Patient Relations Coordinator (PT- 0.8 FTE, Day Shift)

Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital•Bozeman, MT

About The Position

Position Summary: The Patient Relations Coordinator serves as the primary escalation point and lead resource for the Patient Relations Department. This role provides day-to-day guidance, workflow coordination, and subject matter support to Patient Relations Specialists and partners with Risk Management and organizational leadership to coordinate risk mitigation, grievance resolution, and process improvement efforts that support patient satisfaction and regulatory compliance. The coordinator maintains a limited caseload while supporting workflow standardization, trend analysis, and department-level quality improvement. This position supports a culture of service excellence, transparency, and continuous improvement across hospital, outpatient, and ambulatory settings.

Requirements

Bachelor’s Degree in a healthcare-related field; an equivalent combination of education and experience will be considered.
Three (3) years of progressive experience in patient relations, risk management, quality, compliance, or healthcare leadership including mentoring, training, or coordinating workflows.
Knowledge of operations and clinical workflows in hospital, outpatient, and ambulatory settings.
Knowledge of electronic health record navigation and documentation practices.
Advanced verbal, written, and professional correspondence skills.

Nice To Haves

Master’s Degree
Current Montana licensure as a Nurse, Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW), or Case Manager.
Five (5) years of progressive experience in patient relations, risk management, quality, compliance, or healthcare leadership including mentoring, training, or coordinating workflows.
Experience with grievance management, complaint investigation, and service recovery in a healthcare setting.
Experience preparing reports, dashboards, and trend summaries for leadership review.

Responsibilities

Performs all essential functions of the Patient Relations Specialist and maintains a limited caseload of patient concerns, complaints, and grievances.
Serves as the primary escalation point for complex and high-risk grievances prior to escalation to the Risk Director or other designated leadership.
Reviews concerns, identifies potential patient safety, quality, regulatory, or liability risks, and escalates cases in accordance with organizational policy.
Investigates complaints and grievances in collaboration with patients, families, providers, leaders, and interdisciplinary teams to support timely and appropriate resolution.
Coordinates written grievance responses and case documentation to support compliance with organizational, accreditation, and regulatory requirements.
Develops, revises, and standardizes department workflows, scripting guidance, documentation templates, and related tools.
Provides workflow coordination, case review support, mentorship, and day-to-day guidance for Patient Relations Specialists.
Trains, mentors, and supports new and existing Patient Relations Specialists on workflows, service recovery practices, grievance processes, documentation standards, and escalation expectations.
Analyzes complaint, grievance, and service recovery data to identify trends, recurring issues, and opportunities for process improvement.
Prepares summary reports, dashboards, and recommendations for leadership awareness, decision-making, and action planning.
Facilitates cross-functional initiatives and system-level improvements based on patient relations trends, identified risks, and operational priorities in collaboration with Risk Management, Patient Experience, Marketing/Communications, and other leaders to support organizational patient experience strategies and improvement efforts.