Director of Patient Experience

Essen Medical Associates•New York, NY

3d•$100,000 - $120,000•Onsite

About The Position

Every patient interaction shapes how our communities experience Essen. The Director of Patient Experience is a strategic and hands-on leader who turns that belief into results across Essen and its subsidiaries and affiliates, from the NPS scores and online reviews that reflect our reputation to the phone calls that turn a frustrated patient into a loyal one. Partnering closely with the Vice President, the Director owns the execution of our patient experience strategy and helps shape it as results come in. This leader builds and leads a growing Patient Experience team, develops the dashboards and reporting that show leaders where to act, and stewards some of our most sensitive work, including the Incident program. Working with Compliance, Legal, and operational leaders, the Director refines the policies and standard operating procedures that guide how we care for patients. This role is for someone energized by both the data and the human side of healthcare, equally comfortable presenting trends to senior leaders and calling a patient to make things right.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Nursing, Business, or related field
Minimum 7 years of progressive experience in patient experience, patient relations, or healthcare operations
Minimum 3 years of people management experience in a healthcare setting
Demonstrated success leading culture change and organization-wide improvement initiatives
Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence and motivate diverse stakeholders, including senior leaders
Expertise in service excellence, conflict resolution, de-escalation, and service recovery
Strong data analysis, dashboard development, and reporting capabilities
Change management and project leadership skills
Working knowledge of CMS, Joint Commission, and health plan grievance requirements
Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree (MHA, MPH, MBA, or related)
Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP)
Experience with NPS programs, CAHPS surveys (e.g., CG-CAHPS), and survey platforms such as Press Ganey or Qualtrics
Experience with online reputation management platforms
Knowledge of EHR systems (ECW)
Experience managing vendor relationships
Experience in a multi-site healthcare organization; a clinical background is not required

Responsibilities

Partner with the Vice President to shape and refine the patient experience strategy, then own its execution across every care site.
Build and lead a growing Patient Experience team, setting clear goals, coaching for performance, and developing future patient experience leaders.
Bring a fresh eye to patient experience policies and SOPs, refining them with Compliance, Legal, and operational leaders so they work in practice, not just on paper.
Manage relationships with patient experience vendors, including survey and online reputation platforms, holding partners accountable for service levels and results.
Own Essen’s online reputation by overseeing the team that monitors and responds to reviews, tracking ratings across platforms, and keeping leaders across the organization informed on where we stand and where we need to improve.
Drive NPS and CG-CAHPS performance by spotting trends early and translating results into site- and department-level action.
Develop and maintain dashboards and reporting covering NPS, CG-CAHPS, grievance, complaint, and online review data, partnering with Quality, Compliance, Analytics, and Informatics to connect experience data to broader performance goals.
Lead the Incident program, ensuring every incident is documented, reviewed, and handled consistently, fairly, and with care for both patients and staff, and partner with Compliance, Legal, and operational leaders to refine the policies that support it.
Guide the rare cases that may lead to a change in the patient relationship, ensuring each decision is thoughtful, well documented, and compliant with policy and regulatory requirements.
Oversee grievance and complaint management, ensuring timely, compliant resolution in line with CMS, Joint Commission, and health plan requirements, and lead sensitive or high-risk escalations in partnership with Compliance, Legal, and clinical leadership.
On specialized cases, engage directly with patients and families, and step in to support the team during high-volume periods, helping resolve concerns and rebuild trust.
Equip frontline staff with service recovery tools and practices that let them make things right in the moment.
Deliver presentations and trainings across the organization, including New Joiner Orientation, so every team member understands Essen’s patient experience standards from day one.
Partner with Learning & Development and People & Culture to shape patient experience training on service excellence, empathy, communication, de-escalation, and service recovery, and to build experience standards into onboarding and ongoing development.
Conduct site observations using established standards, and turn findings into practical coaching that helps managers and frontline leaders own the patient experience within their teams.
Be a highly visible leader across care sites, modeling empathy, respect, and inclusivity, and champion recognition programs that celebrate staff excellence and positive patient feedback.
Look beyond individual feedback entries to identify systemic barriers, and lead cross-functional initiatives that improve patient access, communication, care coordination, and front-end operations.
Use structured change-management methods to drive lasting adoption of new processes, technologies, and service standards.
Build trusted partnerships with senior executives, Medical Directors, Nursing Leadership, and operational teams, advising on patient-centered priorities and bringing the patient’s voice to committees and workgroups.
Represent Essen in professional networks, collaboratives, community forums, and industry associations.