Overview

How would you like to work in a place where your contributions and ideas are valued? A place where you can serve with compassion, pursue excellence and honor every voice? At Wellstar, our mission is simple, yet powerful: to enhance the health and well-being of every person we serve. We are proud to have become a shining example of what's possible when the brightest professionals dedicate themselves to making a difference in the healthcare industry, and in people's lives.

IMPORTANT: A cover letter and curriculum vitae (resume) must be compiled into one document prior to applying. This compiled document should be uploaded into the resume field during application. Or email to Beth.Guerin@wellstar.org

• Cover letter must include why you are applying for a Primary Care Behavioral Health Consultant position and what evidence-based skills and training you will utilize in this position.

Responsibilities

An initiative co-sponsored by the Behavioral Health Service Line (BHSL) and Medicine Service Line, Wellstar Health System is pleased to announce an opening for a Primary Care Psychologist. The hiring of the Primary Care Psychologist is part of a broader initiative involving the integration of Behavioral Health Consultants (BHCs) into primary care practices. The Primary Care Psychologist will function in a clinical role, with the potential to provide support to Masters-level BHCs in twoother primary care practices. The Psychologist is an extension of the WellStar Psychological Services practice, reporting to Wellstar’s Primary Care Behavioral Health Integration Director.

The aims of Wellstar’s integrated model are (1) to improve treatment access for patients whose quality of life is suffering due to problems of a behavioral or psychiatric nature, (2) to improve patient outcomes, and (3) to optimize office workflow and care coordination. In accomplishment of these objectives, BHCs will offer Behavioral Health services to patients with various medical and psychosocial problems, which can be mitigated via behavioral modifications and evidence-based psychological interventions. The BHC receives referrals via a “warm hand-off” model, offering rapid assessments, and stratifying patients by acuity. This is not a “traditional” mental health role. Rather, services encompass brief cognitive and behavioral interventions (typically 15-30 minutes in duration) for patients whose needs can be met effectively in a primary care setting. When treatment acuity necessitates more intensive interventions, BHCs assist by linking patients to community-based behavioral health providers who can more effectively manage their complex needs.

The Psychologist may provide clinical supervision for BHCs that are integrated within other WellStar primary care practices. In that capacity, the Psychologist is responsible for helping train BHCs in evidence-based practices, such as those described above. He/She will also work with a WellStar Primary Care leader in the ongoing development of an Integrated Medicine practice. Whereas 15%of the provider’s time is allocated to these administrative responsibilities, the provision of clinical care is of primary emphasis.

This role also includes opportunities for engagement in program development, developing process of training clinicians (ex. post-doctoral fellowship and training of MSW students), and support with Board Certification 

Skills Needed: Primary Care is a fast-paced environment. As such, the Psychologist must be a flexible, effective consultant, who thrives when working with a multi-disciplinary team of physicians, mid-level providers, nurses, and care managers. He/She should possess strong crisis management skills to help prevent office bottlenecks that interfere with office workflow and possess understanding of a repertoire of behavioral health interventions, including motivational interviewing, relaxation and mindfulness techniques, and other cognitive-behavioral methods. Knowledge of psychotropic medications and general knowledge of various medical and health-related problems is important, as is fluency with medical nomenclature and the capacity to provide effective training to BHCs under his/her oversight. Finally, computer literacy is necessary, as the system utilizes EPIC, WellStar’s Electronic Medical Record (EMR).

Qualifications

Required Minimum Education Doctorate degree (Ph.D./Psy.D.) in clinical or counseling psychology from a program accredited by the American Psychological Association (APA). Required Minimum Experience Completion of an APA-accredited internship in a hospital/medical setting; formal training in clinical health psychology via the completion of a 1- or 2-year post-doctoral fellowship with associated experiences or via 5+ years of clinical experience in a medical setting. Required Minimum Skills Licensed Psychologist (or license-eligible) in the State of Georgia. Foundational clinical skills include basis knowledge of medical and psychiatric disease states, psychopharmacology, and evidence based treatments for complex populations. Familiarity with implementation science models, SPSS (or related programs) and the ability to conduct basic descriptive and inferential statistics is required.