Patient Advocate | Full-Time | Spanish Plaines Hospital

UF Health • The Villages, FL

5d

About The Position

The Patient Experience Advocate supports and enhances the patient experience by proactively acting on behalf of patients and families. The role ensures that concerns or perceptions about the quality of care or service delivered by any member of the UF Health Shands team are heard promptly and addressed appropriately. This includes investigating, resolving, documenting, and reporting organizational-specific compliments, complaints, and grievances from patients, families, and visitors.

The Patient Experience Advocate develops, implements, and participates in hospital patient-experience initiatives. Serving as a trusted information resource, communication-channel facilitator, consultant, and dispute-resolution practitioner, the Advocate seeks fair and equitable solutions to patient-caregiver problems, suggests processes for addressing and managing conflict, and provides input to unit and departmental managers on policy, procedural, and practice changes that maintain patient rights. The role promotes effective relationships and communication between patients and caregivers.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare, business, or a related field; alternatively, five years of verifiable experience as a Patient Advocate in an academic health center may be considered in lieu of the degree.
• High regard for protecting the confidentiality of patient and corporate information.
• Strong customer service skills.
• Ability to relate to people from diverse backgrounds, training, and experience.
• Ability to address difficult or awkward situations with tact and diplomacy and handle angry people constructively.
• High energy level.
• Excellent interpersonal and negotiating skills, with the ability to influence across functional lines.
• Team player with proven success applying a team approach to resolve issues or accomplish goals.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, and ability to rapidly learn job-specific applications.

Nice To Haves

• Ability to facilitate groups.
• Three years of recent experience in an acute care hospital facility.
• Knowledge of CMS Conditions of Participation regulations and The Joint Commission standards for patient complaints and grievances.
• Knowledge of medical terminology.
• Knowledge of service improvement methodologies.

Responsibilities

• Proactively act on behalf of patients and families to support and enhance the patient experience.
• Ensure concerns about the quality of care or service are heard promptly and addressed appropriately.
• Investigate, resolve, document, and report patient, family, and visitor compliments, complaints, and grievances.
• Develop, implement, and participate in hospital patient-experience initiatives.
• Serve as an information resource, communication-channel facilitator, consultant, and practitioner for dispute resolution.
• Seek fair and equitable solutions to patient-caregiver problems and suggest processes for addressing and managing conflicts.
• Provide input to unit and departmental managers on policy, procedural, and practice changes to maintain patient rights.
• Promote effective relationships and communication between patients and caregivers.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time