Sr. Patient Relations Specialist

Johns Hopkins Medicine; Baltimore (MD); On-site; USD 75,768,000 - 125,362,000; Full time

Job summary

Johns Hopkins Hospital seeks a Sr. Patient Relations Specialist to manage, investigate and respond to high-profile patient complaints, ensuring timely documentation and maximizing patient satisfaction.

This role serves as a resource for staff training and problem solving within the Patient Relations team. Collaboration with the Director of Patient Relations is essential, including involvement with Risk Management, Joint Commission, and Med Panel reviews.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required in a related field.
• Master's degree strongly preferred.
• Minimum 5 years in a health care environment with customer service experience.

Responsibilities

• Manage, investigate and respond to high-profile patient complaints and grievances.
• Record and report all interactions accurately; maintain documentation.
• Provide staff training and act as resource for PR Specialist team.
• Conduct audits to ensure timeliness, accuracy, and completeness of case files.
• Facilitate complex family meetings and Med Panel reviews with the Director of Patient Relations.

Skills

Patient relations

Investigation

Conflict management

De-escalation

Staff training

Education

Bachelor's degree (health care management, psychology, communications, business)

Master's degree preferred

Job description

To further The Johns Hopkins Hospital strategic priority around Patient & Family Centered Care, the position of Sr. Patient Relations Specialist manages, investigates and responds to high profile, multi-disciplinary and complex patient complaints and grievances, often-requiring immediate attention and intervention. The Sr. PR Specialist is responsible for accurately and timely recording and reporting all interactions and maintaining appropriate documentation while maximizing patient and family satisfaction of the patient experience. This role serves as an internal expert resource for staff training, consultation and problem solving for the PR Specialist team. The PR Specialist directs compliance of staff performance through random and focused case file audits to ensure timeliness, consistency, accuracy, and completeness for the Patient Relations Specialist team.

This role in collaboration with the Director of Patient Relations serves as the point of contact for high profile cases, including those from the Risk Management Department, claims, and litigation. They are also responsible for cases that were forwarded to Joint Commission, Maryland Board of Physicians and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to assure compliance with the CMS and other regulatory guidelines. The Sr. PR Specialist utilizes advanced skills and training when handling cases with political, civil rights, discrimination, ADA, diversity and behavioral health concerns. This role facilitates complex, multi-disciplinary family meetings, utilizing advanced problem-solving skills and de-escalation techniques. The Sr. PR Specialist in collaboration with the Director of Patient Relations serves as the patient advisor in Medication Panel (Med Panel) Reviews with psychiatric patients. Additional responsibilities include patient relations training for all clinical and non-clinical roles across the organization

Education

Bachelor’s degree in health care management, psychology, communications, business or a related field required. Master’s degree is strongly preferred.

Experience

Requires a minimum of 5 years of experience in health care environment, including customer service, conflict management experience.

Requires knowledge of general policies and procedures of the Patient Relations department, normally acquired through 3-5 years of experience within this job or equivalent.

Requires analytical ability to investigate patient complaints/grievances, engage and interview patients and family/caregivers and employee team members to guide resolution reports.

Salary Range: Minimum $26.51/hour - Maximum $43.76/hour. Compensation will be commensurate with equity and experience for roles of similar scope and responsibility. In cases where the range is displayed as a $0 amount, salary discussions will occur during candidate screening calls, before any subsequent compensation discussion is held between the candidate and any hiring authority.

The Hospital reserves the right to modify employee schedules as needed.

We are committed to creating a welcoming and inclusive environment, where we embrace and celebrate our differences, where all employees feel valued, contribute to our mission of serving the community, and engage in equitable healthcare delivery and workforce practices.

Johns Hopkins Health System and its affiliates are an Equal Opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, age, national origin, mental or physical disability, genetic information, veteran status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.

Johns Hopkins Health System and its affiliates are drug-free workplace employers.