Patient Flow Coordinator (PFC)

Within the Capacity Management division of the Michigan Medicine Capacity Operations and Real-time Engagement Center (M2C2), the Patient Placement Coordinators coordinate and optimize patient flow across Adult Hospitals, Mott Hospital, and the Emergency Department(s) to promote quality, service excellence, patient- and family-centered care, and maximize throughput. Own end-to-end patient flow processes as well as clinical and operational issues surrounding patient placement and progression in partnership with medical and nursing staff. Patient Flow Coordinators function as the liaison and work in collaboration with a multi-disciplinary team and variety of internal and external resources to meet patient flow objectives and resolve issues.

Duties include but are not limited to:

• Serve as the primary, centralized owner of patient flow activities
• Maintain current knowledge of specific unit patient placement criteria
• Collaborate with nursing and medical staff to assess levels of care required for current patients in ICU/moderate care/telemetry. Identify options and facilitate transfers to a higher level of care when needed
• Facilitate intra-unit transfers to optimize medically necessary private, cohort rooms and patient satisfaction
• Assess patient volumes and workload intensity in all areas for coordination and appropriate patient placement
• Activate and lead the hospital's high occupancy plan based on guidelines established and work with cross-functional team to initiate/activate/manage/close identified overflow patient care areas
• Provide excellent customer service to internal and external customers
• Provide effective communication with team members and other departments to ensure seamless processes
• Active problem-solving of issues related to patient flow
• Communicate status of house to key stakeholders (units, ED, PACU, leadership, etc.)
• Manage multiple competing tasks and deadlines with energy and efficiency

Leadership

• Educate and provide feedback to nursing and medical staff in clinical departments, inpatient units, and procedural areas to improve patient placement
• Lead, facilitate and coordinate assigned appropriate huddles with multi-disciplinary teams and provide solutions to patient flow issues
• Support and collaborate with inpatient ICU fellows to assist with patient placement, with care and ancillary support teams to resolve bottlenecks
• Participate in the orientation and training of on-boarding Capacity Management staff
• Participate in activities to promote own continued learning and professional growth

Continuous Quality Improvement

• Participate in the development, implementation and ongoing evaluation of policies, processes and procedures related to Capacity Management functions as well as outside departments to assist in process improvement to ensure the meeting or improvement of organizational goals related to Capacity Management
• Assess and evaluate new or revised systems which support Capacity Management goals and objectives.
• Recommend and facilitate improvements in the patient placement processes based on data analysis
• Document notable events for follow-up and make recommendations for continuous improvement
• Maintain required documentation to support continuous improvement and performance metrics

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in nursing or a related allied health discipline or equivalent combination of education and experience
• Minimum of 2 years of clinical experience, or direct capacity management experience (systems that support patient flow, transfer, clinical expediting and admission processes)
• Ability to prioritize, meet deadlines and produce detailed and accurate work
• Excellent clinical knowledge and assessment skills to evaluate and prioritize patient placement
• Ability to assess and handle highly sensitive and confidential matters with considerable discretion and independent judgement
• Demonstrated positive work ethic and strong sense of teamwork/problem solving with co-workers

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience facilitating patient placement, transfer or clinical expediting
• Experience with systems that support patient flow, admission, transfer, care progression and discharge processes
• Understanding of Michigan Medicine policies and procedures