Day in the Life: What is it you do, exactly?
With a new job comes a new daily routine. Or in the case of this role, lack of routine. I thought I'd share a little bit about what I do during the day. There are two days during the week where I have meetings scheduled, so I thought I'd talk about those days. The rest of the week is filled with paperwork, driving, phone calls, driving, visiting buildings and patients, and did I mention driving?
8:30am and I’m at my first meeting for the day at a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF). Every SNF has a Utilization Review (UR) meeting every week where all different members of the team come together and discuss every single patient. The therapists talk about how they’re progressing, the social workers discuss the next steps and possible discharge timeline, and then I check and see if they need home health and if we can provide it. I’m still wary of Portland traffic and don’t know any back roads, so I typically arrive 15-20 minutes early to these meetings.
The perils of being in my car all day include my plethora of bags. The fact that I drive a truck with no back seat doesn’t help. From left to right: green drawstring bag of collateral, laptop bag, gym bag, purse, lunch bag, and water bottle. Behind my seat is a case of bottled water and a box of protein bars, which really helps with being on-the-go all day. On the plus side, if something terrible happens and I’m stranded in my car, I’m probably set with food, water, and ways to entertain myself for a week.
In the UR meeting before everyone else. Usually there ends up being between 5-10 people in these meetings looking at all aspects of care for every patient, including the lead nurse, Resident Care Coordinator, lead Therapist, building Administrator, Social Services Director, and the Home Health Liaison (me). Several insurances require notes from these meetings to prove that their patient does still need and benefit from the services the SNF is providing.
After the UR I had some time to kill so I drove back to the home office. I don’t have an office or desk, but there are some work spaces that I can utilize when I need somewhere to sit. I stock up on supplies when I’m here, which means I have a quite a collection of company paraphernalia both in my car and at my apartment. I also eat lunch here too when I can because then I actually have access to a microwave and can heat something up instead of eating it cold in my car.
After some work at the home office it’s off to another UR. I have three of these a week, and two of them fall on the same day. I can also work in these buildings if I want to – technically I’m an employee there, but it’s also easier to find a spot at the home office, and it’s a much more familiar environment than the SNFs.
A big part of my day is tracking my miles. It’s quickly become a habit to pull my little book out and track where I’ve been. Exciting stuff, I know.
Back at the home office again. Wrapping up some emails, tracking some facility visits, and figuring out what the next day is going to look like. Then it's a race against traffic to the gym, and soon it will be time to hit the road again!
