Supervisor, Patient Relations

VCU Health•Richmond, VA

About The Position

The Supervisor of Patient Relations oversees the daily operations of the Patient Relations program and coordinates the triage, investigation, response, documentation, and resolution of patient and caregiver feedback, including inquiries, compliments, suggestions, complaints, and grievances. The role works with clinical and non-clinical teams, providers, and managers to identify resolutions, develop action plans, and prepare formal responses. Oversight covers adult inpatient, ambulatory, perioperative, and emergency services throughout VCU Health System. The supervisor leads patient-experience process improvement and behavioral coaching, analyzes complaint volume and trends, and uses Root Cause Analysis to address underlying causes and support long-term resolutions. The role ensures complaints are managed and resolved within CMS requirements and timeframes, serves as a subject matter expert during Joint Commission complaint investigations, and provides education and guidance on service recovery and complaint-resolution processes. The position also provides leadership for the Patient Relations team, including hiring, training, development, mentoring, counseling, and performance evaluation. It supports accurate time and leave reporting, maintains incident report files, and promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. The work takes place in a general office environment, with periods of high stress and fluctuating workloads and prolonged periods of working alone.

Requirements

High school diploma.
At least four years of experience focused on patient or customer satisfaction, service recovery, and de-escalation of customer complaints.
Demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively managing bias.
Ability to handle multiple priorities and work through stressful situations.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration, Counseling, Pastoral Care, Business Administration, Nursing, or another healthcare-related field from an accredited program.
CPXP (Certified Patient Experience Professional) certification, or ability to achieve the certification within two years.
Familiarity with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Responsibilities

Oversee and coordinate the daily operations of the Patient Relations program.
Triage patient and caregiver feedback, including inquiries, compliments, suggestions, complaints, and grievances, and arrange de-escalation, investigation, and response as needed.
Collaborate with clinical and non-clinical teams, providers, and managers to review feedback, identify resolutions, develop action plans, and draft formal responses.
Lead patient-experience process improvement and behavioral coaching based on complaint volume and trend analysis.
Use Root Cause Analysis techniques to identify underlying reasons for trends and partner with relevant areas on long-term resolutions.
Develop and implement practices to reduce complaint volume and strengthen a patient-centered culture.
Manage, document, and resolve patient complaints in accordance with CMS guidelines and timeframes.
Serve as a subject matter expert with the Joint Commission during patient complaint investigations.
Maintain and update employee and patient incident report files.
Train and monitor new staff and ensure personnel are trained for their assigned duties and comply with HR requirements.
Lead the Patient Relations team, including recruiting, selection, hiring, termination, training, professional development, mentoring, counseling, and performance evaluations.
Ensure time and leave requests are submitted accurately and verify that monthly payroll statements reflect approved time.
Provide the Patient Liaison team with consistent training and guidance to support exemplary STAR Service for patients and families.
De-escalate highly emotional or challenging situations and serve as the first escalation point for in-person or remote patient complaints.
Make decisions and act when complete information is not available.
Prepare monthly complaint trend and volume reports for department and organizational leadership.
Work collaboratively with interdisciplinary teams and find common ground among people with diverse perspectives.
Use knowledge of clinical workflows to develop and maintain working partnerships.
Develop and deliver education outreach to internal clinical and non-clinical stakeholders on service recovery, CMS complaint and grievance guidelines, and internal complaint-resolution processes.
Support diversity, equity, and inclusion programs and initiatives through collaboration and implementation across the health system.