Quality Specialist & Patient Advocate

Gillette Children's is seeking a Quality Specialist & Patient Advocate/Patient Representative to join our team in a full-time position based out of our St Paul, MN campus. This role plays a vital role in upholding the organization’s commitment to patients and families by fostering an environment of care that meets or exceeds national quality and safety standards.

Purpose Of Position

The Patient Representative plays a vital role in upholding the organization’s commitment to patients and families by fostering an environment of care that meets or exceeds national quality and safety standards. This position serves as a liaison between patients, families, and the organization, ensuring thorough and timely resolution of complaints and grievances while promoting a culture of patient satisfaction, safety and continuous improvement.

Working collaboratively with Quality and Safety leadership, the Patient Representative investigates, resolves, documents, and reports patient and family complaints, and grievances. Manages patient feedback data, and develops initiatives to enhance patient relations and customer service. The role actively partners with organizational leaders, providers, and senior leadership to improve patient satisfaction, clinical quality, reduce patient harm, prevent infections, and maintain accreditation readiness.

Using high-reliability principles, improvement methodologies, project management, conflict resolution, and team-building strategies, the Patient Representative supports departments in implementing education and communication plans. Additionally, they track and analyze data, providing formal reports on trends and progress toward local, regional, and national standards.

Compensation And Benefits

The annual salary range for this opportunity is $73,986 to $110,989, with a median salary of $94,487. Pay is dependent on several factors including relevant work experience and internal equity. Salary is just one component of the compensation package for employees. Gillette supports career progression and offers a competitive benefits package, including a retirement saving match, tuition and certification reimbursement, paid time off, and health and wellness benefits for .5 FTE and above.

Core Responsibilities And Duties

Facilitates resolution of patient complaints and grievances in collaboration with Gillette leadership at all Gillette locations. Coordinates with risk management when responding to grievances.

• Composes letters or assists with the composition of them to respond to grievances from patients and their representatives in accordance with Gillette policy and procedure.
• Documents complaints and grievances information in the electronic Patient Feedback System.
• Manages the patient feedback information system for complaint/grievance data. Analyzes the data
• Brings trend information forward to leadership for action. Presents results to various committees or teams.
• Sends monthly data to Gillette Leadership.
  
  

Manages interactions with and between others with the goal of providing services and organization success.

• Serves as the complaint/grievance subject expert to our customers i.e., patients, families, caregivers, supervisors, managers, providers and staff.
• Provides excellent customer service by exhibiting a positive attitude, encouraging feedback from customers, responds immediately to customer concerns, developing loyal relationships and seeking to exceed expectations of customers.
  
  

Procedures and Policies

• Follows established procedures and policies. Protects the confidentiality of personal health information.
• Advances evidence-based practice change in collaboration with organizational leadership and staff.
• Demonstrates leadership by promoting positive growth in the systems and methods of care delivery and staff development through active problem solving and participation.
• Standardizing processes across the organization
  
  

Consulting/ Facilitator - Serves as internal consultant providing expert facilitation on quality improvement

• Facilitates Grievance Committee
• Demonstrates subject matter expertise and consultative skills to accomplish organizational objectives designed to improve care, services or meet established requirements.
• Uses the improvement tools and model, rapid cycle method, PDSA cycles and high reliability principles to guide teams to improve and standardize processes and demonstrate improved outcomes
• Assists leaders with team process and meeting management, keeping the teams focused on organizational objectives and cycles of improvement.
• Helps to build effective improvement team capacity, assisting with problem solving, identifying, and removing barriers to advancement of efforts and conflict resolution.
• Provides consultation and support to clinical staff in annual education plan development and implementation
• Applies systems approach, advocates for, and advances positive changes.
  
  

Data and Reporting – Provides teams with expertise in measurement plans, data collection, data management, analysis and integration of the information.

• Using data collected by the team with monthly reports of results and trending of this data for process and outcome measures to assist teams to determine effectiveness of changes made throughout the organization.
• Using organization standard reports, prepares regular status reports on the progress of complaints/grievances and accreditation readiness for leadership to keep them apprised of the progress, potential barriers, and lessons learned.
• Benchmarks program offerings and outcomes through communication with professional organizations and current research.
• Ensures timely and accurate internal and external reporting.
  
  

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor’s degree in behavioral sciences or related field
• At least five years of relevant experience in a health care environment, preferably hospital
  
  

Preferred

• Knowledge of healthcare regulations and accreditation requirements, health care insurance and Gillette patient populations
• Presentation skills
• Proficient in Windows based operating software systems
  
  

Knowledge, Skills And Abilities

• Possess strong customer service skills especially with interpersonal interactions with difficult conversations, ability to handle difficult and angry people constructively, and ability to interact with leadership and physicians with ease
• Excellent communication skills, written and oral
• Excellent analytical skills including analysis, planning and organizing data into information
• Knowledge and skills in quality improvement methodology
• Ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to drive to all Gillette locations
  
  

Gillette Children’s is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse team, as we know that the diverse experiences of our employees make Gillette a stronger and better organization. We are committed to creating an equitable and inclusive environment where all patients, families and staff are welcomed and valued. We believe diverse perspectives and identities foster excellence, improve patient care and are essential for Gillette to fulfill its mission. Our team members collaborate to help patients of all backgrounds and abilities reach their full potential.

Gillette Children's is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate against any employee or applicant for employment because of an individual's race, color, creed, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, marital status, familial status, genetic information, status with regard to public assistance, sexual orientation or gender identity, military status or any other class protected by federal, state or local laws.

Gillette Children’s is a global beacon of care for patients with brain, bone and movement conditions that start in childhood. Our research, treatment and supportive technologies enable every child to lead a full life defined by their dreams, not their diagnoses.

To learn more about working at Gillette Children's, please visit https://www.gillettechildrens.org/careers.

Gillette Children's participates in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) E-Verify program which is an internet-based employment eligibility verification system operated by the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services. If E-Verify cannot confirm that you are authorized to work, Gillette will give you written instructions and an opportunity to contact DHS or the Social Security Administration (SSA) to resolve the issue before Gillette takes any further action. Please visit https://www.e-verify.gov/ for further details regarding e-verify.