Case Manager HIV/Counseling and Testing

Albany Medical Center; City of Albany (NY); On-site; USD 70,000 - 109,000; Full time

Job summary

Albany Medical Center in Albany, NY seeks an HIV Counselor and Retention Specialist to provide counseling/testing onsite and in the community, linking patients to HIV care and coordinating with internal teams.

The role includes outreach, education on risk reduction, and follow-up to ensure timely retention in care, with emphasis on accurate documentation and collaboration with community partners.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology or sociology.
• Fluency in English; Spanish is a plus.
• Experience in a healthcare setting preferred.
• Ability to work in day shift and travel for community outreach as needed.

Responsibilities

• Provides HIV counseling and testing onsite and in the community.
• Engages, re-engages, links, and refers patients to HIV care.
• Coordinates with care teams to facilitate access to HIV care.
• Maintains documentation and completes reporting forms for HIV services.
• Educates patients on HIV testing, risk reduction and related resources.
• Liaises with community agencies to support patient linkage to care.

Skills

HIV counseling

Communication

Care coordination

Education

Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology or sociology

Job description

Job Description

Department/Unit: HBD - Aids Program

Work Shift: Day (United States of America)

Salary Range: $70,068.00 - $108,605.00

POSITION TITLE: HIV Counselor and Retention Specialist

DEPARTMENT/DIVISION: Medicine/ HIV Medicine

REPORTS TO: Supervisor of Case Management/ Manager of Client Services

RESPONSIBILITIES

Provides HIV counseling testing services onsite and in the community.

Provides engagement, re-engagement, linkage, referral, and other services to new patients and patients who have fallen out of care (and patients at risk for falling out of care).

HIV Counselor Provides counseling and testing at approved community events, according to established procedure

Participates in outreach/ publicity events, as needed and approved by supervisor

Provides out-patient HIV pre- and post- test counseling for scheduled or walk-in clients according to established procedure

Recognizes signs of HIV sero-conversion and notifies medical provider to assure best practice is followed

Serves as liaison to community agencies regarding counseling and testing

Maintains stock of charts, documents, educational materials, and related paperwork for clients being tested and related paperwork

Facilitates provider completion of HIV reporting/Partner Notification forms and forwards appropriate copy to NYS DOH.

Follow guidelines for clients with newly positive HIV tests (internal)

Assures confirmatory test

Arrange appointment with medical provider for client to receive confirmatory test

Follows up to assure confirmatory test is received prior to provider appointment

Links patients into HIV care within 30 days of confirmatory test

Coordinates with community and internal care team to facilitate access to HIV care

Collaborates with internal multidisciplinary team and staff from community agencies to link newly positive HIV patients to care at AMC DHIVM within 14-30 days of HIV confirmatory test

Tracks information on patients with new diagnoses (those tested by DHIVM as well as those referred to HIV medicine) to monitor timeliness of linkage to care and retention in care as required by funders.

Follows NYS HIV testing guidelines and AMC policy when conducting pre- and post-testing.

• benefits of HIV testing
• the relationship between HIV and AIDS
• modes of HIV transmission
• testing options (anonymous vs confidential)
• testing procedures, purpose of the test, meaning of the results, and the window period

Provides risk/harm reduction education and counseling relevant to the patient’s individual behavioral context (i.e. condom use, needle cleaning)

Adapts counseling technique to suit the patient’s developmental level and personal circumstances.

Responds to patient’s questions and concerns in a satisfactory manner.

Assesses patient’s ability to cope with the HIV test results, and the availability of supportive resources in the patient’s immediate living environment.

Assesses patient’s capacity to consent to HIV testing and obtains appropriate consent to perform testing.

HIV Post-test counseling

Conveys HIV test results including discussion of the meaning of the results and addresses patient’s immediate concerns and questions. Meets the needs of patients with negative test results:

• Discusses the possibility of HIV exposure during the “window period” and assists the patient in determining if/when to get re-tested.
• Reinforces risk/harm reduction strategies relevant to the patient’s personal situation.

Attends to the needs of patients with positive test results:

• Discusses the availability and importance of medical care and follow-up services
  • Provides education regarding behavior change to prevent transmission of HIV to others
  • Encourages partner/contact notification and offers assistance
  • Provides referrals for HIV testing of partners and children, as needed
  • Provides referrals to medical and support services and other services, as needed (within AMC and the community)
  • Utilizes knowledge of AMC and community resources to advocate for the needs of the patient

Retention Specialist Patients with new HIV appointments

Complete Pre-Intake Screening on new patients to prepare patients for first HIV appointment, identify barriers to care, and facilitate referrals, if needed

Provide reminder calls to patients with new HIV appointments

Assist with new patient intakes, as directed by supervisor

Contact patient post-new visit to assess patient understanding of medical plan and identify potential barriers to care

Assure quarterly follow up with patient to assess for needs, barriers, and understanding of medical plan

Patients at risk for retention issues

Establish case load of patients without HIV medical appointments in previous 6 months and/or patients with consecutive no show visits

Thoroughly review medical records and collaborate with care team to identify other methods to reach patients, if contact information is not sufficient

Attempt to contact patient every 2-4 weeks to express concern, identify/address barriers, schedule appointment

Notify team of patient’s retention status to identify additional interventions

Enlist assistance from community agencies if authorizations for disclosure of information are active

Contact patient one week prior to appointment to remind of appointment and re-assess for conflicts/barriers. Encourage patients to consider future services from community (release required)

Meet patient at medical visit, if possible

Check in with patient following appointment (or following NS)

Provide reminder call/assessment for barriers one week prior to next medical visit

Continue to monitor until patient is successfully retained in care

Close pt once successfully retained in care or all avenues for contacting patient have been exhausted. Closures are to be reviewed and approved by the supervisor.

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Data Collection to Support Grant Requirements and Quality Activities

Complete Ryan White Eligibility Forms on patients

Enter all counseling/testing, retention, care coordination and other patient services to the AIRS data base, as directed by supervisor

Enter intake information to the AIRS database as directed by supervisor

Enroll patients to specified AIRS programs as directed by supervisor

Close patients from AIRS programs as directed by supervisor and in accordance with policy

Maintain spreadsheets as assigned

Documentation

Documents all client/patient encounters and care coordination activities in paper chart (counseling and testing) or electronic health record (retention).

Uses DIP (data, impression, plan) format to document encounters/care coordination activities.

Keeps note’s objective and concise.

Ensure impressions/opinions are supported by objective information.

Assure us each note includes information to support corresponding entry of services in AIRS.

Utilizes EHR tasking feature to communicate with care team.

Copies tasks to note or separate documents communications with care team.

Miscellaneous

Additional duties may be assigned by supervisor or management staff.

EDUCATION and/or EXPERIENCE

Bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology or sociology

Prior Experience Working In a Healthcare Setting Preferred

Language skills

Ability to read and understand medical information, knowledge of medical terminology is helpful. Fluency in written and oral English. Spanish is a plus.

Mathematical Skills

Ability to calculate figures and amounts such as discounts, interest, proportions, and percentages. Good computer and typing skills

Reasoning Ability

Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.

Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit. The employee frequently is required to walk. The employee is occasionally required to stand.

The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 10 pounds. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision and the ability to adjust focus.

The employee must be able to handle moderate levels of stress.

The employee is occasionally exposed to infectious diseases.

Work environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate. The employees will be performing their job tasks in both an inpatient health care setting and Outpatient clinic setting

Thank you for your interest in Albany Med Health System!

Albany Med Health System is an equal opportunity employer.

This role may require access to information considered sensitive to Albany Med Health System, its patients, affiliates, and partners, including but not limited to HIPAA Protected Health Information and other information regulated by Federal and New York State statutes. Workforce members are expected to ensure that: Access to information is based on a “need to know” and is the minimum necessary to properly perform assigned duties. Use or disclosure shall not exceed the minimum amount of information needed to accomplish an intended purpose. Reasonable efforts, consistent with Albany Med Health System policies and standards, shall be made to ensure that information is adequately protected from unauthorized access and modification.