Manager - Patient Relations

Stamford Health•Stamford, CT

About The Position

The Manager of Patient Relations partners with Quality, Risk Management, Compliance, Safety & Security, and clinical and operational leaders at Stamford Hospital and Stamford Health Medical Group to address patient concerns, identify opportunities for improvement, and foster person-centered care. As the subject matter expert for language access and equitable care, the manager leads the ongoing optimization and expansion of interpreter services and equitable access initiatives. The role advances patient experience improvement through proactive patient rounding, survey expansion initiatives, data-informed action planning, and staff education and coaching in partnership with clinical and operational leaders. It also provides leadership, oversight, and professional development for department staff, supporting high performance, engagement, and service excellence.

Responsibilities

Provide leadership, oversight, and professional development for department staff.
Manage and optimize the patient complaint and grievance management system, including workflows, documentation, timely resolution, regulatory compliance, and trend reporting.
Ensure timely, thorough, and compassionate responses to patient complaints, grievances, and service recovery opportunities.
Manage complex and escalated patient concerns in partnership with clinical, operational, and physician leaders.
Ensure compliance with CMS, Department of Public Health, Joint Commission, and other regulatory requirements related to patient rights, grievances, and language access services.
Lead regulatory readiness activities related to patient rights, grievance management, and language services, supporting accreditation surveys and compliance initiatives.
Analyze complaints, grievances, and patient experience data to identify trends, mitigate risk, and drive performance improvement.
Serve as Stamford Health's subject matter expert on language access requirements, including Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, and as Civil Rights Coordinator.
Oversee interpreter services, including vendor relationships, utilization, operational workflows, and equitable access initiatives.
Collaborate with Quality, Patient Safety, Risk Management, Compliance, and operational leaders to address systemic concerns and advance person-centered care.
Support patient experience improvement through rounding, staff education, coaching, data-informed action planning, and service excellence initiatives across the continuum of care.
Monitor and report key performance indicators related to grievances, interpreter services, and patient experience outcomes, and provide actionable recommendations to leadership.