At White Plains Hospital, you have an opportunity to work side-by-side with some of the most talented people in the world.

We have been widely recognized for our exceptional culture, world-class physicians, Magnet-designated nurses and passionate employees who make a real difference in our community. With tremendous growth opportunities, great benefits, and flexible work schedules, it is no wonder why we are consistently recognized as a Great Place To Work. WPH is currently seeking a Patient Relations Specialist to assist our growing organization. 

Position Summary :

The Patient Relations Specialist serves as a liaison between patients, families, visitors, and the Medical Center staff. The Specialist assists patients in understanding hospital policies, procedures, services, and obtaining solutions to problems and concerns. This position functions as the mechanism for investigating and responding to patient complaints and grievances. They guide leaders and staff in gaining awareness of patient’s perceptions of the hospital experience and implements effective strategies to improve patient perception of care and reduce complaints. This position is designed to strengthen, personalize, and enhance relationships between the patient and the organization by working closely with the hospital team to support the goal of quality and patient satisfaction.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities Include the Following:

1. Provides services to ensure patients’ understanding of Patient Rights and Hospital Policy and Protocol

2. Investigates and facilitates resolution of quality of care concerns/complaints/grievances for all patients and families/visitors by engaging with their healthcare providers. Works collaboratively with the healthcare team in clarifying issues, and promoting prompt and caring resolution of patient/family concerns.

3. Works independently to manage complaint cases from initial contact, through appropriate documentation, investigation, resolution, and response to the patient or family member, ensuring grammatical accuracy, within the established standards and policies, including referrals to and from Risk Management.

4. Documents patient/visitor concerns, compliments, comments, and suggestions to include demographic data, synopsis of incident, actions taken to resolve and outcome; inputs information into database.

5. Provides complaint process oversight and responds to escalated concerns as necessary.

6. Educates staff, patients and patient families about the rights of patients in accordance with Federal, State and Regulatory agencies.

7. Coordinates interventions/services with multiple departments including Finance, Quality, and Risk Management.

8. Identifies system related problems, via patient/visitor data, and works collaboratively with physicians, administrators, managers, and staff to improve process.

9. Assists in the development and presentation of patient rights, customer service, and service recovery training data.

10. Participates and/or chairs committees, work groups, and/or process improvement teams.

11. Makes periodic rounds, communicating with patients and staff regarding needs and expectations.

12. Assess, meets or exceed customer needs and expectations using appropriate resources within the system and provide service recovery. 13. Mediation in family meetings with treatment team and families.

14. Maintains collaborative working relationship with others.

15. Initiates or assists with efforts to improve the value of services by improving processes and reducing costs.

16. Refers patients, families and visitors to appropriate services and resources, and responds personally with innovative solutions when other alternatives are not available.

17. Follows up on referrals from administration, leadership, medical staff, and volunteer patient advocates regarding the patients perception of care or services.

18. Coordinates and communicates with staff and patients/families regarding lost items.

19. Assists with coordinating interpreter services according to CMS/DOH/ADA regulations and Joint Commission guidelines, educates staff, ensures and monitors usage.

20. Prepare reports and communicate with department managers/ senior administration on regular basis. Assists with reports for Performance Improvement.

21. Identify system issues/trends; make recommendations; and assist in resolutions and opportunities for improvement in service delivery.

22. Participate in the development of policies and procedures related to patient rights and satisfaction.

23. Provide accurate and complete documentation regarding the investigation process; i.e. subjective data; objective data; assessment; and resolution.

24. Participate on committees, work groups, and/or process improvement teams that improve patient/customer satisfaction.

25. Assists in Quality Assurance of documentation and other regulatory components.

26. Assists with supervision of Volunteers.

27. Ensure that all initiatives are well organized and adhere to accepted professional standards as established by federal, state and regulatory guidelines.

28. Adheres to WPH Performance Standards, behaviors, rules, regulations, and policies of WPH and regulatory requirements including issues that pertain to Patient Rights.

29. Function as the back up to the Director as the primary liaison for members of leadership for any case related issues.

30. Weekend and shift coverage as needed.

31. Performs all the functions of a Patient Relations Coordinator.

32. Performs all other related duties as assigned.

Education & Experience Requirements:

Bachelor’s Degree in related field with 4 years of experience within an acute care facility required. Certificate in Patient Advocacy or related degree preferred. Master’s Degree preferred.

Core Competencies

Requires excellent communication and people skills, impeccable grammar and writing abilities, attention to detail, ability to work independently, organize and able to set priorities; knowledge of patient rights and regulatory requirements; demonstrates awareness of determining patient care of all age groups; conflict resolution techniques; ability to maintain composure under stress, a systems approach to problem solving; public relations principles; death and dying/grieving process; medical terminology; hospital operations, policies and procedures; community resources; department and hospital safety practices and policies; infection control practices and policies; department and hospital emergency response policies and procedures; proficient computer skills.

Physical/Mental Demands/Requirements & Work Environment

ï‚· May be exposed to chemicals necessary to perform required tasks. Any hazardous chemicals the employee may be exposed to are listed in the hospital’s SDS (Safety Data Sheet) data base and may be accessed through the hospital’s Intranet site (Employee Tools/SDS Access). A copy of the SDS data base can also be found at the hospital switchboard, saved on a disc.