Field-Based Behavioral Health Advocates - Remote

Optum is a global organization that delivers care, aided by technology to help millions of people live healthier lives. The work you do with our team will directly improve health outcomes by connecting people with the care, pharmacy benefits, data and resources they need to feel their best. Here, you will find a culture guided by diversity and inclusion, talented peers, comprehensive benefits and career development opportunities. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as you help us advance health equity on a global scale. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.
You're looking for something bigger for your career. How about inventing the future of health care? UnitedHealthcare is offering an innovative new standard for care management. We're going beyond counseling services and verified referrals to behavioral health programs integrated across the entire continuum of care. Our growth is fueling the need for highly qualified professionals to join our elite team. Bring your skills and talents to a role where you'll have the opportunity to make an impact on a huge scale.
The overall purpose of the Field Behavioral Health Advocate (FBHA) role is to help individuals live their lives to the fullest by promoting recovery and resiliency via coordination and collaboration with multiple internal and external partners including consumers and their families/caregivers, medical, behavioral health and clinical network teams.
The Field-Based Behavioral Health Advocates (Massachusetts) work with complex and high-risk needs with a goal of engaging the consumer in the treatment process, decreasing their reliance on higher levels of care, helping them to access appropriate community services, and assisting them in improving community tenure. FBHAs work to increase stabilization and help consumers to improve life satisfaction.
What makes your clinical career greater with UnitedHealth Group? You can improve the health of others and help heal the health care system. You will work within an incredible team culture; a clinical and business collaboration that is learning and evolving every day. And, when you contribute, you'll open doors for yourself that simply do not exist in any other organization, anywhere.
Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm (EST)
If you are located in Massachussetts, you will have the flexibility to work remotely* as you take on some tough challenges and the potential to travel up to 50% in the field.
Primary Responsibilities

• Identify new programs, services and gaps in market; share information with network teams
• Maintain knowledge of provider availability and barriers to access
• Partner with internal Optum Behavioral Health Services Teams to coordinate a seamless transition for consumers from an inpatient setting to community-based services
• Partnership with Account Management and Sales departments to provide best level of customer service to market accounts
• Provide supportive follow-up, monitoring and education as indicated
• Identify high-risk, co-morbid needs of consumers
• Attend state, professional and association and conference call meetings as needed
• Maintain approved workload and support metrics and outcomes
• Establish a cooperative relationship with Optum Behavioral Network Services and the Provider community in order to improve access to services and ensure that consumers are served within proper standards of care
• Participate in committees, educational opportunities and trainings
• Comply with all policies, procedures and documentation standards in appropriate systems, tracking mechanisms and databases
• Coalesce FBHA role and relationships within context of established Care Advocacy Operating Model and customer/contractual requirements; collaborate early and frequently with other teams in the management of cases stratified as having intensive, complex, and high-risk needs
• Serve as OBHS liaison and subject matter expert for applicable UnitedHealth Care Medical Partners; establish and foster positive relationships with medical team, participate in medical-behavioral integration activities and discussions
• Meet with consumers in-person at facilities, provider offices, and in homes as appropriate for market
• Assist consumers and their families/caregivers with connections to appropriate psychiatric, medical, and psychosocial referrals and services
• Utilize advanced clinical skills to engage and motivate Consumers via a recovery, health and wellness-oriented approach
• Assist in the development of a relevant and consumer-specific aftercare plan
• Collaborate with providers to determine acuity of mental health concerns, barriers and progress; coordinate appropriate services
• Conduct provider networking visits or attend consumer care conferences as determined by market
• Contribute to treatment plan discussions; routinely attend clinical rounds and other meetings with medical partner or external entities when applicable
• Other activities as assigned, including but not limited to:
• For specific markets, conduct focused facility-based or outpatient clinical utilization review activities
• Accept referrals via designated processes, collaborate in evaluating available services, and coordinate necessary psychiatric and community referrals as needed
• Participate jointly in rounds, discussions, supervision and staffing
• Identify and remove barriers to procurement, delivery, participation in and success of services

You’ll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in.
Required Qualifications

• Licensed master's degree in Psychology, Social Work (LCSW), Counseling (LPC) or Marriage or Family Counseling (LMFT), or Licensed Ph.D., or an RN with 2+ years of experience in behavioral health
• Ability to travel up to 50% of the time within the MA area
• Access to reliable transportation
• Full COVID-19 vaccination is an essential job function of this role. Candidates located in states that mandate COVID-19 booster doses must also comply with those state requirements. UnitedHealth Group will adhere to all federal, state and local regulations as well as all client requirements and will obtain necessary proof of vaccination, and boosters when applicable, prior to employment to ensure compliance. Candidates must be able to perform all essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation
• Licenses must be active and unrestricted in the state of Massachusetts
• 2+ years of experience in a related mental health environment working in the local community

Preferred Qualifications

• Ability and flexibility to assume responsibilities and tasks in a constantly changing work environment
• Experience working in an environment that required coordination of benefits and utilization of multiple groups and resources for patients
• Medical/Behavioral setting experience (i.e. hospital, managed care organization, or joint medical/behavioral outpatient practice)
• Dual diagnosis experience with mental health and substance abuse
• Clinical training and managed care experience

To protect the health and safety of our workforce, patients and communities we serve, UnitedHealth Group and its affiliate companies require all employees to disclose COVID-19 vaccination status prior to beginning employment. In addition, some roles and locations require full COVID-19 vaccination, including boosters, as an essential job function. UnitedHealth Group adheres to all federal, state and local COVID-19 vaccination regulations as well as all client COVID-19 vaccination requirements and will obtain the necessary information from candidates prior to employment to ensure compliance. Candidates must be able to perform all essential job functions with or without reasonable accommodation. Failure to meet the vaccination requirement may result in rescission of an employment offer or termination of employment
Careers with Optum. Our objective is to make health care simpler and more effective for everyone. With our hands at work across all aspects of health, you can play a role in creating a healthier world, one insight, one connection and one person at a time. We bring together some of the greatest minds and ideas to take health care to its fullest potential, promoting health equity and accessibility. Work with diverse, engaged and high-performing teams to help solve important challenges.

• All employees working remotely will be required to adhere to UnitedHealth Group’s Telecommuter Policy

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone–of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income–deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes — an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.
Diversity creates a healthier atmosphere: UnitedHealth Group is an Equal Employment Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.
UnitedHealth Group is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.