Patient Relations Specialist

Socket.dev; Iowa (LA); On-site; USD 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

UnityPoint Health in Iowa is seeking a Patient Relations Specialist for full-time days to act as a liaison between patients, families and the care team, promoting patient-centered care and addressing concerns promptly.

The role focuses on advocacy, education, and service improvement with strong communication and empathy; a Bachelor's degree and 5 years in healthcare or customer service are preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare administration, social work, nursing, communication or related field required.
• 5 years in healthcare and/or customer service experience required.
• Certified Patient Experience Professional in 2 years preferred.
• Knowledge of CMS grievance guidelines, HIPAA and patient rights.

Responsibilities

• Engage patients, families and team members to improve the care experience.
• Serve as primary contact for patient and family concerns and compliments.
• Listen, clarify needs and support navigation of care processes.
• Promote patient rights and available resources.
• Manage complaint and grievance process per CMS and organizational standards.
• Draft communications to patients and teams.

Education

Bachelor's Degree in healthcare administration, social work, nursing, communication or related field required

Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills

Strong critical thinking and conflict resolution skills

Familiarity with CMS grievance guidelines, HIPAA and patient rights

Job description

Overview

UnityPoint-St Luke's

Full-Time Days

M-F 8am to 5pm

The Patient Relations Specialist serves as a key liaison between patients, families, and UnityPoint Health team members, promoting a culture of patient-centered care and service excellence to provide exceptional experiences. This role ensures concerns are addressed promptly and thoroughly, facilitates conflict resolution, and promotes positive communication across care settings. In collaboration with clinical and non-clinical team members, this position will facilitate complaint resolution, promote patient rights, and provide feedback to improve experiences, working to ensure continued trust in UnityPoint Health.

Why UnityPoint Health?

At UnityPoint Health, you matter. We’re proud to be recognized as a Top 150 Place to Work in Healthcare by Becker's Healthcare several years in a row for our commitment to our team members.

Our competitive Total Rewards program offers benefits options that align with your needs and priorities, no matter what life stage you’re in. Here are just a few:

• Expect paid time off, parental leave, 401K matching and an employee recognition program.

• Dental and health insurance, paid holidays, short and long-term disability and more. We even offer pet insurance for your four-legged family members.

• Early access to earned wages with Daily Pay, tuition reimbursement to help further your career and adoption assistance to help you grow your family.

With a collective goal to champion a culture of belonging where everyone feels valued and respected, we honor the ways people are unique and embrace what brings us together.

And, we believe equipping you with support and development opportunities is a vital part of delivering an exceptional employment experience.

Find a fulfilling career and make a difference with UnityPoint Health.

Responsibilities

Patient Advocacy

• Proactively engage patients, families and team members throughouttheir care experience
• Serve as primary point of contact for patient and family concerns andcompliments
• Actively listen, clarify needs and support patients and team membersin navigating care processes
• Promote awareness of patient rights, responsibilities and availableresources
• Escalate concerns to appropriate departments and leaders, facilitatinginformation gathering, investigation, improvement and resolution
• Provide real-time service recovery through empathetic communicationand problem resolution
• Manage complaint and grievance process in alignment with CMS, DNVand organizational standards
• Draft communication to patients, families and team members
• Engage with regulatory agencies on patient rights concerns

Education and Training

• Support education and training efforts related to service recovery andpatient experience
• Provide education for team members regarding patient rights,advocacy, experience, foundational behaviors and best practices

Performance Improvement

• Track and monitor patient feedback to identify opportunities forimprovement
• Maintain accurate documentation
• Analyze data and trends
• Design and deliver presentations and reports
• Participate in quality and patient experience committees
• Support patient experience improvement initiatives

Qualifications

• Education: Bachelor's Degree in healthcare administration, social work, nursing, communication or related field required.
• Experiece: 5 years in healthcare and/or customer service experience required.
• License/Certifications: Certified Patient Experience Professional in 2 years preferred.
• Knowledge, Skills, Abilities, and Other: Excellent interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills with ability to handle sensitive interactions with professionalism, empathy, discretion and executive presence. Strong critical thinking and conflict resolution skills; ability to de-escalate emotional situations. Familiarity with CMS grievance guidelines, DNV standards, HIPAA and patient rights. Competency using electronic health record and patient feedback tools (e.g., Epic, RLDatix, NRC Health, Press Ganey, etc.). Ability to work independently while contributing to a collaborative team environment. Bilingual or multilingual communication skills preferred. Highly organized with attention to detail; comfortable prioritizing and working with deadlines. Ability to establish and maintain effective and collaborative relationships with UnityPoint Health team members, patients and families.Proficient in Microsoft Office programs including Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Teams.