Role Description The Behavioral Health Advocate is a contract-based role focused on building trusted relationships with patients and helping them navigate behavioral health care. Advocates provide personalized support, goal-oriented interventions, and care coordination to ensure patients are connected to the right resources at the right time. At Benchmark, our Advocates are trusted partners who prioritize the patient experience, build meaningful relationships, and help individuals navigate complex behavioral health systems. This role operates within a Collaborative Care Model (CoCM)-aligned framework to support structured, measurement-based care and reimbursement. With the support of licensed clinicians, the Advocate will collaborate with primary care providers and consulting psychiatrists while delivering high-quality, patient-centered care. Compensation Structure - This is a 1099 independent contractor role. - Compensation is based on completed, documented, and billable care management activities. - These activities are time-based and accrued per patient per month in alignment with payer and CMS guidelines. - Payment is contingent upon accurate, timely, and audit-ready documentation that supports both clinical quality and billing requirements. Responsibilities - Build and maintain ongoing, trust-based relationships with patients while providing longitudinal support, care coordination, and guidance tailored to individual needs. - Screen and assess patients for behavioral health symptoms and help patients navigate behavioral health services, including therapy, psychiatry, and community resources. - Collaborate with the care team to develop, communicate, and adjust treatment recommendations as appropriate. - Work with patients to set measurable, personalized goals using evidence-based approaches (e.g., behavioral activation, problem-solving treatment, motivational interviewing). - Use validated screening tools (e.g., PHQ-9, GAD-7) to guide care, monitor patient progress, and proactively adjust support strategies as needed. - Serve as a liaison between patients, primary care providers, psychiatric consultants, and external behavioral health providers. - Participate in caseload consultation with psychiatric consultants and coordinate follow-up recommendations with the care team. - Maintain accurate, timely, and audit-ready documentation to support high-quality care, measurement-based care delivery, and billing requirements. - Partner with clinical and operations teams to improve workflows and patient experience. Performance Expectations - Deliver high-quality, relationship-driven, and goal-oriented patient care. - Maintain accurate, timely, and audit-ready documentation. - Meet expected thresholds for billable care management activities. - Participate in structured case review and care coordination processes. - Consistently support measurement-based care and patient outcome tracking. Qualifications - Bachelor’s degree in a related field. - 2–5 years of professional experience in behavioral health or a related field. - Experience with measurement-based care and structured goal-setting approaches (e.g., SMART goals, PHQ-9/GAD-7 tracking). - Strong ability to engage patients in goal-oriented, short-term interventions. - Comfort working within structured care models that include documentation and care coordination requirements. Preferred Qualifications - Experience working within the Collaborative Care Model (CoCM) or similar integrated care setting. - Experience managing clinical escalations and performing safety risk assessments. - Experience working with patients with serious mental illness. - Experience working with children and adolescents. Required Skills - Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills; ability to build trust and rapport quickly. - Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple patient cases and documentation requirements concurrently. - Strong documentation skills with attention to detail and quality standards. - Ability to balance patient-centered care with structured workflows and expectations. - Adaptability and flexibility in a fast-paced, early-stage startup environment. Working Conditions - This position can be remote. - As a contractor role, schedule flexibility is expected in alignment with care delivery needs and contractual expectations.