Director, Patient Relations

Position Summary    

The Director of Patient Relations has responsibility to ensure patient’s rights are protected throughout the organization. Works as the Liaison between the patient and administration concerning patient rights, care issues, and concerns of the patients and families with the goal to expedite the best possible outcome and assist in the provision of excellent, quality care. This position is designed to strengthen, personalize, and enhance relationships between the patient and the organization by working closely with medical staff, physician office staff, nursing staff, registration staff, volunteer services, all other departments within the organization, and leadership to improve the overall quality of our customer service and patient satisfaction. The Patient Relations department strives to empower patients and families to take an active role by assisting patients in interpreting hospital policies, procedures, and services. The position has responsibility over the complaint/grievance resolution process, the Centralized Discharge Call Center, Patient Relations in various departments, Language Coordination and the Patient Portal.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities Include the Following:

1. Understands and adheres to the WPH Performance Standards, Policies and Behaviors.
2. Provides services to ensure patients’ understanding of Patient Rights and Hospital Policy and Protocol.
3. Supervisory responsibilities include direct oversight for all employees and volunteers in Patient Advocacy and Centralized Discharge Call Center.
4. Keeps abreast of all pertinent federal, state and WPH regulations, laws and policies as they presently exist and as they are changed or modified.
5. Designated as the organization’s Civil Rights and Language Assessment Coordinator: coordinates interpreter services according to CMS/DOH/ADA regulations and Joint Commission guidelines, educates staff, ensures and monitors usage.
6. Is responsible and accountable for the overall operations of the Advocacy Department. Overall operations of the department include development of department goals and objectives that are consistent with the hospital mission, the management of personnel preparing/monitoring of and accountability for the department budgets.
7. Ensures that all staff are trained and evaluated on their knowledge of and adherence to compliance policies and procedures specific to their jobs.
8. Coordinates interventions/services with multiple departments including Finance, Quality, and Risk Management. Identifies risk issues communicating with Risk Management.
9. As required, facilitates/participates in the Performance Improvement Program as defined by the organization.
10. Communicates with and composes letters or e-mails to patients, visitors, physicians, and/or leadership ensuring grammatical accuracy and according to the terms of the organization’s grievance and complaint policies.
11. Provides quarterly analysis of identified patient communication’s trends to the VP of Quality and Board of Directors.
12. Provides oversight of the Patient Relations entries in our Midas database to include: Documentation of patient/visitor concerns, compliments, comments, and suggestions to include demographic data, synopsis of incident, actions taken to resolve and outcome; inputs information into Midas database.
13. Identifies system related problems, via patient/visitor data, and works collaboratively with physicians, administrators, managers, and staff to improve process.
14. Performs all other related duties as assigned.

Education & Experience Requirements

• Registered Nurse, Social Worker, or combination of relevant degree & experience.
• Bachelor’s Degree in related field required, master’s degree preferred.
• 5 years management and supervisory experience within an acute care facility highly preferred.
• Certificate in Patient Advocacy required or actively pursuing.
• Advanced MS Office suite skillset; Excel and PowerPoint.
• Experience presenting to C-Suite level and leadership teams.
• Experience with de-escalation techniques.

Core Competencies

• Superior Communication Skills (Written & Verbal).
• Demonstrates ability to delegate responsibilities appropriately and work as a team.
• Demonstrates ability to retain composure under stress.
• Demonstrates ability to establish two-way communication by clearly defining expectations, communicating utilizing a variety of methods, actively listening to ideas and concerns and responding in an appropriate manner.
• Demonstrates ability to analyze and process multidimensional problems objectively.
• Requires excellent communication and people skills, ability to work independently, organize and able to set priorities; Planning and Organizational Skills.
• Proficient computer skills.

Physical/Mental Demands/Requirements & Work Environment

• May be exposed to chemicals necessary to perform required tasks. Any hazardous chemicals the employee may be exposed to are listed in the hospital’s SDS (Safety Data Sheet) data base and may be accessed through the hospital’s Intranet site (Employee Tools/SDS Access). A copy of the SDS data base can also be found at the hospital switchboard, saved on a disc.
• Demonstrates ability to follow written and oral instructions required for the position.
• Demonstrates ability to analyze and process multidimensional problems objectively.
• Prioritizes actions to resolve issues promptly.
• Must be able to move about campus including outpatient areas

Primary Population Served

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The responsibilities and tasks outlined in this job description are not exhaustive and may change as determined by the needs of White Plains Hospital.