About this role
If asked to describe the culture at Metropolitan Family Services, we could do that in one word: COMMUNITY! Reflected in both our internal culture as well as through the services we provide, community is at the heart of all we do.
Metropolitan Family Services (MFS) empowers families to learn, to earn, to heal, to thrive. Part mentor, part motivator, part advocate, since 1857, Metropolitan Family Services has been the engine of change that empowers families to reach their greatest potential and positively impact their communities. Are you looking to have an impact on more than just a companys bottom line? Then wed love to hear from you!
MFS is spear-heading the Communities Partnering 4 Peace, a framework designed to provide comprehensive, long-term approach to reduce violence and gang activity. This framework will bring together community-driven strategies that will empower community-based organizations to intervene with those individuals at the highest risk of driving the violence while working with the overall resident population to transform perceptions and realities of their community. This holistic framework responds to high-risk incidents while also being proactive in preventing situations
We are currently looking to fill an Intake and Administrative Coordinator role at our Metropolitan Peace Academy (MPA) office.
Salary: The anticipated starting salary for this position is $44,000-50,000 annually, depending on the candidates skills and experience.
ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:
Intake and Referral Coordination
- Provide client-centered, welcoming, responsive, culturally responsive, and trauma-informed intake and referral services to Participants, families, and partner organizations that result in connection to appropriate services and/or resources.
- Receive, monitor, and review BHS Referral and Release of Information forms submitted by CP4P partner organizations and other referral sources for completeness, accuracy, and compliance; follow up with referring partners to resolve missing or inaccurate information.
- Consult with the Clinical Supervisor and Director of Behavioral Health Services to assign referred Participants to Clinicians within established timeframes; enter and update Participants in the programs referral tracking system (currently REDCap) and confirm registration in the EHR after intake.
- Effectively gather and process pertinent information to make preliminary determinations of eligibility and provide referrals for services and resources; work with community resources to expand needed external referrals.
- Effectively triage and de-escalate persons in crisis who contact BHS. Return non-urgent calls received through the 24-hour crisis line by the next business day, support the caller, and jointly determine next steps in accordance with the BHS Crisis Response protocol; escalate urgent matters to the on-call Clinician or on-call Supervisor.
Administrative and Documentation Compliance
- Monitor and review staff documentation for completeness, accuracy, timeliness, and compliance with organization, department, funder, state, and other applicable rules, standards, guidelines, and regulations, including HIPAA and Illinois confidentiality requirements.
- Maintain Participant records, referral and case staffing forms, releases of information, and program files in the designated systems according to agency retention, security, and confidentiality requirements.
- Provide general administrative support to the BHS team, including scheduling, meeting coordination, correspondence, supply and equipment requests, and preparation of reports and data summaries requested by leadership.
- Track program metrics and prepare routine reports for BHS leadership, MPI leadership, and funders.
EHR and Billing Support
- Serve as the BHS teams first-level support resource for the EHR and related applications; respond to end-user questions and issues and support staff in resolving documentation, workflow, and system problems on a timely basis.
- Provide ongoing, hands-on problem-solving related to EHR documentation and billing, including identifying and helping staff correct incomplete, late, or unbillable
- documentation; monitoring documentation and billing error reports; and following through until issues are resolved.
- Coordinate with the agencys billing/revenue cycle and quality teams on claim rejections, denials, corrections, and documentation requirements, and communicate those requirements to staff in plain language.
- Co-develop and maintain BHS-specific end-user guides, quick-reference materials, and workflow documentation; onboard new staff to the EHR and related systems; and coordinate and conduct refresher and update training.
- Track recurring issues and user feedback, analyze patterns, and recommend workflow, template, form, or training improvements to increase documentation quality and billing accuracy.
Information Systems (IS) Liaison
- Serve as the designated liaison between BHS staff, community partners, and the Information Systems department; submit, track, and escalate help-desk tickets and system requests on behalf of the team and follow through to resolution.
- Work with IS and software vendors to gather and document BHS business requirements, current-state and future-state workflows, and data needs; ensure that requirements reflect community violence intervention (CVI) practice and the cultural context of the communities and partner organizations MPI serves.
- Review release notes and proposed system changes for their impact on MPI BHS workflows; participate in system testing and user acceptance testing; and communicate changes to staff and partners before they go live.
- Support onboarding of new programs, partner organizations, and users within agency applications, including user account requests, access changes, and deactivations, in coordination with IS and in accordance with agency security and confidentiality policies.
- Represent MPI BHS in IS and cross-functional workgroups; advocate for culturally responsive, accessible, and practical system design and for respectful, plain-language communication with community partners.
- Effectively work with diverse staff, partner organizations, and service population.
- Other duties as assigned.
REQUIRED EDUCATION, CERTIFICATIONS, CREDENTIALS and/or EXPERIENCE:
- Bachelors Degree in Social Work, Psychology, Counseling, Human Services, Public Health, Health Information Management, Information Systems, or related field.
- Two (2) years of experience in behavioral health, social services, or health care administrative support, including at least one (1) year of hands-on experience using an electronic health record (EHR) or comparable client data system.
- Experience supporting Medicaid behavioral health documentation and billing (e.g., IM+CANS, service notes, claim corrections).
- Ability to complete required agency trainings, including the 40-hour domestic violence training and EHR end-user training.
- Experience providing end-user training, help-desk, or application support in a human services setting.
PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:
- Experience in community violence intervention (CVI), crisis response, or community-based behavioral health programs, preferably in the Chicago communities MPI serves.
TRAVEL/MOBILITY REQUIREMENTS:
Driving required.
TRAVEL BETWEEN SITES:
Yes.
KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, and ABILITIES:
- Thorough understanding of behavioral health and/or social services to assess and make preliminary determination of eligibility and nature of services needed.
- Demonstrated cultural humility and ability to build trust with community partners, outreach workers, and Participants and families impacted by community violence.
- Strong working knowledge of EHR systems and the ability and willingness to learn a variety of applications; proficiency with Microsoft Office programs (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams).
- Ability to translate program and community needs into clear system requirements, and to translate technical information into plain language for clinical and outreach staff.
- Excellent analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to identify the root cause of documentation and billing issues.
- Working knowledge of confidentiality requirements applicable to behavioral health records, including HIPAA, the Illinois Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities Confidentiality Act, and 42 CFR Part 2 where applicable.
- Must be detail oriented with good organizational skills and the ability to maintain accurate, confidential records.
- Excellent communication skills (verbal and written).
- Excellent interpersonal skills.
- Ability to multitask within a fast-paced environment and meet multiple deadlines simultaneously.
- Demonstrated courtesy, patience, and good judgment under pressure, including with persons in crisis.
- Ability to work effectively with diverse individuals and groups.
PHYSICAL DEMANDS:
- While performing the essential duties of this job, the employee is required to sit and stand for sustained periods of time, frequently talk, hear, use hands and fingers to feel, handle and operate objects or controls, and occasionally stand, bend, stretch, stoop, kneel and crouch.
- The employee is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity such as preparing and analyzing data and figures, transcribing and viewing a computer terminal.
- The employee may occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds.
Metropolitan Family Services offers a very generous benefits packet to our professionals:
- HMO, Traditional PPO, or PPO w/ health savings contributions.
- Dental and Vision Insurance Options
- 12 paid Holidays
- Paid Time Off (PTO)
- Flexible Spending
- Opportunities for Student Loan Forgiveness
- 401K Plan
- Training and Professional Development Plan
- E- Learning
- Wellness Initiative Program
- Employee Assistance Network