Patient Relations & Decedent Affairs - Patient Experience Irvine - FT Days

University of California - Irvine Health; Irvine (CA); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

University of California, Irvine Health seeks a Patient Relations-focused professional to enhance patient and family experience by collaborating with leaders, physicians, staff, and volunteers to ensure consistent, patient-centered care. You will plan, implement, and evaluate hospital-wide patient services programs while addressing sensitive cases and promoting best practices.

The role involves education on patient rights, interpreting policies, and ensuring regulatory compliance through data

Qualifications

• Strong ability to resolve patients' issues and deliver high-quality work.
• Strong analytical skills, decisiveness, and sound judgment.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.
• Bachelor's degree with two years relevant experience.
• Willingness to travel between locations within the health system as needed.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate death certification with physicians and families.
• Support families and arrange tissue donations and autopsies.
• Manage timely release of remains and coordinate with Coroner's Office and mortuaries.
• Provide training and administrative support to ensure regulatory compliance.

Skills

Customer service

Analytical skills

Microsoft Office

Communication

Problem solving

Prioritization

Decisiveness

Discretion & confidentiality

Education

Bachelor's degree + 2 years experience

Tools

Microsoft Office

Job description

Who We Are

UCI Health is one of California's largest academic health systems and the clinical enterprise of the University of California, Irvine. Established on July 1, 1976, UCI Health has grown into a 1,461-bed health system that includes UCI Health - Orange, UCI Health - Irvine, four Community Network hospitals and a growing network of ambulatory care centers across Orange and Los Angeles counties. As Orange County's only academic health systems, UCI Health is home to the only National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center based in the county, the region's only American College of Surgeons-verified Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma center, American College of Emergency Physicians Gold Level 1 Geriatric Emergency Department and a nationally recognized regional burn center verified by the American Burn Association. Powered by UC Irvine, UCI Health serves 5.6 million people across Orange County, western Riverside County and southeast Los Angeles County through excellence in patient care, research and medical education.

Your Role on the Team

Position Summary

This position plays a vital role in enhancing the patient and family experience by collaborating with leaders, physicians, staff, and volunteers to ensure the consistent delivery of patient-centered care. The role involves planning, implementing, and evaluating hospital-wide patient services programs, addressing patient and family concerns-including the most sensitive and complex cases-and ensuring satisfaction with services provided. The position also supports education on patient rights, interprets hospital policies, and promotes sustainable best practices through data analytics and resource sharing. Additionally, the role oversees the care and management of deceased patients, ensuring compliance with legal and regulatory requirements. Responsibilities include coordinating with physicians on death certification, supporting families, arranging tissue donations and autopsies, and managing the timely release of remains. The position maintains communication with internal departments and external agencies such as the Coroner's Office, Health Department, and mortuaries, while also providing training and administrative support to ensure regulatory compliance and operational excellence.

What It Takes to be Successful

Required Qualifications

• Strong skills to resolve patients' issues. Ability to produce high quality work and keep commitments. Productive in work volume, speed, quality and consistency
• Strong analytical skills, decisiveness, and sound judgment. Ability to handle multiple tasks at once in a high-paced environment.
• Resourcefulness to identify and search for information that is not readily available
• Proficient in Microsoft Office, including Word and Excel
• Productive in work, volume, speed, quality and consistency
• Must possess the skill, knowledge and ability essential to the successful performance of assigned duties
• Must demonstrate excellent customer service skills
• Must demonstrate customer service skills appropriate to the job
• Must be willing to travel between locations within the health system as needed.
• Knowledge of Patient Relations techniques and procedures. Applies knowledge to provide patient support and improve patient satisfaction
• High degree of professionalism to recognize the need for discretion and maintain confidentiality
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English
• Demonstrated skill and ability to analyze, organize, and prioritize work assignments
• Bachelors' degree and two years relevant experience, or an equivalent combination of education and experience
• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Office applications
• Ability to think critically, problem solve, and provide appropriate recommendations for optimal outcomes
• Ability to function independently with minimal supervision
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships across the Health System
• Ability to appropriately deal with stressful situations and individuals while remaining calm and professional

Preferred Qualifications

• Working knowledge of Electronic Medical Record functions and capabilities
• Prior funeral home/mortuary/healthcare decedent affairs experience
• Prior experience working in a hospital or healthcare clinic environment
• Prior experience in patient satisfaction/customer service
• Knowledge of University and medical center organizations, policies, procedures and forms
• Demonstrated working knowledge of medical terminology.
• Bereavement training

Total Rewards

We offer a wealth of benefits to make working at UCI even more rewarding. These benefits may include medical insurance, sick and vacation time, retirement savings plans, and access to a number of discounts and perks. Please utilize the links listed here to learn more about our compensation practices and benefits.

Conditions of Employment

The University of California, Irvine (UCI) seeks to provide a safe and healthy environment for the entire UCI community. As part of this commitment, all applicants who accept an offer of employment must comply with the following conditions of employment:

• Background Check and Live Scan
• Employment Misconduct*
• Legal Right to Work in the United States
• Vaccination Policies
• Smoking and Tobacco Policy
• Drug Free Environment

*Misconduct Disclosure Requirement: As a condition of employment, the final candidate who accepts a conditional offer of employment will be required to disclose if they have been subject to any final administrative or judicial decisions within the last seven years determining that they committed any misconduct; received notice of any allegations or are currently the subject of any administrative or disciplinary proceedings involving misconduct; have left a position after receiving notice of allegations or while under investigation in an administrative or disciplinary proceeding involving misconduct; or have filed an appeal of a finding of misconduct with a previous employer.

The following additional conditions may apply, some of which are dependent upon business unit or job specific requirements.

• California Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act
• E-Verify
• Pre-Placement Health Evaluation

Details of each policy may be reviewed by visiting the following page: https://hr.uci.edu/new-hire/conditions-of-employment.php

Closing Statement

The University of California is an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, age, protected veteran status, or other protected categories covered by the UC Anti-Discrimination Policy.

We are committed to attracting and retaining a diverse workforce along with honoring unique experiences, perspectives, and identities. Together, our community strives to create and maintain working and learning environments that are inclusive, equitable, and welcoming.

UCI provides reasonable accommodations for applicants with disabilities upon request. For more information, please contact UCI's Employee Experience Center (EEC) at [e-mail] or at [phone], Monday - Friday from 8:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Consideration for Work Authorization Sponsorship

Must be able to provide proof of work authorization