The Registered Dietitian will work collaboratively within the multi-disciplinary team to create desired goals and outcomes of nutritional care for patients in all practice sites.  The Registered Dietitian is responsible for providing comprehensive assessment, care coordination services, disease education and self-management support with patients who have chronic health conditions, specifically but not limited to diabetes, hypertension, and obesity.  The Registered Dietitian will be integrated into the office-based health care team to work in partnership to promote patient-centered care, frequent contact with primary care providers, medical home team members, and actively participate in interdisciplinary patient-centered team meetings.

Duties and Responsibilities:

• Works to optimize the patients overall health, improve quality of life and treat or prevent some medical disorders by:
• Assessing nutritional needs
• Developing individualized nutrition care plans, intervention and treatment goals in collaboration with patient/family
• Providing counseling and education to patients, families and caregivers (individually or ) by utilizing motivational interviewing to strengthen commitment to change and establish self-management goals and actions plans with timeframes.
• Monitoring/re-evaluating the patients’ tolerance and response to nutritional care plan, including a range of variables that may influence behaviors (e.g. socioeconomic status, functional education level, cultural beliefs and motivation).
• Builds rapport and trust with patients, and engages patients in problem-solving.
• Promotes success with chronic care plan.
• Coordinates care and communicates with providers.
• Reviews test results and tracks outcomes.
• Reviews medications and works with provider/pharmacist, as needed, to assist with medication management.
• Trains patients on diabetes technology such as blood glucose meters, injectable medications, continuous glucose monitoring systems and insulin pump therapy
• Reviews patient risk issues and works with patient/family/team to reduce risk.
• Researches and develops effective education resources related to health, nutrition and exercise for our patient population as needed.
• Provides instruction, support, reporting and documentation, as required by the Association of Diabetes Care & Education Specialists (ADCES) , Diabetes Self-Management Education (DSME) program, to all Tandem Health sites.
• Helps to arrange contact with other resources needed to support the treatment plan.
• Ensures open communication regarding patient status with providers and office staff.
• Provides training to medical providers and support staff.
• Fosters a patient-centered environment that focuses on patient satisfaction and quality outcomes/monitoring.
• Participates with the Quality Assurance and Improvement team to develop and implement performance improvement strategies to meet/exceed quality of care expectations.
• Shares best practices among all teams, serves as a medical home advocate, mentor and leads by example to support a positive work environment, and encourages other staff to do the same.
• Understands the mission and values of the organization.
• Represents the practice in a positive manner to all patients and all applicable external clients.
• Responsible for accurate, timely, and complete documentation in patient records and billing.
• Participates in audits, and meet standards of Quality Improvement and Risk Management programs.
• Maintains licensure and any additional educational requirements for special programs.
• Attends required training.
• Performs other duties as assigned by supervisor.

Qualifications:

Education and Experience:

• Bachelor’s degree in Nutritional Science, or related degree; Master’s degree in Nutritional Science preferred.
• Registered Dietitian recognized by the by the Commission on Dietetic Registration of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
• Licensed Registered Dietitian by the South Carolina Board of Dietetics
• Two (2) years of clinical nutrition experience preferred
• Experience with chronic disease and/or maternity nutrition counseling preferred
• Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialist (CDCES) preferred
• Certified insulin pump trainer preferred

About Tandem Health

“Tandem Health is a community-owned organization dedicated to building healthy communities by providing quality health care that is affordable and accessible with compassion and dignity for all people”

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