Patient Relations Specialist

Akron Children’s Hospital; Akron, Northern (OH, KY); Hybrid; USD 42,000 - 56,000; Full time

Job summary

Akron Children’s Hospital seeks a Patient Relations Specialist to act as a liaison between patient families and the health care system, addressing concerns and improving the patient experience. The role involves investigating complaints, collaborating with clinical leaders, and supporting quality improvement initiatives to ensure timely resolution and confidentiality of records.

The position emphasizes family-centered care, strong communication, and service excellence, with responsibilities

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare, communications, psychology, or related field preferred.
• Minimum 3 years of relevant experience preferred.
• Licensure or certification not required.

Responsibilities

• Maintains complaint/grievance worklist and ensures timely resolution.
• Investigates complaints by interviewing patients/families and reviewing records.
• Collaborates with leaders to identify resolution strategies and respond in writing.
• Facilitates service recovery, offers counseling, de-escalation, and conflict resolution.
• Communicates policies and procedures to employees, patients, and families.

Skills

Written communication

Public speaking

Conflict resolution

Healthcare collaboration

MS Office

Electronic medical records

Education

Bachelor's degree in Healthcare/Communications/Psychology

Tools

EPIC

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.

Responsibilities:

1. Maintains the complaint and grievance worklist in the tracking system throughout investigation and resolution, ensuring timely resolution in accordance with regulatory standards and guidelines.

2. Investigates complaints and grievances by interviewing patients and families, reviewing concerns with clinical or operational leaders, and reviewing medical records as needed.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. Communicates healthcare services, policies, and procedures to ACH employees, patients, and families to enhance understanding, engagement, and the patient experience.

6. 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.

7. Maintains accurate, current, and confidential records of patient/family interactions, grievances, resolutions, and related follow-up activities.

8. 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.

9. 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.

10. 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

1. Excellent written and verbal communication skills required.

2. Demonstrated ability at speaking in front of large groups is preferred.

3. Proficient in conflict resolution and working in emotionally charged situations.

4. Experience collaborating and communicating with all professional levels within an organization is required.

5. Experience in healthcare is strongly preferred.

6. Proficiency in MS Office (Outlook, Excel, Word) or similar software is required.

7. Experience in EPIC or other electronic medical records system is preferred.

Education and Experience

1. Education: Bachelor's degree in Healthcare, Communications, Psychology, or related field is strongly preferred. A combination of relevant education and experience may be considered.

2. Licensure: None

3. Certification: None

4. Years of relevant experience: Minimum 3 years is preferred.

5. Years of supervisory experience: None

Full-time, Days

Hybrid

Full Time

FTE: 1.000000

Status: Onsite