Early Resolution Specialist

Apply locations Ontario Health – Toronto, ON

Time type Full time

Posted on Posted Yesterday

Job requisition id R107791

Created under the Excellent Care for All Act, Patient Ombudsman's role is to help resolve complaints from patients, residents and caregivers about their experiences in Ontario’s public hospitals, long-term care homes, home care services, and community surgical and diagnostic centres. Patient Ombudsman also investigates matters of public interest. We take the time to listen closely to all perspectives without taking sides. Our work aims to improve the system for everyone by shining a light on issues of concern. In accordance with ombuds principles, Patient Ombudsman acts independently of Ontario Health when undertaking its mandate, and we are committed to our values of respect, compassion, integrity and accountability. We do our work in service to a vision of a healthcare system where everyone is treated fairly.

What Patient Ombudsman offers:

• Fully paid medical, dental and vision coverage from your first day
• Health care spending account
• Premium defined benefit pension plan
• 3 personal days and 2 float days annually
• Individual contributors start at 3 weeks’ vacation with 4 weeks at 2 yrs.
• Career development opportunities
• A collaborative values-based team culture
• Wellness programs
• A hybrid working model
• Participation in Communities of Inclusion

Want to make a difference in your career? Consider this opportunity.

Early Resolution Specialists (ERS) are part of Patient Ombudsman’s front-line team. As an ERS, you will be interacting directly with the public and with representatives from health care organizations, managing a case load of complaint files, and working closely with other members of the Patient Ombudsman team to respond to concerns and identify trends.

Early Resolution Specialists use their analytic, communication, and conflict resolution skills to work to resolve complaints in keeping with ombuds principles and practices. Curiosity, a commitment to public service, and excellent verbal and documentation skills are essential in this role as an independent and impartial advocate for fairness in the Ontario health care system.

Here is what you will be doing:

Reporting to the Manager, Complaints Services, the Early Resolution Specialist is responsible for providing timely, equitable, and respectful front-line response and resolution of complaints relating to Ontario’s public hospitals, long-term care homes, community surgical and diagnostic centres, and home care.

Complaint Intake:

• Provides immediate, front-line response to inquiries from complainants, health sector organizations, and the public, addressing concerns and complaints, helping with healthcare system navigation and explaining Patient Ombudsman services, mandate, and jurisdiction.
• Conducts interviews with stakeholders over the phone, or in person/in writing as appropriate, clarifying requests and complaints, identifying key issues, determining eligibility/validity of complaint and jurisdictional applicability, and providing guidance on steps to be taken to formally address concerns, creating case files, and gaining stakeholder permission to access records to proceed with the PO resolution process.
• Extracts relevant information through interviews, evaluating root causes of issues and degree of distress/anxiety/agitation of complainant, assessing complexity, sensitivity and associated risks of issues and taking active steps to mitigate risks and diffuse situations.
• Facilitates discussions between complainants and health sector agency representatives, gathering and consolidating relevant information and explanations, facilitating connections/referrals, and ensuring proper documentation and follow up for all interactions.
• Working independently and in consultation with the Complaint Services team and Patient Ombudsman staff, determines appropriate courses of action to resolve issues/cases, formulating opinions on fairness, identifying when cases should be closed, referred, or escalated internally, and ensuring all involved parties are apprised of decisions.
• Ensures complainants/callers are appropriately and sensitively accommodated.
• Identifies potential abuse and neglect issues in long-term care, ensuring mandatory reports to the Ministry of Long-Term Care are prepared and submitted.

Complaint Resolution/Case Management:

• Reviews and analyzes assigned complaint files to identify and frame key issues, conducting preliminary case file reviews, determining validity of complaint and jurisdictional applicability, assessing fairness issues, researching, and gathering all relevant information and documentation, and identifying and applying appropriate dispute resolution strategies to help to resolve complaints informally.
• Provides initial contact responses by telephone, e-mail, web form, written correspondence and in-person, prioritizing complaints, obtaining and clarifying pertinent information, and following up with complainants and health sector organization representatives as required to ensure response timeframes and effectively managed and a common understanding of complaint/issues.
• Provides appropriate information and referrals in response to complaints falling outside the jurisdiction of, or are premature for, Patient Ombudsman to consider.
• Analyzes case file information and issues, consolidating relevant information, assessing associated risks and sensitivities, determining appropriate courses of action to close or escalate a file, and ensuring all between-party correspondence is prepared in a timely manner.
• Identifies opportunities to connect complainants and health sector organizations, engaging respectfully, facilitating information exchange, negotiating outcomes, resolving disputes, and preparing decisions to close or refer case files
• Ensures complex, sensitive, high profile, or systemic issues are brought to the attention of the Manager, Complaint Services and/or members of the Patient Ombudsman team for direction, further investigation, and recommendations.

Documentation and Report Preparation:

• Creates and maintains comprehensive and accurate case file documentation, ensuring all relevant information is appropriately documented within the case management system.
• Prepares all case file correspondence, official letters, and documentation, adapting prepared templates as appropriate to ensure complaints are thoroughly and accurately described, and ensuring all relevant communiqués and file documents detail the case file status and outcomes, are easy to understand and reflect an impartial and unbiased position and appropriate tone of the Patient Ombudsman.
• Ensures that all paper and electronic information relating to an enquiry or complaint is up-to-date and documented appropriately in the case management system.
• Assists investigation team members as approved by the Manager, Complaint Services, collaborating on case file investigations, providing background information, document preparation, and research support and input to support escalated case file resolution.

Quality & Risk Management:

• Ensures compliance with all relevant policies, procedures and legislative/regulatory requirements.
• Maintains good privacy practices, including confidentiality of all sensitive documents and personal/patient information/health information.
• Monitors complaint/case file documentation and background follow-up information, ensuring all information is accurate, complete and appropriately documented in accordance with internal templates, protocols, and guidelines.
• Identifies opportunities to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and fairness of services delivered, assessing service delivery trends and patterns, and participating in the development of templates, tools, procedures, and protocols to streamline services and facilitate the timely dissemination of information and issue resolution.
• Identifies potential high-profile/high-risk cases that may involve media, legal, and public interests.
• Maintains an in-depth understanding and awareness of all pertinent healthcare legislation, interpreting and monitoring changes to programs and shifts in legislative/regulatory requirements, and determining impact on complaint issues to inform case file decisions and recommendations.

Stakeholder Relations:

• Builds effective and trusting relationships with complainants and health sector agency representatives, to probe and resolve sensitive and potentially contentious issues.
• Develops relationships with team members, participating on committees, sharing information and expertise, collaborating with seasoned experts to discuss alternative approaches, resolve issues and participate on projects and initiatives.
• Manages relationships with diverse group of stakeholders, ensuring deliverables and expectations are effectively managed and any issues are resolved.
• Develops effective working relationships with professional associations and industry colleagues to share information and maintain currency on emerging best practices and/or shifts in legislation/regulations and participate in outreach/engagement events to promote PO services and processes as required.

Here is what you will need to be successful:

Education and Experience

• Post-secondary education in health sciences, social sciences, law, alternative dispute resolution, or an acceptable combination of education, training, and experience.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience providing intake and complaint handling services within a healthcare/health sector or ombuds organization, or a similar type organization.
• Experience using Microsoft Office suite, and familiarity with using case/complaint management systems (CMS) and/or call centre technologies.

Knowledge and Skills

• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Bilingual in English and French preferred
• Self-starter with a proven ability to work independently and with a team.
• Capable of multitasking, balancing the need to resolve issues quickly with the exercise of good judgement and effective and thorough analysis.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate with individuals who are distressed, angry, or emotionally distraught.
• Demonstrated ability to work with and respond effectively with diverse situations and populations, including individuals who may require special accommodation.
• Excellent analytical skills with a demonstrated ability to analyze and identify issues fairly without injecting opinion or acting as an advocate.
• Strong mediation and dispute resolution skills.
• Knowledge of public hospitals, long-term care homes, community surgical and diagnostic centres, and/or home care systems, operations, resources and governing and regulatory bodies.
• Understanding of the Excellent Care for All Act and Ontario’s health care sector legislation.
• Proven experience understanding and interpreting legislation, policies and procedures.
• Demonstrated commitment to customer service and quality principles in service delivery.

Employment Type: 2 positions (1 Permanent Full-Time & 1 Temporary Fixed Term)

Salary Band: 4

Location: Ontario (currently hybrid; subject to change)

All applicants must be a resident of Ontario to be considered for roles at Ontario Health.

Internal Application Deadline Date: September 18, 2024

External Application Deadline Date: September 23, 2024

Ontario Health and Patient Ombudsman encourages applications from candidates who are First Nations, Métis, Inuit, and urban Indigenous; Francophone; members of Black and racialized groups; 2SLGBTQIA+ communities; trans and nonbinary individuals; and people living with disabilities.

Ontario Health and Patient Ombudsman is an accessible employer, and we offer accommodation in all aspects of employment, including the recruitment process. If you require a disability related accommodation in order to participate in the recruitment process, please contact us and a member of the team will connect with you within 48 hours.

Ontario Health is the provincial agency responsible for ensuring Ontarians receive high-quality health care services where and when they need them. Since it was established in June 2019, Ontario Health has brought together the strengths of many existing health care organizations to work together to build a better health care system for all Ontarians. Building on the expertise and knowledge of our people, we are committed to applying the best of what we collectively do, and in partnership with others, to transform the health system and improve the quality and delivery of care for patients, families, and health care providers.