Perinatal Care Coordinator

Job description

La Clínica del Pueblo
Job Description
Job Title: Perinatal Care Coordinator
Department: Patient Services
Supervisor: Director of Health Equity & Strategy
Location: Washington, DC, with periodical visits Hyattsville, MD
Classification: Non-Exempt/Hourly
Synopsis:The Perinatal Care Coordinator helps patients enter prenatal care, remain engaged throughout pregnancy, and connect with postpartum and newborn services. The coordinator supports an assigned patient caseload through outreach, appointment coordination, referral follow-up, social-needs support, and approved education. Working with the prenatal clinical team, patient resource specialists, health educators, and community health workers, the coordinator helps patients overcome barriers and carries out the nonclinical components of their care plans.
This position does not require a clinical license. Clinical assessment, triage, diagnosis, treatment decisions, and interpretation of results remain the responsibility of licensed clinical staff. The coordinator routes clinical concerns promptly through established escalation procedures.
Qualifications: Required Education and Experience:
Required
• High school diploma or GED and at least one year of experience in patient navigation, healthcare customer service, community outreach, social services, or a related role.
• Strong communication, organization, follow-through, and problem-solving skills; ability to manage competing priorities and maintain professional boundaries.
• Ability to use an EHR, scheduling systems, and Microsoft Office or equivalent tools; familiarity with medical terminology, accurate documentation, and patient confidentiality practices.
• Ability to serve diverse communities with respect, use trauma-informed approaches, and work effectively with patients facing barriers to care.

Preferred
• Associate or bachelor’s degree in public health, social work, health education, human services, or a related field; community health worker or patient navigator training.
• Experience in an FQHC, prenatal program, maternal and child health, or community resource coordination; knowledge of DC and Maryland support programs.
• Spanish and English fluency and experience supporting patients with limited English proficiency; motivational interviewing training.

Duties and Responsibilities:
Patient engagement and access
• Orient patients to prenatal services, available support programs, and how to contact the clinic and clinical advice team. Confirm preferred language, safe contact method, and communication needs.
• Maintain the assigned pregnancy and postpartum caseload with the RN and program supervisor; complete planned check-ins and outreach according to the approved follow-up schedule.
• Coordinate prenatal, postpartum, imaging, and newborn appointments according to provider orders and approved scheduling workflows.
• Contact patients after missed visits; identify access barriers, assist with rescheduling, and escalate unresolved concerns to the appropriate team.
• Coordinate referrals to outside clinics for specialized care, procedures and imaging, and assist in scheduling appointments.
• Support transportation arrangements in collaboration with Patient Resource Specialists.
• Submit necessary patient information and medical records needed for outside consults and request missing consultation reports and route them to the clinician for review.
• Assists with coordination of care with hospital partners during the antepartum and postpartum period, including scheduling labor inductions, cesarean deliveries and external cephalic versions, and assist patients with hospital registration and pre-procedure tasks.

Team collaboration
• Participate in prenatal huddles and case reviews. Bring unresolved access barriers, referral needs, and outreach status to the team; document assigned actions and completion.
• Serve as a liaison among patients, providers, RNs, medical assistants, registration and referral staff, behavioral health, hospital care managers, and community partners. Obtain outside care records through approved processes and route them for clinical review.

Social needs and individualized support
• Assist with insurance applications within documented training and connect patients with enrollment specialists.
• Use approved nonclinical screening tools to identify transportation, food, housing, insurance, language, and other social needs. Explain the purpose of screening and respect the patient’s choices.
• Support the Patient Resource Specialists team in addressing social needs by referring to internal and external resources. Link patients to behavioral health, dental care, childbirth education and lactation services.
• Complete referral follow-through using warm handoffs, reminders, and confirmation of service connection. Obtain required authorizations before sharing information and document declined or unavailable services.

Approved education and patient navigation
• Provide and reinforce clinician-approved information on accessing care, prenatal and postpartum appointments, and available support services. Use teach-back to confirm understanding.
• Explain approved instructions for reaching the clinical team when concerns arise. Immediately route reported symptoms, safety concerns, or questions requiring clinical judgment to licensed staff using the clinic’s escalation pathway.
• Help patients access the patient portal and telehealth services and arrange qualified interpreter services when needed. Bilingual ability alone does not authorize clinical interpretation.
• Refer breastfeeding concerns to trained lactation staff or licensed clinicians. Provide approved educational materials without independently assessing feeding problems or recommending corrective treatment.

Postpartum coordination and transition to pediatric care
• Track delivery notification and assist with postpartum appointment scheduling according to the clinician’s plan. Support referrals to primary care, behavioral health, and other follow-up services.
• Before delivery, orient patients to access pediatric care within LCDP, and understand how to arrange the newborn’s first appointment. Upon notification of admission to hospital for expected delivery, schedule newborn’s initial pediatric appointment at LCDP to ensure timely post-discharge follow-up.
• After birth, coordinate newborn registration, insurance or coverage assistance, and appointment scheduling with registration, enrollment, and pediatric staff. Arrange transportation and language support as needed.
• Confirm completion of the first pediatric visit within the timeframe established by the discharging or pediatric clinician. Follow up on missed visits, resolve access barriers, and promptly escalate delays or concerns to licensed staff.
• Obtain maternal and newborn discharge records through approved processes and route each to the appropriate clinical team. Track clinician-directed newborn screening, hearing screening, and referral follow-up without interpreting results.
• Complete and document a warm handoff to the pediatric team, including appointment status, outstanding clinician-directed follow-up, coverage, and access needs. Confirm receipt and responsibility for ongoing coordination; record external-provider handoffs when applicable.
• Continue the parent’s postpartum coordination during the defined service period. Track unresolved needs and document program closure according to policy.

Program operations and documentation
• Maintain accurate EHR records and structured registry fields for outreach, appointments, social needs, support plans, referrals, and handoffs so data can support tracking and reporting. Protect patient information and use approved communication channels.
• Support approved prenatal or parenting groups through recruitment, reminders, scheduling, educational-material preparation, closing the loop on referrals, and collecting patient feedback.
• Monitor assigned work queues and attendance trends. Report access problems to Operations and support authorized workflow improvements; clinical scheduling priorities remain with the clinical team.
• Complete other related duties within the position’s nonclinical scope and demonstrated training.

Role Boundaries and Escalation
The coordinator may collect patient-reported information, administer approved nonclinical questionnaires, document responses, and relay clinician-approved instructions. The coordinator must not independently perform clinical assessments or triage; determine medical risk; interpret laboratory, imaging, newborn-screening, or clinical-screening results; give medication or treatment advice; perform examinations or procedures; or change a clinical care plan. Reported symptoms or urgent concerns require prompt connection to licensed clinical staff. Follow the clinic’s emergency protocol when indicated, document the handoff, and confirm that the receiving team has accepted responsibility. Additional duties require documented training and approval and must remain appropriate to this non-licensed position.
Supervisory Responsibilities: None
Physical Requirements:
• Prolonged periods of sitting at a desk and working on a computer
• Must be able to lift up to 15 pounds at times