Patient Advocacy Specialist: PT Days

Firelands Health Careers•Sandusky, OH

22h

About The Position

The Patient Advocacy Specialist serves as a liaison between patients and families and hospital staff to enhance patient relations. The role communicates patients’ positive and negative perceptions of their hospital experience, helps patients understand organizational policies, procedures, and services, and assists with resolving problems. The specialist rounds on assigned patients each workday, identifies strengths and concerns, responds to service and communication needs, and coordinates with caregivers and the interdisciplinary team to support timely, consistent solutions. The position coordinates the receipt, investigation, resolution, communication, and correspondence related to patient complaints and grievances, both during hospitalization and after discharge. It maintains patient-contact and grievance records, compiles feedback from multiple sources, prepares activity reports, and connects findings with other feedback to identify opportunities for improvement. The specialist also supports patient rights, refers systems-related issues, collaborates with Case Management and other care-transition functions, and participates in patient-satisfaction and quality-improvement committees. The role requires visibility with patients and staff, sound judgment, strong customer-service skills, and the ability to address concerns tactfully and collaboratively.

Requirements

Experience in a health care clinical field.
Three years of relevant experience in clinical care or health care-related customer service.
Achieve patient advocacy certification within three years of accepting the position.
Strong customer-service and interpersonal skills.
Be a team player with proven success using a team approach to resolve issues or accomplish goals.
Address difficult or awkward situations with tact and diplomacy.
Work supportively with staff to troubleshoot and resolve issues.
Be visible to staff, offering support and modeling service behaviors and concern-resolution processes.
Adaptability and a high tolerance for ambiguity.
Proven analytical skills, including analysis, planning, organizing, and troubleshooting.
Ability to be mobile and communicate effectively, and to adequately understand oral and written communication from others.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in a health care-related field.
Current license or certification.

Responsibilities

Serve as a liaison between patients and families and hospital staff to enhance patient relations.
Communicate patients’ positive and negative perceptions of the hospital experience to staff.
Help patients understand organizational policies, procedures, and services and assist with problem resolution.
Round on assigned patients each workday to identify strengths and concerns expressed by patients and families.
Engage with patients about service, communication, basic comfort, and care-assistance needs, and make referrals as appropriate.
Use sound judgment to determine the appropriate response and when to involve other members of the patient care team.
Communicate issues within the interdisciplinary team to support consistency and coordination of care.
Respond to patient suggestions and compliments and provide positive reinforcement to patients and staff.
Coordinate the receipt, investigation, problem-solving, communication, and correspondence related to patient complaints and grievances during the hospital stay and after discharge.
Maintain an organized workflow, remain visible to patients, and prioritize multiple tasks.
Collaborate with Case Management and other transitions-of-care functions to address strengths and concerns across the continuum of care.
Identify and refer systems-related and issue-related problems.
Maintain a database of patient contacts, concerns, grievances, and actions.
Compile complaint and grievance reports from multiple sources, document information in the database, maintain the grievance log and files, and produce activity reports.
Correlate complaint and grievance findings with other feedback resources to identify opportunities for improvement.
Facilitate advocacy and services to assure patient rights.
Participate in committees including SAMA, the ACE of Hearts Team, and the Continuous Quality Improvement Team.
Maintain proficiency in computer programs related to organizational functioning and contribute to the grievance log.
Maintain knowledge of current accreditation requirements and regulatory standards.