Sarah Deaton Email and Phone Number

Provides case management services to meet the needs of a diverse population of patients and their families. Position requires an advance level of independent and autonomous functioning as the sole social worker on a 35 -bed surgical/trauma unit. Primary responsibilities include but not limited to performing assessments, care planning, acute care discharge planning, making referrals to community partners such as home health care, hospice, DME suppliers etc., continuous monitoring and treatment planning; case consultation with interdisciplinary treatment team members, and documentation in electronic medical records. Providing education to providers regarding Medicare/Medicaid and private insurance coverage and reimbursement. Actively participating in patient and family planning process, detailing instructions, and responding appropriately and effectively to questions and concerns. Assisting patients in receiving appropriate high-quality care with reasonable outcomes. Monitoring patients’ admission status to insure correct status for hospital reimbursement.

Implemented a new Medicare Incentive program called BPCI (Bundled Payment for Care Improvement). Primary responsibilities included managing patient care for 90-day post-operative period to help reduce readmissions, shorten SNF length of stay and home health usage in order to reduce care costs without sacrificing quality through effective service coordination and multidisciplinary collaboration. Provided total joint education and coordination of services to patient’s receiving new total joints at the outpatient surgery center. Managed patients’ surgeries and arranged appropriate clearances for surgery. Educated patients and loved ones about different treatment options and outside care approaches, reducing the burden on hospital resources. Collaborated with clinicians to devise and manage effective ongoing care plans for at-risk patients. Advocated for patients receive appropriate, high-quality care with reasonable results.

Provided case management services to meet the needs of a diverse population and their families. Position requires an advanced level of independent and autonomous functioning as the sole Social Worker on a 29-bed surgical unit. Primary responsibilities included but are not limited to assessments; care planning; acute care discharge planning; referrals to community partners such as home health care, Hospice, DME, etc; ongoing monitoring and treatment planning; case consultation with interdisciplinary treatment team members; and documentation in electronic medical records. Actively participated in patient and family planning process, detailing instructions, and responding appropriately and effectively to questions and concerns. Assisted patients in receiving appropriate high-quality care with reasonable results. Researched and recommended implementation of new online vendor process which in turn created outcomes of increased ordering efficiency and accuracy.

Provided comprehensive social work services to children, families and adults in the Centralia area. Primary responsibilities included identifying care needs of individual patients and coordinated responses based on physician advice, insurance limitations and procedural costs, conducted assessment interviews and planned discharge treatments for the medical and pediatric floor, assess patients for abuse/neglect and refer to APS/DCFS for further evaluation and services and collaborated with diverse disciplines to provide cohesive care to patients.

Completed first semester rotation in primary care, assisted with appointment reminders to veteran and coordination of services with community partners such as home health, adult daycare programs and homemaker services. Completed second semester rotation in Acute Care, performed psycho-social assessments and planned discharge treatments in Acute Care, arranged services for patients to discharge safely. Education and assisted patients in completing Advance Directives. Conducted a trial run of advanced directive clinic as an original research project. This one-day-a-week clinic closed all hanging orders on charts and showed that the advance directive clinic would work if implemented.