Behavioral Health Specialist II

Where You’ll Work

Mercy Hospital is an 82 bed, acute care hospital located in the scenic southwestern Colorado town of Durango. It is the only hospital in Colorado to be rated by Medicare with five stars for overall hospital quality. It is recognized for excellence in orthopedic and spine surgery and for outstanding patient experience and patient safety. Mercy has also received ten consecutive ‘A’ grades for patient safety from The Leapfrog Group. Our providers use state-of-the-art technology in an environment designed to promote wellbeing and healing of body, mind, and spirit. Among the many specialty services available at Mercy are emergency care (Level III trauma designation), surgical care, cardiac care (including interventional), Orthopedic and Spine Centers of Excellence, a Family Birthing Center, home care, hospice care and more. Durango offers an exceptional quality of life with small town charm, excellent schools, and year-round, world-class outdoor recreation opportunities including snow sports, river sports, hiking, biking, camping and more.

Job Summary and Responsibilities

As our Behavioral Health Specialist II, you will observe and support patients with mental health and/or substance use needs, working under the supervision of medical professionals, and enforcing specialized training in de-escalation and motivational interviewing to create a therapeutic environment. Every day you will conduct billable interventions such as SBIRT and SDoH screenings, administer basic treatments under RN/Social Worker/Case Manager direction, and train other Behavioral Health Specialists in EPIC workflows and documentation. You will also facilitate timely referrals, track compliance for billable services, and coordinate various training programs. To be successful in this role, you will possess strong clinical observation skills, expertise in de-escalation techniques and motivational interviewing, effective communication abilities, and a commitment to patient support, ensuring timely referrals and compliance with billing regulations.

• Enforces competency in specialized training, deescalation techniques, motivational interviewing, and other interventions as applicable to create a therapeutic and calming environment for patients.
• Performs direct observation of the patient with a mental health or behavioral safety need and intervenes with specialized therapeutic techniques learned in training competencies required in the Behavioral Health Specialist II role.
• Performs clinical assessments such as SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment), SDoH screenings, and other billable practices.
• Educate and train the Behavioral Health Specialist I in EPIC workflows, documentation, and timecard tracking.
• Facilitate timely referrals and placements from hospital to treatment/recovery support providers.
• Coordinates, schedules, and recruits registrants to complete various trainings for example SBIRT, Patient Navigation Training, Care Coordination related training programs.

Job Requirements

Required

• High School Diploma/G.E.D.
• Two (2) years of experience in Behavior Health or an Associate's Degree in Psychology, Social Work, or related human services field
• At least one (1) year of experience working in an acute care setting such as an Emergency Department (ED) or as a Behavioral Health Navigator
• Current Basic Life Support (BLS) certification
• Within their first year of becoming a level II BHA, you must complete SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment) training and the hours of observation required for billable services
• Must also complete within six (6) months the Behavioral Health Initiatives Training Framework that includes our package Behavioral Health curriculum and Allyship trainthetrainer training
• The Specialist's area of specialty may include other trainee/trainer specific courses