’s.
• Monitors length of stay (LOS) and ancillary resource use on an ongoing basis, taking actions to achieve continuous improvement in both areas.
• Performs 100% UR Review on all Medicare One‑Day admissions.
• Proactively identifies and resolves delays and obstacles to discharge.
• Refers appropriate cases for social work intervention based on department criteria.
• Refers cases and issues to the physician advisor in compliance with department procedures and follows up as indicated.
• Seeks consultation from appropriate disciplines/departments as required to expedite care and facilitate discharge.
• Uses data to drive decisions and plan/implement performance‑improvement strategies related to assigned patients, including fiscal, clinical, and patient satisfaction data.
• Uses quality screens to identify potential issues and forwards information to the PI department.
• Utilizes advanced conflict‑resolution skills as necessary to ensure timely resolution of issues.
• Works collaboratively and maintains active communication with physicians, nursing, and other members of the multidisciplinary care team to effect timely, appropriate patient management.

Qualifications

• Minimum Education: Associate’s Degree Nursing.
• Minimum Skills: Ability to work independently and exercise sound judgment in interactions with physicians, payers, patients, and families; current working knowledge of discharge planning, utilization management, case management, performance improvement, and managed‑care reimbursement; excellent interpersonal communication and negotiation skills; strong organizational and time‑management skills demonstrated by the capacity to prioritize multiple tasks; understanding of pre‑acute and post‑acute venues of care and post‑acute community resources; strong analytical, data‑management, and PC skills.
• Required Certifications: Registered Nurse—RN (California Board), Basic Life Support—BLS, Healthcare Provider from the American Heart Association.
• Preferred Experience: Approximately 3 years of clinical experience in Utilization Review and Discharge Planning in an acute hospital.

Pay Transparency

Hourly rate range for this position is $46.00 – $76.07. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California Arcadia Hospital considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.