Director Patient Experience WMCG

2310 AU Medical Center, Inc. • Augusta, GA

6d

About The Position

The Director of Patient Experience provides strategic direction to foster a culture of patient- and family-centered care and deploys The Wellstar Experience and consumer engagement strategies to support consumer experience goals. The director guides the evaluation, design, and implementation of patient experience programs throughout the hospital and oversees hospital-wide patient experience and service excellence programs across inpatient, outpatient, emergency department, and ambulatory surgery services.

The role partners with hospital and system leadership, physicians, staff, and other stakeholders to identify opportunities to improve consumer engagement in alignment with Wellstar’s strategic plan. The director leads patient relations, service coaching, customer service, volunteer services, and performance excellence programs; oversees complaints and grievances and coordinates Grievance Committee activities. The director also advances an interdisciplinary approach to care, supports improvement in discharge calls, leads service excellence councils and committees, and communicates progress to executives, departments, and committees.

This leader oversees data collection and analysis to identify trends and improve service outcomes, coaches employees in the use of customer service tools, and guides departments in setting patient experience goals and action plans. The director manages departmental budgets and human resources, including staffing, evaluations, payroll, coaching, and employee development, and ensures compliance with applicable regulatory requirements, including CMS and Joint Commission standards for patient experience and grievance response.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree in Health Administration, Business Administration/Management, or Health Science; a master’s degree in another related field is preferred.
• At least 7 years of progressive experience in healthcare or patient experience.
• At least 2 years of direct management of individuals or teams.
• At least 2 years leading improvement work or significant project management experience.
• CPXP (Certified Patient Experience Professional) certification within 120 days of hire.
• Deep knowledge of CMS compliance, CAHPS administration, and patient experience best practices.
• Knowledge and experience with CMS and Joint Commission standards for complaint and grievance resolution.
• Ability to work collaboratively and effectively in a highly matrixed organization.
• Strong organizational skills and experience assessing processes and implementing organizational improvements.
• Demonstrated ability to influence positive, sustainable change in urgent, fast-paced environments, including among people who do not report directly to the role.
• Strong customer service, negotiating, crisis management, communication, publication, and presentation skills.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with healthcare providers at all levels, including physicians.
• Ability to perform duties promptly and consistently with little direct supervision.
• Ability to plan and direct others’ activities and provide feedback on outcomes or performance.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with HCAHPS/CAHPS, CMS regulations, and value-based purchasing.
• Proven leadership driving positive change in customer experience, with demonstrated understanding of HCAHPS, CMS relations, and value-based purchasing or related healthcare leadership experience.
• Master’s degree in another related field.

Responsibilities

• Lead patient experience efforts to achieve system goals and objectives.
• Oversee development and implementation of improvement plans for inpatient, emergency, surgery, ambulatory, and essential services.
• Ensure compliance with CMS and Joint Commission requirements related to patient experience, complaints, and grievances.
• Direct departments in developing patient experience goals and action plans; facilitate goal achievement and routine progress reporting.
• Collaborate with hospital and system leadership to align priorities and resources and deploy facility-level patient experience programs.
• Plan, implement, and support patient experience initiatives; provide strategic guidance on publicly reported data and relevant guidelines, regulations, and processes.
• Use consumer data and insights to analyze, interpret, and communicate internal and publicly reported measures.
• Oversee feedback management processes, including identification and reporting of complaints, cause analysis, action plans, and effectiveness measures.
• Serve as a consultant, subject matter expert, and facilitator for patient experience and service excellence improvement.
• Review performance data, identify low-performing areas, and facilitate education and process improvement.
• Develop and monitor operating and capital budgets, including variance analysis and resolution, and achieve productivity goals.
• Lead hospital-wide cultural transformation centered on patient experience.
• Provide campus leadership for service coaching, patient relations, customer service, and volunteer services.
• Support operational department leadership development and improvement planning; foster a positive, professional team atmosphere, employee growth, and retention.
• Manage team staffing, coaching, human resources oversight, evaluations, and payroll functions.
• Submit reports on patient satisfaction trends and campus-wide efforts, regularly and as requested.
• Collaborate with Wellstar service excellence teams to promote organizational alignment and economies of scale for system initiatives.
• Perform other assigned duties and comply with Wellstar policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Director