Social Worker - MSW

UPMC; Pittsburgh (Allegheny County); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

UPMC Pittsburgh Area Center for Treatment (PACT Clinic) in Pittsburgh seeks a social worker to join its interdisciplinary team focused on HIV and PrEP care. The role emphasizes collaborative care and supervision opportunities for licensure.

You will work Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with no weekend or holiday shifts. The position supports comprehensive care, mentorship for MSW students, and ongoing professional development within a busy clinical setting.

Responsibilities

• Accesses social resources for patients and families and facilitates referrals.
• Maintains knowledge of federal, state, and local assistance programs affecting patient needs.
• Mentors social work students or serves as a field instructor for MSW students.
• Provides crisis intervention and psychosocial support using brief therapy approaches.
• Documents social work interventions accurately in the medical record per policies.
• Educates patients and families about payer requirements and post-acute care coverage.
• Advocates for patients to obtain authorizations for continued care.
• Identifies and intervenes with medically and psychosocially complex patients.
• Monitors and reevaluates the care plan at least every 3 days.
• Maintains confidentiality and adheres to NASW Code of Ethics and state rules.
• Collaborates with healthcare team and community resources to plan individualized care.
• Educates and advocates for informed medical decisions, discharge planning, and end-of-life care.
• Complete psychosocial assessments covering social, economic, cultural factors and support systems.

Job description

Purpose: UPMC Pittsburgh Area Center for Treatment (PACT Clinic), an HIV and PrEP clinic within the Center for Care of Infectious Diseases, is seeking a social worker to join its interdisciplinary team.

This position offers the opportunity to contribute a social work perspective within a collaborative clinical setting focused on providing comprehensive care to people living with HIV throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania. As a member of the team, the social worker will support this comprehensive approach to care, working alongside colleagues from other disciplines to help address patients’ needs. For individuals pursuing clinical licensure, supervision hours toward Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) licensure are available as part of this position.

Clinic hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., providing a consistent weekday schedule. No weekend or holiday work is required, and there are no on-call responsibilities outside of regular shift hours.

Responsibilities:

• Demonstrates expertise in accessing social systems by providing resource-specific information to patients and families, initiating contact with appropriate resources and facilitating the patient / family's ability to accept referrals.
• Maintain extensive knowledge of federal, state and local assistance programs and community resources that affect patient needs.
• Acts as a mentor to social work students and/or serves as a field instructor to MSW students.
• Successfully utilize therapeutic counseling methods such as crisis intervention, psychosocial support, brief goal-directed therapy, CISM and/or other appropriate therapeutic methods that may be appropriate to the clinical situation.
• Provides accurate, timely and appropriate documentation of all social work interventions in the medical record per regulatory policies and procedures.
• Demonstrate a knowledge of reimbursement systems, the ability to educate patients and families regarding payer requirements / coverage for post-acute care services and the ability to effectively advocate on behalf of the patient to obtain authorizations for continued care as appropriate.
• Demonstrate the ability to identify, assess, counsel and effectively intervene with medically and psychosocially complex patients with the ability to understand complex dynamics related to the clinical situation.
• Continue to monitor and evaluate the plan of care, options and available services throughout the hospital stay to effectively meet the patient and family's need. Reassess the plan of care as status changes or at a minimum of every 3 days.
• Demonstrate appropriate professional practice, maintaining respect for confidentiality and freedom of choice as outlined by the Code of Ethics by the National Association of Social Workers as well as the State Board of Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists and Professional Counselors.
• Collaborate effectively with the healthcare team, patients and families and relevant community resources to develop and implement and individualized plan of care.
• Educate and advocate for patients and families to enhance their ability to make informed decisions regarding medical care, discharge planning, advance directives and end of life care including actively participating in the guardianship process when appropriate.
• Complete a psychosocial assessment that includes social, economic, cultural, age-related and behavioral factors, history of child, elder or domestic abuse, prior psychiatric or substance abuse treatment, family and social support systems and all other available resources as appropriate to the clinical situation.