Tufts: Patient Access Manager

This position works with colleagues of the Admission, Discharge and Transfer Team to create a seamless system of access enabling the right patient in the right bed, at the right time on the right service.Reporting to the Clinical Director, Adult Nursing, this position works collaboratively with all disciplines and departments including the Admitting Office, prioritizes and assists with the assignment of all inpatients, observations and surgical day patients to adult and pediatric inpatient beds.

Works with attending physicians, House Officers, nurse managers and charge nurses, unit coordinators, Case Managers and collaborates with the Medical Director of ADT to triage patient access and ensure appropriate patient placement based upon the patients’ clinical needs.

Also assists with the establishment and maintenance of standards for appropriate bed and resource utilization and patient flow.Responsibilities:Collaborates with the Medical Director, Case management, Hospitality, of the ADT Team to ensure barriers to throughput are identified and eliminated as they arrive.In collaboration with the ADT team membership:Interacts and collaborates with attending physicians, house officers, nursing and admitting staff to identify upcoming discharges, admissions, and transfers on an ongoing basis 24/7.Interacts and collaborates with physicians, nursing staff and admitting staff to triage and secure appropriate adult ICU beds and adult and pediatric inpatient beds.Rounds frequently in areas of congestion to gain appreciation as to the opportunities to promote throughput and timely patient placement.Works closely prioritizing bed cleaning sequence and communicates system improvements, and ideas concerning such.Obtains all phone calls from outside facilities in search of patient access and works diligently with the ADT team to support timely access to patients within and referred to the Medical Center.Communicates with admitting staff regarding the prioritizing of bed assignments and ensure clinical appropriateness of assignments.Facilitates bed meetings, when necessary and coordinates information shared to maximize efficient patient flow.Facilitates all transfers/direct admissions to ensure appropriateness of admissions, in relation to the most appropriate level of care, bed availability and timeliness of transfers.Communicates with the Emergency Department attending and Emergency Department nurse manager regarding inpatient, telemetry and ICU bed availability.Role models service excellence to all areas consistently.Develop system to ensure optimal bed management operations and organizational throughput.Participates in giving a detailed hand-off to oncoming ADT team membership to ensure continued patient flow.Participates on hospital committees and quality initiatives pertaining to patient flow and throughput.Coordinates with the ADT team, Critical Care Units, and the Emergency Department to develop and gain efficient systems to maximize access to the Medical Center.Recommends system changes based on data themes.Studies themes or trends in data overtime to adjust systems to maximal efficiencies and report results within Operations Council on a quarterly basis or as requested.May perform other job related duties as required or assigned.Requirements:Bachelor’s degree in nursing required, Master’s in nursing or health service related field preferred.5 years medical, surgical and/or critical care experience2 years management or supervisory experienceCritical care experience preferredPossesses and applies the skills and knowledge necessary to provide care to patients throughout the life span, with consideration of aging processes, human development stages and cultural patterns in each step of the care process.

This includes:Knowledge of growth and developmentAbility to interpret age specific data and response to careProvide age specific communicationHigh level of interpersonal skills necessary to establish working relationships with physicians, administrative and nursing staffAbility to inspire and motivate othersAbility to function independently, without supervision and establish work priorities.Through knowledge of hospital and interdepartmental functions.