Patient Relations Associate

Banner Health Corporate; Mesa (AZ); Hybrid; USD 42,000 - 60,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

None

Job summary

Banner Health Corporate is seeking a Patient Relations Coordinator I to handle incoming calls and address patient relations issues from a centralized location. The role emphasizes de-escalation, documentation, and timely resolution across Banner hospitals and clinics.

Training is onsite for 6 weeks at Mesa Corporate, followed by a hybrid work schedule Monday–Friday, 8am–4:30pm. The ideal candidate has medical terminology knowledge and strong customer service skills to support patient

Qualifications

• Associate's Degree in a relevant field and 1–3 years of related experience.
• Working knowledge of medical terminology.
• Excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills.
• Ability to organize, prioritize and multitask in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience using personal software packages.

Responsibilities

• Initial contact for patient relations issues, de-escalating with compassionate communication.
• Coordinate and document issues when patients are not onsite to ensure timely resolution.
• Maintain complaint database and related correspondence; track resolutions.
• Coordinate with clinical and senior leadership to obtain investigative findings while protecting privacy.
• Analyze complaint patterns and share insights with management.
• Enter concerns into the record system and assist teammates with cases.
• Draft and edit service recovery letters reflecting investigations.
• Handle non-clinical issues, including billing or HIPAA-related concerns.
• Focus on patient satisfaction and cross-entity coordination.

Skills

Medical terminology

Customer service

Excellent communication

Multitasking

Organizational skills

Interpersonal skills

Education

Associate's Degree in relevant field

1–3 years of related experience

Job description

Primary City/State: Mesa, Arizona Department Name: Clinical Risk Mgmt & Ptnt Rel Work Shift: Day Job Category: Risk, Quality and Safety

In this position you will record and document inbound complaints and grievances across all Banner Hospitals and Clinics. We are seeking a strong professional with medical experience who demonstrates compassion and composure when working with upset or distressed patients. The ideal candidate is reliable, focused, and comfortable interacting professionally with patients, providers, and staff in a fast-paced healthcare environment. The training is onsite for 6 weeks at Mesa Corporate. After training, this position will be hybrid working Monday-Friday, 8am-4:30pm. Within Banner Health Corporate, you will have the opportunity to apply your unique experience and expertise in support of a nationally-recognized healthcare leader. We offer stimulating and rewarding careers in a wide array of disciplines. Whether your background is in Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology, Legal, Managed Care Programs or Public Relations, you'll find many options for contributing to our award-winning patient care.

POSITION SUMMARY

This position is responsible for answering incoming calls for Patient Relations and addressing patient relations issues across multiple entities from a centralized location. Primarily focused on de-escalating complaints and issues that arise when a patient or family member is not physically present at a Banner entity through a variety of modes including social media channels, e-mails, letters, satisfaction surveys etc. The coordinator I is responsible for treating all incidents in a compassionate manner, properly documenting the issue in our system and make initial determination as to what additional resources are needed and for less complex issues, may act as investigator and facilitator to ensure timely resolution. This could include grievance identification and resolution, serving as a liaison between patients/family members and facility staff in an effort to provide missing information and to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with patients, their families and key constituencies, resulting in enhanced patient/family experience. This also includes follow up with patient by phone and/or in a written document.

CORE FUNCTIONS

1. Initial point of contact for any patient relations issues when someone is not physically present at an entity. Responds in a compassionate manner and de-escalating the complaints and issues through effective communication that conveys caring.
2. Leads, receives, coordinate, facilitates, documents and tracks all issues that occur when the patient or family member is not physically present at the entity. This also includes ensuring all processes are followed to achieve timely resolution of service and care related complaints and grievances, which may include review of patient records, escalation, adhering to applicable system guidelines and regulatory requirements.
3. Maintains comprehensive complaint database and records; works to promptly resolve complaints utilizing advanced problem solving and ensuring compliance with established authority guidelines and in a manner that is acceptable to all parties involved; follow-up with patient/family members regarding complaint and/or grievance resolution; prepares and maintains related letters, reports, documents, and/or other related correspondence.
4. Communicates directly with clinical and senior executive leadership to obtain thorough investigative findings in response to all stated concerns. Ensures entity representative has contacted patient to address stated concerns, if not managed by employee, per established process. Coordinates needed information to facilitate the completion of a letter to patient as needed. Must also ensure privacy and confidentiality of the patient and their information by complying with HIPAA and privacy policies.
5. Assists in analyzing complaint and/or grievance patterns and trends and bringing to the attention of PRSC Coordinate/Director. Identifies and communicates areas negatively impacting the patient/family experience, as well as vulnerability associated with risk and quality issues with appropriate management staff.
6. Records all incoming concerns/complaints into the record system. Ensure all data is collected to assist in the completion of investigative findings and patient/family callback information. Assists teammates with entering cases in a timely manner, and answering incoming calls.
7. May compose, proofread and edit service recovery letters, ensuring consistency of style and accuracy of spelling, grammar, punctuation, syntax and idiom. Ensures that correspondence accurately reflects patient concerns and investigative outcomes.
8. Responsible for responding to assigned cases with non-clinical customer service issues, billing issues that are non-clinical, issues related to HIPAA only and behavioral issues that are not related to providers or nursing staff.
9. This position focuses on de-escalating complaints and issues that arise when a patient or family member is not physically at a Banner entity. In addition to requiring some medical terminology knowledge, this position requires the ability to understand social media channels when determining the best way to respond. This role is responsible for being consistent with decisions and working within established parameters to ensure a positive patient experience, as well as system accountability for specific activities surrounding patient satisfaction. Internal customers range from executive staff to point of service providers and staff. External customers are patients, family members, medical staff, payers, and the community-at-large.

MINIMUM QUALIFICATIONS

Working knowledge of medical terminology and has a basic understanding of medical practices. Also has an understanding principles and practices of customer service as normally obtained through the completion of an Associate's Degree in a relevant field and a minimum of one to three years' relevant experience. Must have excellent oral, written and interpersonal communication skills to effectively interact and provide assistance to a diverse group of individuals. Must have excellent working knowledge of personal software packages. Must have the ability to organize, prioritize and multitask workload in a fast paced environment. Excellent use of written language in composing a variety of presentations, policies, procedures, and other applicable communication pieces. Skilled in solving problems in order to facilitate the communication network between patient and hospital. Skilled in maintaining composure and professional demeanor in difficult and stressful situations. Requires a passion for providing excellent customer service, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS

Bachelor's Degree. Previous patient relations and service experience in a medical setting as well as other environment, like retail. Experience with social media channels preferred. Additional related education and/or experience preferred.

EEO STATEMENT

EEO/Disabled/Veterans Our organization supports a drug-free work environment.