PATIENT RELATIONS & EXPERIENCE

About Us:

At Sinai Health System d/b/a Sinai Chicago, we take health care personally. Excellence in health care is about more than just medicine, technology, tests, and treatments, it is about really caring for people with dignity and respect. That is what we do. We are dedicated to providing the best care to meet the needs of people, for our community, for our patients and for you.

Position Purpose:

To improve the quality of patient care, patient safety, and the patient experience, patient feedback, particularly complaints and grievances, provide valuable insight into safety-related problems. As a frontline caregiver, the Patient Relations Advocate serves as a liaison or bridge to address patient complaints/grievances through a prompt investigation process that requires timely documentation as mandated by law, regulations, and accreditation (The Joint Commission) standards.

This position also proactively focuses on developing and improving caregivers’ knowledge and understanding of patient rights and responsibilities, regulatory requirements associated with such and patient experience best practices. The role of advocate is crucial in driving organizational changes that enhance patient-centered care, thereby contributing to better patient outcomes and trust in Sinai Health System.

General Job Description: Serve as an on-site liaison between patients/families/visitors and interdisciplinary team caregivers, who proactively seeks to improve the patient experience and reactively addresses unfavorable feedback with the goal of service recovery.

Key Job Activities:

• Uses the AIDET (Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Expectation, and Thank you) communication model to provide empathetic, non-judgmental, supportive active listening and interactions that promote respect for a patient or representative.
• Remains calm and poised when working with challenging individuals, discussing sensitive or emotional subject matter, or in response to unsolicited provocation.
• Serves with HEART (Hear, Empathize, Apologize, Respond, and Thank you) as the standard service recovery communication model.
• Be mindful of cultural, gender, and religious/spiritual perspectives that may influence the patient’s perspective on illness, the treatment plan, and healthcare. 
• Thoroughly investigates grievances based on CMS guidelines and the system-wide policy.
• Partners with Risk Management, Patient Safety, Quality Improvement, Financial Billing, Regulatory and Leadership across the organization for service recovery (patient satisfaction) and improvements.
• Effectively communicates positively and collaborates with various healthcare teams and leaders to promote behaviors of excellence and safe quality compassionate care.
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• Uses patient feedback to identify trends and recommend policy, procedure, and service improvements.
• Appropriately uses interpreter services to effectively communicate with Non-English, Limited English, and the Deaf or Hard of Hearing patients or representatives.
• Educates caregivers and patients on Patient Rights and Responsibilities; including but not limited to the right to complain.
• Routinely conducts inpatient unit-based intentional rounds according to established guidelines.
• Provides clear, concise, timely, and well-written communication and documentation based on established timelines.
• Serves to facilitate a patient’s navigation through the complexities of the healthcare system continuum.
• Recognizes barriers to care coordination and works with patients and team members to overcome them.
• Uses data to identify and track trends for improvement in patient care processes and workflows. 
• Participates in Regulatory Preparedness Rounds and inspections upon request.
• Provides trainings and education on patient-centered care, customer service and communication techniques.
• Collaborates in the implementation of patient-centric initiatives, and the continuous improvement of service delivery by contributing to well-developed action plans that achieve results.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

• Education and Work Experience:

• Bachelor’s Degree preferred
• Healthcare advocacy experience preferred

• Knowledge and Skills:

• Knowledge of the Patient Bill of Rights, Conflict Resolution, De-escalation Techniques, Negotiation Strategies and/or Problem Solving
• Knowledge of basic medical terminology
• Ability to use Microsoft Office (Word and Outlook)
• Bilingual (Spanish) preferred
• Experience in EPIC and MEDITECH software systems preferred.

• Certifications/Licenses:

• None