Behavioral Health Lead (LICSW)

The Opportunity

RIPCMG is seeking an experienced Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker (LICSW) to serve as its Behavioral Health Lead. This is a working clinical leader role. About 80–85% of the week is direct patient care, The remaining 15–20% is spent leading the RIPCPC Integrated Behavioral Health team of LCSW and LICSW clinicians, running the behavioral health program day to day, and serving as the organization’s point person for behavioral health regulatory and payor contract matters.

The Behavioral Health Lead practices in two modes. The first is longitudinal care: carrying a panel of patients who need ongoing psychotherapy. The second is integrated behavioral health: working inside the primary care team through warm handoffs, same-day consults, brief interventions, and the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM). The right candidate is comfortable moving between a scheduled therapy hour and a hallway handoff in the same afternoon, and knows how to decide which patients belong in which model.

Although employed by RIPCMG, the Behavioral Health Lead works across both organizations: practicing in the medical group, supervising the IPA’s behavioral health clinicians, and making sure behavioral health services meet state requirements and the terms of each health plan contract. This person will shape how behavioral health is built into a growing organization: the workflows, the referral criteria, the measurement, the team, and the contracts that pay for it. It is a chance to build a program, not just join one.

What you’ll do

• Carry a longitudinal panel of children, adolescents, and adults who need ongoing treatment, including diagnostic evaluation, treatment planning, and individual, family, and group psychotherapy using evidence-based approaches.
• Deliver integrated behavioral health in the primary care setting: accept warm handoffs, provide same-day consults and brief interventions, and help primary care clinicians manage behavioral health needs within the visit.
• Serve as behavioral health care manager for patients enrolled in Collaborative Care. Engage patients, administer validated measures (such as PHQ-9, GAD-7, and age-appropriate tools), track every patient in the registry, treat to target, and bring the caseload to weekly review with the psychiatric consultant.
• Communicate psychiatric consultant recommendations to the treating primary care clinician and follow through on changes to the care plan.
• Conduct suicide and safety risk assessments, develop safety plans, and coordinate with crisis resources such as BH Link, Kids’ Link RI, and mobile crisis services when needed.
• Coordinate referrals to higher levels of care and community services, and move patients between longitudinal therapy, brief intervention, and Collaborative Care as their needs change.
• Meet productivity expectations of [15-18] billable encounters per week plus an active Collaborative Care caseload of about [25–30] patients, adjusted for supervision load.
• Complete timely, compliant documentation for psychotherapy and Collaborative Care, including accurate time logs, so that minutes are never counted toward two services.

Team leadership and supervision

• Provide clinical supervision to the RIPCPC Integrated Behavioral Health team of LCSW and LICSW clinicians, including case consultation, documentation review, and oversight of high-risk cases.
• Provide licensure-track supervision to LCSWs working toward the LICSW, consistent with Rhode Island Board of Social Work Examiners requirements, and complete supervised-experience verification for the Board.
• Lead a weekly team huddle and caseload review. Assign new referrals by acuity and fit to longitudinal therapy, integrated care, or Collaborative Care.
• Provide clinical input on hiring, onboarding, training, coverage, and performance for RIPCPC clinicians, in partnership with RIPCPC leadership and Human Resources, which retain employment authority.

Program operations and quality

• Own behavioral health workflows across RIPCMG sites: referral intake, warm handoffs, Collaborative Care consent and enrollment, registry management, step-up and step-down criteria, and crisis response.
• Track and report access (time to first appointment), caseload, productivity, and outcomes, including PHQ-9 response and remission and HEDIS behavioral health measures such as depression screening and follow-up, depression remission or response, and follow-up after emergency department visits for mental illness.
• Partner with billing and compliance on payor coverage for psychotherapy and Collaborative Care services, documentation standards, and periodic chart audits.
• Educate primary care clinicians and staff on referral criteria, warm handoffs, and how to work with the behavioral health team.
• Represent behavioral health in RIPCMG and RIPCPC leadership meetings and with community partners.

Regulatory and payor contract lead

• Serve as the point person for behavioral health regulatory questions across RIPCMG and RIPCPC, including Rhode Island licensure and supervision rules, state Medicaid and health plan requirements, confidentiality rules for behavioral health and substance use records, and mental health parity.
• Track changes in federal and state behavioral health rules and payor policies, including coverage and billing rules for psychotherapy, Collaborative Care, and behavioral health integration services. Translate changes into workflow, documentation, and training updates.
• Serve as the behavioral health subject matter expert for payor contracting. Review proposed contract terms, fee schedules, and quality requirements for behavioral health services before signing, and flag operational or financial risks.
• Act as the named behavioral health contact for health plans on credentialing questions, behavioral health quality programs, delegated oversight, and audits. Prepare policies, evidence, and corrective action responses as needed.
• Partner with Credentialing to keep behavioral health clinicians enrolled with each payor, and confirm which services each license type can bill under each contract.

Who you are

Required

• Master of Social Work (MSW) from a program accredited by the Council on Social Work Education.
• Active, unrestricted Rhode Island LICSW license at time of hire.
• Five or more years of post-master’s clinical experience, including at least two years in integrated primary care, Collaborative Care, or another medical setting.
• Experience providing clinical supervision to licensed clinicians, and eligibility to provide licensure-track supervision under Rhode Island regulations.
• Working knowledge of behavioral health billing, payor coverage rules, and Rhode Island regulatory requirements for behavioral health services.
• Clinical experience treating children, adolescents, and adults.
• Skill in both brief, solution-focused interventions and longitudinal, evidence-based psychotherapy.
• Experience with measurement-based care, suicide risk assessment, and safety planning.
• Comfort with electronic health records, registries, and basic performance reporting.

Preferred

• Formal Collaborative Care training (for example, through the University of Washington AIMS Center) and experience as a behavioral health care manager in an operating CoCM program.
• Experience launching or expanding an integrated behavioral health or Collaborative Care program, including workflow design and billing setup.
• Pediatric and adolescent integrated behavioral health experience.
• Training in modalities such as CBT, TF-CBT, DBT, motivational interviewing, or parent-child interventions.
• Experience supporting payor contracting, credentialing, delegated audits, or regulatory compliance for behavioral health services.
• Working knowledge of the Rhode Island behavioral health system, including crisis services and Medicaid managed care.
• Bilingual English/Spanish.

Physical Demands: Mostly sedentary work duties require exerting up to thirty pounds of force occasionally and/or small amounts of force frequently. Sedentary work typically involves sitting most of the time but may involve walking or standing for brief periods.