Manager, Patient Relations and Experience

Patient Experience Manager

When you join the growing BILH team, you're not just taking a job, you're making a difference in people's lives.

The Patient Experience Manager for Beverly, Addison Gilbert and the Anna Jaques hospitals reports to the Executive Director of Quality and Patient Safety, and is responsible for Patient Experience measurement and improvement, the Patient Complaint process and oversight of the Patient Relations Specialists, and supports the organization's initiatives as they relate to PEX. A key focus is overseeing the HCAPHS and Press Ganey Survey process, analysis and reporting. The Patient Experience Manager will be the organization's expert in Press Ganey resources, and advise on best practices and applicability. This position will facilitate Patient & Family Experience improvement initiatives, including those associated with PEX health equity. As part of this role, the Patient Experience Manager will support colleague engagement initiatives, coaching, education and training. This role will work with the Director, to ensure communication and reporting is aligned with the organization's WE CARE culture, patient and family centered care, and health equity values. They will maintain knowledge and support compliance with regulatory agency requirements related to external reporting of patient experience results, feedback and grievances.

Education/Experience:

• Bachelor's Degree in Business, Communications, Behavioral Science or healthcare related field. Masters degree valued.
• Minimum four years of relevant experience in a health care, preferably acute care hospital setting, or related environment.
• Strong customer service skills, with ability to role model and champion CREATE values Community, Respect, Excellence, Accountability, Teamwork, and Empathy.
• Ability to handle dynamic interdisciplinary discussions constructively. Must be effective interacting with physicians, nursing and senior leadership.
• Demonstrated passion for diversity, equity and inclusion and invested in improving health equity.
• Assertive and goal oriented with experience facilitating projects that involve cross-functional team members.
• Knowledge of patient experience measurement tools, methods and information, with strong data analytic skills. Exposure to process improvement methods & tools.
• Proficient in Windows-based operating software and systems that include MS Word, MS Excel, and MS PowerPoint, experience as an application manager strongly preferred.
• Excellent organizational, written and oral communication skills. Ability to craft formal, written, easily understood patient communications. Experience with conducting education and training programs.
• Must be visible and available to colleagues, offering advice and support for Patient Experience and process improvement projects.
• Team player with proven success coaching and applying a collaborative approach, to foster improved performance.

Essential Role Responsibilities

• Serves as the key contact, application manager and site coordinator for the patient experience surveys and to the vendor representative for Press Ganey.
• Maintains awareness of regulatory compliance related to survey methodology, data submission requirements and results and assures data collection tools, methods and reporting are compliant. Regulatory compliance includes mandatory and voluntary agencies such as CMS and pay for performance requirements by payors such as Blue Cross and Tufts.
• Conducts monthly/quarterly/annual review and analysis of survey rate of return, appropriateness of survey methodology and identifies when changes are indicated. Presents this analysis to senior leaders, physicians, directors, managers and staff and as requested.
• Conducts regular in-depth analysis using relevant evidence-based literature of patient experience and survey results and provides summary of interpretation.
• Tracks and trends patient experience pay for performance measures and participates in ongoing review and improvement strategies and forums.
• Provides oversight of planning, implementing and monitoring patient experience related performance improvement processes.
• Serves as a quality advisor and/or team leader, facilitator, team member on assigned team(s), and recommends best practices to team(s) based on observation and interpretation of data and change management concepts.
• Collaborates with unit leadership to meet patient experience outcomes. Participates in committees, work groups and/or process improvement teams that improve patient experience.
• Supports patient experience related health equity initiatives and improvement projects.

Patient Feedback (Grievances, Complaints and Compliments):

• Provides oversight of patient complaint, grievance and compliment processes and assures compliance with regulatory agencies such as TJC and CMS COPs. Provides oversight, alignment and coordination of Patient Relations Specialist activities at all sites of care at Northeast Hospitals. This includes proper documentation in complaint database.
• Provides oversight of Patient Relations Specialists, and ensures all steps related to the management of patient grievances, such as the intake, investigation, resolution, and documentation and reporting of patient complaints.
• Applies Just Culture principles to the investigation process and supports and promotes a non-punitive culture and a learning environment. Facilitates resolution of complaints and grievances of patients, family members and support persons.
• Employs active listening techniques and de-escalation techniques during interactions with patients, families, and support persons. Communicates what can be done before communicating what cannot be done.
• Ensures collaboration with physicians, directors and managers of the involved units to develop a response to the complainant and an action plan to address identified opportunities for improvement. Follows appropriate lines of communication to effectively resolve difficult patient / family / physician / staff situations.
• Collaborates with the local STARS system administrator to identify complaints and compliments for compilation of confidential information regarding practice profiles for inclusion in physician files for use by the Chiefs of Service for OPPE and credentialing, and to comply with TJC and the Massachusetts BORM.
• Analyzes grievance data regularly. Conducts monthly accountability and variance analyses for compliance with documentation and closure days requirements. Produces bi-annual report of all patient feedback files for PIPS and the board. Produces annual report for the BORM.

Program Management

• Designs and guides the NHC and Anna Jacques Hospitals Patient / Family Experience strategy and agenda in collaboration with the Executive Director and senior leadership. Identifies annual patient experience initiatives and goals to further the patient/family centeredness culture.
• Provides oversight of the development of the annual improvement plan with attention to current trends, industry recommendations, Joint Commission standards and CMS Conditions of Participation, and organizational goals. Establishes priorities based on improved outcomes of care, patient experience, patient safety, health equity and resource intensity.

Leadership Competencies

• Action-Oriented: Has a bias towards action. Uses experiences & knowledge to capitalize on opportunities & challenges.
• Business Acumen: Understands what is going on financially & strategically both internally & in the external industry. Understands the relationship between own work & organizational success. Understands and interprets organizational financial data. Has the ability to make decisions based on impact on operations.
• Communicating: Promotes a free-flow of information & communication throughout the organization (upward, downward and across). Provides the information people need to know to do their jobs. Expresses self clearly, succinctly & with impact, both verbally, & in writing, with individuals & in-group situations.
• Customer Focus: Focuses one's efforts on continually anticipating, discovering, meeting & exceeding internal & external customer needs. Readily adjusts priorities to respond to pressing & changing customer demands.
• Directing Others: Establishes clear directions. Sets stretching objectives. Distributes workload according to competency. Organizes work in a well-planned manner.
• Entrepreneurial Spirit: Identifies opportunities to develop and market new products and services within or outside the organization. Treats business enterprise as if he/she were the owner. Seizes new business opportunities readily. Protects assets of the organization. Takes appropriate risks to advance the organization's interests and successes. Is willing to take risks, initiate actions that involve a deliberate risk, to achieve a recognized benefit or advantage.
• Hiring/Staffing: Identifies the competencies, skills & knowledge needed in the workforce. Hires the best people available from both inside & outside the organization, to match those competencies. Ensures retention of high-caliber staff by creating an atmosphere of support & development.
• Innovative: Demonstrates the ability to generate novel & valuable ideas, & to use the ideas to develop new or improved processes, methods, systems, products or services for organizational success. Creates a work environment that encourages creative thinking & innovation.
• Integrity and Trust: Personifies high standards of honesty, integrity, trust, openness, fairness & compassion. Instills mutual trust & confidence through personal example. Creates a culture that fosters high standards of ethics. Models & reinforces the organization's key values in the pursuit of organizational & personal goals.
• Managing and Measuring Work: Maintains the operating effectiveness of the organization in order to meet key (operational & financial) strategic goals. Provides resources & supports to ensure that key strategies & results are achieved