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Summary:

The Manager of Patient Relations works under the direction of the Director of Patient Relations and is responsible for all patient relations efforts.  Serves as a neutral liaison between patients/families and Cook Children’s Healthcare caregivers. The Manager is responsible for assuring compliance with the regulatory requirements involving patient rights, complaints, and grievances established by hospital/system policies as well as external auditing agencies, including The Joint Commission (TJC), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS), The Texas Department of Health (TDH), and state and federal law. Responsible for maintaining appropriate focus on the department’s regulatory responsibilities in each phase of the department work flow. Maintains familiarity with changes and updates to the relevant laws and mandates set forth by TDH, CMS and TJC. Responsible for conferring with Legal and Administration as needed to keep internal regulatory policies up to date.  Monitors internal practices to ensure the Medical Center remains in compliance with both auditing agency requirements and state and federal laws. Provides strategic direction and oversight for efforts to improve service recovery in all clinical areas.  Employees in the Office of Patient Relations report directly to the Manager.

Patient Relations Manager Qualifications:

1. Minimum Bachelor’s degree. Masters preferred in Science, Human Relations, Business, Healthcare Administration and or Communications or related field

2. Minimum of three years healthcare experience, preferably in an acute care setting and in lieu of extensive customer service/patient relations experience

3. Two+ years of experience with working with patient grievances and complaints required

4. Experience with organizing and leading crucial family meetings with hospital leadership that pertain to a complaint or grievance preferred

5. Preferred demonstrated leadership experience

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Exceptional written and verbal communication skills required.

• Excellent communication, critical thinking and interpersonal skills.   Demonstrated ability to work as part of multiple teams. 

• Ability to prioritize and address a variety of patient/family issues with firm timeframes.  Be able to demonstrate organizational, problem-solving and negotiation skills. 

• Ability to think in a proactive and creative manner.  Willingness to take initiative in appropriate manner. 

• Bilingual language abilities and skills preferred.

• Stamina and energy to maintain direct patient and family contact on a regular basis, and to coordinate multiple demands made on time. 

• Ability to relate to diverse age and demographic backgrounds.

• Sound understanding of concepts of family-centered care.

• Strong data analytics – ability to analyze and synthesize complaint/grievance data; use data to identify and address themes and trend; provide guidance on areas of improvement.

• Ability to form and maintain strong working relationships with other hospital stakeholders to aide process of complaint identification and resolution.

• Outstanding organizational skills leveraging technology to store, track, retrieve data.

• Mediation Skills

• Coaching and Mentoring Skills

• Proficient in use of PC with experience in Excel, Work and database management packages. 

• Proficient in collecting, documenting and resolving patient/families issues in the appropriate timeframe. 

• Knowledge of CMS, Joint Commission, TDH and other regulatory agency guidelines.

About Us:

Cook Children’s is an equal opportunity employer. As such, Cook Children’s offers equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, physical or mental disability, pregnancy, protected veteran status, genetic information, or any other protected class in accordance with applicable federal laws. These opportunities include terms, conditions and privileges of employment, including but not limited to hiring, job placement, training, compensation, discipline, advancement and termination.

Cook Children’s is a Texas-only employer. If you are hired, you will need to maintain your primary residence within the state of Texas, along with all licenses and credentials required for your position throughout your employment.