Patient Experience Advocate

Yale New Haven Health Services Corp.; New Haven (CT); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. is seeking a Patient Relations Specialist to resolve patient issues, advocate for patients and families, and collaborate on system improvements. The role supports CMS guidelines and hospital policy across multiple units.

The candidate will work with interdisciplinary teams, monitor patient satisfaction, and drive service excellence initiatives while maintaining detailed records and timely responses to inquiries.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in Human Services, Social Work, Nursing, Psychology, or a related field.
• Minimum 3 years of experience in patient advocacy, conflict resolution, or customer service at a healthcare facility or related service industry.
• Experience in patient relations, nursing, or other clinical work preferred.

Responsibilities

• 1. Interprets patient rights for patients, families, and staff.
• 2. Responds to, researches, and resolves complaints following CMS guidelines.
• 3. Interprets hospital philosophy, policies, procedures to patients and families with proper documentation.
• 4. Works with diverse patient and staff populations and responds to calls during the hospital workday.
• 5. Monitors waiting lounges for safety and family needs; rounds as needed.
• 6. Evaluates patient and family perceptions and facilitates consensus with staff.
• 7. Communicates with nursing leadership to identify issues requiring intervention.
• 8. Researches and resolves patient issues with appropriate staff involvement.
• 9. Manages patient complaint and grievance files and escalation processes.
• 10. Collaborates with the Patient Relations team to investigate property losses and reimbursements.
• 11. Channels data to managers for process improvements and meets with patients and physicians to collect data.
• 12. Works with unit staff to implement service recovery initiatives.
• 13. Participates in hospital-wide service excellence initiatives and advises on process improvements.
• 14. Performs statistical analysis of patient satisfaction data and supports corrective actions.
• 15. Organizes family meetings for complaint and grievance resolution.
• 16. Provides information about services and community resources.
• 17. Assists with supervision and training of volunteers.
• 18. Participates in continuing education to improve negotiating and interpersonal skills.
• 19. Partners with Grievance coordinator on the CLEAR program for safety events.
• 20. Collaborates with safety and quality teams for case review and follow-up.

Skills

Interpersonal skills

Written communication

Conflict resolution

Negotiation

Problem solving

Independent work

Team collaboration

MS Office proficiency

Data interpretation

Education

Bachelor's degree in related field

Master's degree preferred

Job description

Yale New Haven Health Services Corp. is seeking a Patient Relations Specialist to resolve patient issues, advocate for patients and families, and collaborate on system improvements. The role supports CMS guidelines and hospital policy across multiple units.

The candidate will work with interdisciplinary teams, monitor patient satisfaction, and drive service excellence initiatives while maintaining detailed records and timely responses to inquiries.