Administration - Director of Hospice

The mission of Knute Nelson is to enrich the lives of everyone we serve.

Scope:

• Provide overall planning, direction, coordination, management and supervision of all Hospice services in conjunction with the Vice President of Home Care & Hospice.
• Hire and manage qualified personnel and ensure appropriate staff orientation, ongoing education and evaluation is in place. Responsible for the quality assurance program (QAPI), CAHPS, HIS submission and HIPAA.
• Has frequent contact with the Vice President of Home Care & Hospice, patients & families, referral sources, intake, the billing office and other staff. Work with members of the community to establish a larger Patient base.

Key Responsibilities:

• Develop, Evaluate and Manage Hospice Staff Establish staffing patterns, based on productivity standards, with approval of the Vice President of Home Care & Hospice, which reflect the quality and quantity of various personnel necessary to plan, provide, and supervise the care rendered to Patients and families. Work to achieve the correct RN to Patient ratio, including on call and holiday RN rotation. Give leadership in promoting and maintaining standards for giving high quality care, by all members of the care team. Select, train, evaluate, recognize and discipline of Clinical Nurse Manager & Volunteer/Bereavement Manager. Keep the VP of Home Care & Hospice informed on an on-going basis of department activities, concerns and recommend solutions. Triage all staff concerns and questions. Round with employees.
• Quality Assurance Responsible for the QAPI committee and has full understanding of the QAPI and CAHPS process for hospice. Work closely with Director of Compliance to perform all QAPI associated tasks and audits and assign chart audits, as appropriate. Provide feedback and education to the hospice team as needed based on chart audits. Gathers data and plans quality improvement to be reported at the quality assurance meeting. Responsible for the regulatory compliance and training of employees with HIS requirements. Develop, evaluate, review, revise and implement policies and procedures; goals and objectives; and standards of care relevant to patient services. Report any changes in policy at quality assurance meeting and provides education to staff with all policy changes.
• Assessment and Communication with Patients Be available to communicate with patients, families and referral sources. Understands how to set up patients in the computer system with information from referral sources and Patient when the intake team or clinical nurse manager is not available. Have full knowledge of the Medicare benefit. Works closely with the Medical Director, RNs and clinical nurse manager to assure accurate diagnosis per Hospice regulations using the lCD codes. Oversees Medical Director and Physician Designee’s schedule of face-to-face visits and communicates with them on a regular basis.
• Health Information Systems & HIPAA Have full knowledge of the agency's health information system. Assist the staff with software questions and issues. Act as the HIPAA officer for the Hospice agency and works closely with the Knute Nelson HIPAA officer to assure the Hospice division is in compliance. Implement and train all Hospice employees when there are HIPAA policy changes as they arise.
• Continuous Improvement Actively participate in and implement quality performance in all aspects of job responsibilities and functions. This includes all interactions with Patients, staff, and visitors. Participate in and promote teamwork. Seek, recommend and implement new methods and means of providing quality service. Regularly consult with the VP of Home Care & Hospice regarding ways to solve problems and maintain or improve high standards of care.
• Regulatory Compliance Maintain a working knowledge of current Medicare, Medicaid and third-party payer requirements for hospice reimbursement. Ensure the organization meets federal, state and local regulations and standards. Responsible for MDH survey process.
• Community Engagement Communicate regularly with referral sources providing education to facilities and to other members of the community.
• Other Duties as Assigned Assist with special projects as assigned by the VP of Hospice and Home Care. Acts as the designated back-up when the VP of Hospice and Home Care is unavailable. The duties and responsibilities listed above are representative of the nature and level of work assigned and are not necessarily all inclusive.

Reports To:

Vice President of Home Care & Hospice

Education and Experience Required:

• Must complete and pass a state required background study.
• A bachelor’s degree is required. Must have at least one year of supervisory or administrative experience in healthcare.
• Must have a vehicle with required insurance coverage and a state driver's license to travel to patients' residences.
• Adequate computer skills.
• Excellent people management skills are mandatory.
• Able to physically perform the duties required by the position.
• Required to have the ability to read, write and speak English well enough to communicate with staff, residents and visitors.

In keeping with federal, state and local laws, Knute Nelson's policy forbids employees and associates from discriminating against anyone based on race, religion, color, creed, gender, age, marital status, national origin, sexual orientation, status with regard to public assistance, veteran status, familial status, disability or any other characteristic protected by law. Knute Nelson is committed to establishing and maintaining a workplace free of discrimination. We are fully committed to equal employment opportunity. We will not tolerate unlawful discrimination in the recruitment, hiring, termination, promotion, salary treatment or any other condition of employment or career advancement.Knute Nelsonalso provides reasonable accommodations to disabled employees and applicants as required by law.