Manager - Patient Relations

Stamford Health•Stamford, CT

About The Position

The Manager - Patient Relations partners with Quality, Risk Management, Compliance, Safety & Security, and clinical and operational leaders at Stamford Hospital and the Stamford Health Medical Group to address patient concerns, identify improvement opportunities, 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 across the organization. The role advances patient experience through proactive patient rounding, survey expansion initiatives, data-informed action planning, and staff education and coaching in partnership with clinical and operational leaders. It provides leadership, oversight, and professional development for department staff, with a focus on high performance, engagement, and service excellence. The Manager oversees the patient complaint and grievance management system, including workflows, documentation, timely resolution, regulatory compliance, and reporting of trends to support continuous improvement. The role ensures timely, thorough, and compassionate responses to patient complaints, grievances, and service recovery opportunities; manages complex and escalated concerns; and partners with relevant leaders to resolve issues and improve the patient experience. The position ensures compliance with CMS, Department of Public Health, Joint Commission, and other requirements related to patient rights, grievances, and language access services. It leads regulatory readiness activities and supports accreditation surveys and compliance initiatives. The Manager analyzes patient concern and experience data, identifies trends, mitigates risk, and recommends performance improvements. The role also oversees interpreter services, vendor relationships, utilization, and operational workflows, and monitors and reports key performance indicators related to grievances, interpreter services, and patient experience outcomes.

Responsibilities

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