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. Come make an impact on the communities we serve as we help advance health equity on a global scale. Here, you will find talented peers, comprehensive benefits, a culture guided by diversity and inclusion, career growth opportunities and your life's best work.(sm)

You have high standards. So do we. Here at UnitedHealth Group, this includes offering an innovative new standard for care management. It goes beyond counseling services and verified referrals to programs integrated across the entire continuum of care. That means you’ll have an opportunity to make an impact on a huge scale - as part of an incredible team culture that’s defining the future of behavioral health care.

The goal of the Field Care Advocate (FCA) 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. Field Care Advocates 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.

Field-based Behavioral Health Care Advocates are needed in the Houma, Lake Charles, Monroe, and Thibodaux, LA area. Candidate must reside and be able to accommodate field-based travel within this region daily. You will be in the field up to 80% of the time visiting members in their homes, hospitals, and local facilities.

Flexible scheduling is also available on this team!

If you are located in the state of Louisiana, you will have the flexibility to work remotely* as you take on some tough challenges.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Provide case management to members to assess for and find solutions to obstacles to care
• Link members to healthcare providers and community supports
• Work with members via telephone and face to face contacts to address healthcare needs
• Provide field visits to members who have been admitted to behavioral health hospitals
• Meet with members in the hospital and their home
• Assist inpatient behavioral treatment team with discharge planning
• Collaborate treatment plans with outpatient providers
• Assist the member with transitioning back into the community following an out of home placement
• Work with members to assist with getting their medications filled, making follow up appointments and arranging transportation to medical appointments
• Explain behavioral health insurance benefits and what behavioral health services are available
  

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, Counseling or Marriage or Family Counseling
• Clinically independent license (i.e. LCSW, LMFT, LPC), active and unrestricted in the state of LA
• 2+ years of experience in a related mental health setting
• Computer / typing proficiency to enter / retrieve data in electronic clinical records; experience with email, internet research, use of online calendars and other software applications
• Access to high-speed internet from home and a dedicated workspace
• Ability to be in the field up to 80% of the time in the territory listed
• Reliable transportation and the ability to travel as needed within the designated service delivery area on a daily basis
• 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
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Dual diagnosis experience with mental health and substance abuse
• Experience in a community mental health rehab setting
• Experience working in a behavioral health hospital
• Experience in a managed care environment
• Field based work
  

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.