Patient Advocacy Specialist

The Patient Advocacy Specialist is accountable to the Director of Patient Experience and is responsible for the patient experience while at our facility. Assist in developing and implementing the service excellence plan, internal and external market research, and advocacy among our constituents to influence our mission of Service. This includes support to nursing administration, staff, and our patients. Further the Patient Advocacy Specialist will monitor, report, and communicate progress of the plan. The Patient Advocacy Specialist will assure the patient experience exceeds expectations. This position is responsible for ongoing gathering of data from our patient satisfaction survey vendor. The position will develop and implement team member education as it relates to the patient experience. The Patient Advocacy Specialist will round on all patients on a regular basis and gather feed back from the patient as it relates to their stay at the facility and report quarterly as required by the Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady Health System. The Patient Advocacy Specialist will manage the patient grievance process and assist in developing solutions.

• Responsible for monitoring the full lifecycle of patients overall experience at the hospital. Replies to patient complaints or commendations either by phone or in person. Analyze complaints and initiate service recovery if necessary.
• Exhibits hospitality by proactively greeting patients and families; makes a positive impression. Answers the phone in a prompt courteous, helpful manner. Anticipates patient/customer needs.
• Plans, schedules and coordinates ongoing training sessions on patient experience to all team members. Updates training curriculum with new trends, best practices, and survey results as they change.
• Communicate effectively with patients, families and team members. Facilitates communication between families and the health care team. Rounds in waiting rooms and patient care areas. Utilizes electronic tools to provide accurate information to patients, families, guests, team members, and physicians.
• Generate charts and graphs from data extracted from Press Ganey and HCAHPS to organize the nature of complaints/compliments/grievances to explain to various audience such as, the Grievance Committee, Senior Leadership Team (SLT), and Patient Loyalty Committee.
• Facilitates way finding, escorts guests throughout the hospital and develops a culture to implement the same. Cultivates a personal relationship with patients, families, and healthcare associates.
• Responds appropriately to urgent situations and communicates effectively to the proper leader. Maintains confidentiality and mitigate potential issues.
• Responsible for providing mediation in order to promote resolution to concerns or grievances as well as administers and manages the proper follow up and service data entry and analyses throughout the health care system so that optimal quality and communication can be achieved.
• Facilitate monthly orientations with new hires and deliver Spot Training to new team members quarterly using informative and role-playing approaches. Also conduct any other ongoing educational training as needed.
• Prepare presentations on patient satisfaction and scores reflective of current Press Ganey surveys and develop education to improve outcome for patient satisfaction.
• Provides personalized guidance and is a support role with administrative duties to senior leadership.
• Quality- Makes recommendations for improving service quality and advocates continuing education as a means of promoting the quality of services provided by all hospital personnel.
• Assists in consulting with administration, departmental management, and team members to identify areas in need of performance improvement using specific assessments and tools provided by the hospital patient satisfaction survey vendor.
• Utilizes time to accomplish work in an efficient manner.
• Provides weekly and monthly patient satisfaction data as well as quarterly reviews of initiatives. Provides supplemental reports as requested. Assures reports are understandable at all levels of teh organization. Encompasses multiple sources of data and benchmarks.
• Analyzes, documents, and communicates vision for service and experience results as well as risk to stakeholders and senior management for service initiatives. Reinforces best practice on an on-going basis. Develops education to share and implement best practices.
• Communicates successes and opportunities with employees, board, physicians, volunteers, and the community as appropriate.

Experience: Possess two years' experience in patient relations, hospitality, social services or related field.

Education: Bachelor's in hospitality, business administration, behavioral science, organizational development, or another related field

Training/ Special Skills

• Experience in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Data collection products, and Outlook.
• Must exhibit excellent interpersonal skills, critical thinking, and time management skills.
• Must have ability to work well under stress and meet daily deadlines.
• Collaborative and cooperative.
• Ability to apply practical knowledge to customer service.
• Possess excellent writing and planning skills.
• Ability to collect and manipulate data analysis, trends and utilize for performance improvement initiatives.
• Demonstrate leadership in report design.
• Ability to analyze data, create reports, and develop education to advance Patient Satisfaction.