Harm Reduction Outreach Specialist - Boston, United States - Boston Medical Center

Boston Medical Center

Verified Company

Boston, United States

2 weeks ago

Posted by:

Mark Lane

beBee recruiter

Description

***: This position is a special role designed for the Public Health programs. This position is for a Harm Reduction Outreach Specialist (OS) who conducts their services in the field as well as in the hospital. The OS will work across all programs and interventions primarily to outreach and engage clients who use substances and are unable to engage in traditional healthcare settings to provide harm reduction supplies, education, and linkages. Performs outreach and works with clients in their community location. They will work with the medical providers, the BMC lab, and program management to ensure that these positive patients receive appropriate interventions such as disease risk reduction, partner notification services, further testing, needs assessments, MDPH/CDC/BPHC funded interventions, and any other necessary services. The OS will conduct outreach on the BMC campus and in the community when necessary to follow-up and engage positive cases for linkage to care. All positive STI patients will be followed by the OS through medical engagement up until treatment completion. The OS will link other patients to public health navigation services. The position will conduct individual HIV/HCV/STI/TB prevention testing and counseling sessions. Within these sessions, the OS will be required to educate and refer any high risk patients to biomedical prevention strategies such as PrEP and nPEP. The OS will track all work in the EMR as well as an internal database. The OS will also receive referrals from BMC and community staff for HIV/HCV/STI/TB testing and navigation services. Conducts all activities within the standards and regulations of the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH), Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and any other funders.

Position:
Harm Reduction Outreach Specialist

Department:
Infectious Diseases

Schedule:
Part Time

ESSENTIAL RESPONSIBILITIES / DUTIES:

Conducts street, hospital, and community outreach to provide harm reduction supplies, education, and linkages

Provides harm reduction education and supplies within the dropin and during outreach to promote safe drug consumption
Completes targeted outreach in the community and dropin to provide harm reduction education including safe injection practices, HIV/HCV/STI prevention strategies, and overdose prevention
Engages patients in risk reduction sessions in the community/street
Performs followup risk reduction/counseling sessions as necessary
Tailors outreach strategies based on the target population
Must be able to travel across the BMC campus and throughout the city of Boston to community outreach sites when necessary

Conducts HIV/HCV/STI/TB testing, counseling and education sessions

Provides patient education on HIV, STI, and Hepatitis, and TB
Performs HIV tests by finger stick & blood draw methods
Performs HIV, Hepatitis, TB, syphilis test by blood draw
Performs Chlamydia and Gonorrhea test by urine specimen collection.
Educates patients on selfcollection methods for anal, rectal, throat and vaginal swabs. Refers all positive patients to care and services
Works with the Department of Public Health field epidemiologists on cases
Assist patients with insurance issues, this will mostly be for positive patients
Will utilize any future testing method required by the funder
All testing session information will be documented in the EMR
Able to conduct chart reviews in the EMR to make decisions about the linkage to care process and followup until treatment completion including tracking all the steps in the EMR so the treatment team can view notes

Links high risk patients to HIV prevention clinical services, public health navigation, and case management services

Communicate effectively, professionally, and in a timely manner with navigators to link patients
Write accurate notes in the BMC EMR and in the other tracking systems for a specific contracts
Followsup with relevant providers and navigators as needed
Responds to the EMR messaging system in a timely manner
Effectively work in a team with community outreach sites and within BMC when necessary

Collects all programmatic data

Able to input data into computer systems, including the BMC EMR
Respond in a timely manner to deadlines and program management
Tracks and monitors referral from various client referrals sources.
Be able to report basic level data to program management

Attends all necessary trainings to become proficient in prevention and education methods and for continuing maintenance of proficiency.

Maintains established department standards for prevention and education service delivery Attends meetings as requested by the program manager to represent BMC as needed.

Attends staff meetings and communicates progress and problems to Program Manager. Attends clinical supervision staff support group. Participate in regular public health program implementation team meetings. Participate in CDC/MDPH/