Patient Relations Specialist

Akron Children's; Akron (OH); Hybrid; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Akron Children's is seeking a Patient Relations Specialist to serve as a liaison between patient families and the health care system, addressing concerns and grievances to ensure an outstanding patient experience.

The role collaborates with clinical and operational leaders to investigate issues, develop resolution strategies, and communicate policies to staff, patients, and families, while maintaining confidential records and supporting quality improvement.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare, communications, psychology or related field strongly preferred.
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience preferred.
• Licensure: None
• Certification: None
• Supervisory experience: None

Responsibilities

• Maintains complaint and grievance worklist and ensures timely resolution.
• Investigates complaints by interviewing patients and reviewing records.
• Collaborates with leaders to identify resolution strategies and communicate outcomes.
• Facilitates service recovery, provides support, de-escalation, and conflict resolution.
• Communicates policies to employees, patients, and families to enhance understanding.
• Acts as escalation point for unresolved issues and coordinates with leadership.
• Maintains confidential records of interactions, resolutions, and follow-ups.
• Involves Risk/Quality when higher-level intervention is needed.
• Works with care teams to address grievances and support quality improvement.
• Supports training and committee presentations on grievances and resolutions.

Skills

Excellent written and verbal

Public speaking

Conflict resolution

Collaboration across levels

Healthcare experience

MS Office

EPIC/EMR systems

Education

Bachelor's degree in Healthcare/Communications/Psychology

Tools

MS Office (Outlook/Excel/Word)

EPIC/EMR systems

Job description

Summary

The Patient Relations Specialist serves as a liaison between patient families and the health care system to address patient care concerns, complaints, and grievances to provide an outstanding patient experience. This position collaborates with clinical and operational leaders to investigate concerns, identify opportunities for improvement, and facilitate the timely resolution of complaints and grievances. The Patient Relations Specialist supports the organization's commitment to family-centered care by fostering effective communication, service excellence, and continuous quality improvement.

Full-time, Days

Hybrid

Responsibilities

• Maintains the complaint and grievance worklist in the tracking system throughout investigation and resolution, ensuring timely resolution in accordance with regulatory standards and guidelines.
• Investigates complaints and grievances by interviewing patients and families, reviewing concerns with clinical or operational leaders, and reviewing medical records as needed.
• Collaborates with clinical and operational leaders to identify appropriate resolution strategies and responds to patient and family complaints and grievances verbally and in writing as required.
• Facilitates service recovery efforts, offers supportive counseling, de-escalation, and crisis intervention, and assists staff and families with conflict resolution to restore patient/family confidence.
• Communicates healthcare services, policies, and procedures to ACH employees, patients, and families to enhance understanding, engagement, and the patient experience.
• Serves as a resource and escalation point for hospital staff in assessing, investigating, and responding to patient care concerns and complaints that cannot be resolved effectively within the originating area.
• Maintains accurate, current, and confidential records of patient/family interactions, grievances, resolutions, and related follow-up activities.
• Identifies situations requiring additional support or higher-level intervention, engages the Risk Manager and/or Quality Department as appropriate, conducts proactive rounding, and leverages available resources to address complex or potentially escalating concerns.
• Works closely with clinical and non-clinical teams, including nursing, medical staff, administration, and social workers, to address grievances, resolve concerns, and support quality improvement and patient experience initiatives.
• Assists with developing and facilitating patient relations training, presents grievances and resolutions to the Grievance Committee consistent with policy and regulatory requirements, participates in hospital committees, and performs other duties as assigned.

Technical Expertise

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills required.
• Demonstrated ability at speaking in front of large groups is preferred.
• Proficient in conflict resolution and working in emotionally charged situations.
• Experience collaborating and communicating with all professional levels within an organization is required.
• Experience in healthcare is strongly preferred.
• Proficiency in MS Office (Outlook, Excel, Word) or similar software is required.
• Experience in EPIC or other electronic medical records system is preferred.

Education And Experience

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Healthcare, Communications, Psychology, or related field is strongly preferred. A combination of relevant education and experience may be considered.
• Licensure: None
• Certification: None
• Years of relevant experience: Minimum 3 years is preferred.
• Years of supervisory experience: None

Full Time

FTE: 1.000000

Status: Onsite