Kidney Care Advocate I

PURPOSE AND SCOPE:

Under the direction of Kidney Care Advocate Manager, collaborates with internal and external care teams, to ensure a positive experience for every patient living with kidney disease through education, modality options, access placement and follow up, as applicable, to eventual admission into kidney care services or through smooth transition between modalities. Actively promotes home modalities to physicians, patients, and other groups both internal and external to the company. Adheres to the FMCNA Compliance Program and all regulatory and FMCNA policy requirements. Supports FMCNA's mission, vision, core values and customer service philosophy by supporting all aspects of growth within defined Regions or Areas of a Business.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Establish programs and implement CKD (chronic kidney disease) and modality education for a designated territory to ensure every patient along with their care giver and support system (if applicable) receives comprehensive education on modality options including hemodialysis treatments, both at home and in-center, peritoneal dialysis, kidney transplantation, and palliative and supportive care, as well as education on hemodialysis access types with a focus on the health and safety benefits of AV-Fistula or AV-Graft compared to central venous catheters.

• Navigate patients along the continuum of care from Stage 4 CKD to initiation of dialysis, or in transition from in-center hemodialysis to home therapy, including but not limited to proper and timely access placement.

• Maintain high level, routine communication with physicians, physician practices and administrators, and the interdisciplinary team members, including Clinic and Home Program Managers.

• Establish processes with physician practices as well as local clinics for patient referrals and evaluates the effectiveness of processes through an ongoing basis.

• Respond promptly to all referrals.

• Assist in the identification, evaluation and selection of Home Dialysis patients and Care Partners.

• Coordinate the timely admission of patients, including urgent start placements into Fresenius Kidney Care Home Therapy and In-Center programs. Collaborate with operations leadership to identify home therapy training delays and help to resolve any barriers to expediate training.

• Conduct Home Therapy awareness programs for existing patients and Fresenius staff, as needed or as directed.

• Strive to meet Fresenius Kidney Care Home Therapies awareness goals by maintaining strong physician and partner relationships and identifying opportunities for increasing patient education referrals.

• Collaborate with field operations management, functional leadership, and other departments on the development and implementation of the home therapy strategic plan. Responsibilities include but are not limited to understanding local and regional kidney disease trends and population needs, identifying expansion of service opportunities, and understanding relationships with both physicians and prospective patients.

• Maintain knowledge of FMCNA Home Therapies products, services and strategies in order to promote FMCNA Home Therapies to the community through outreach programs.

• Participate in all pertinent company training and development opportunities to grow and develop business knowledge, skills and leadership competencies.

• Provide Kidney Care Advocate program awareness education to physicians as needed.

• Responsible for promoting Kidney Care Advocate services and KidneyCare:365 education to the community and healthcare providers, including physicians, within the guidelines established by Company policies and procedures.

• Ensure accurate and timely documentation of patient interactions and status, through maintenance of SAP database.

• May provide assistance to junior level staff with general tasks that require a better understanding of functions, as directed by immediate supervisor.

• May refer to senior level staff for assistance with higher level problems that may arise.

• Escalate issues to supervisor/manager for resolution, as deemed necessary.

• Review and comply with the Code of Business Conduct and all applicable company policies and procedures, local, state and federal laws and regulations.

• Assist with various projects as assigned by direct supervisor.

• Other duties as assigned.

Additional responsibilities may include focus on one or more departments or locations. See applicable addendum for department or location specific functions.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORKING CONDITIONS:

• The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Day to day work includes desk and personal computer work and interaction with patients, facility staff and physicians. The position requires frequent prolonged periods of standing.

• The work environment is characteristic of a health care facility with air temperature control and moderate noise levels. May be exposed to infectious and contagious diseases/materials.

• The position may require a significant amount of driving on specific days in terms of visiting between clinics in order to complete the duties and responsibilities set forth above.

• Travel to regional, business unit, and corporate meetings will be required.

• Must be willing to work occasional evening and weekends, as needed, to provide modality education.

EDUCATION:

• High school diploma or GED required.
• College degree preferred
• CCHT and/or LPN preferred, however, not required.

EXPERIENCE AND REQUIRED SKILLS:

• Minimum of one-year experience in teaching or sales, with required education.
• Dialysis experience preferred but not required
• Demonstrated skills in customer service and ability to work autonomously.
• Excellent verbal, written and presentation skills.
• Proficient in Outlook, Excel, Word, PowerPoint and use of smart phones and other computing devices.
• Must be able to multi-task and manage cases in a Salesforce database or Customer Relationship Management system.  This skill is preferred, not required.
• Results oriented to exceed established goals.
• High level of emotional intelligence and demonstrated ability to relate to persons of all ages and diverse backgrounds, skills and abilities.
• Proven ability to be a team player.

EO/AA Employer: Minorities/Females/Veterans/Disability/Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity

Fresenius Medical Care North America maintains a drug-free workplace in accordance with applicable federal and state laws.