Patient Experience Specialist

**Position Overview**

Reporting to the Manager of Patient Experience & Relations, and working collaboratively with leaders and clinical teams across the organization, the Patient Experience Specialist contributes to advancing a culture of patient and family centred care. The Patient Experience Specialist uses their emotional intelligence to support and strengthen the relationship between the patient, their family or designated representative and the healthcare team, by facilitating the timely resolution of their concerns. Familiar with the complexities of patient care and the healthcare system, the Patient Experience Specialist uses data to identify opportunities for improvement, makes recommendations to the organization and helps implement strategies that will enhance the patient experience.

**Primary Responsibilities**:
Complaint Resolution
- interprets philosophy, policies, procedures and services to patients and families
- facilitates the timely resolution of patient feedback, including inquires, complaints and compliments
- builds trusting relationships across the organization
- is an expert resource for staff, leadership, physicians and volunteers to assist with resolving complex patient and family concerns
- acts as an intermediary for leadership on behalf of patients and their families
- works with individuals or departments to limit or resolve delays in service and communicates delays to patients and families
- works closely with risk management and corporate communications to manage sensitive, or difficult situations
- supports patients, families and teams who have experienced a critical incident and attends the Incident Determination (disclosure) meeting
- works with the patient experience team to ensure the complaints process informs organization quality improvement initiatives
- maintains awareness of best practices and legislation affecting feedback management
- liaise with Ontario Patient Ombudsman Office for timely resolution of cases
- creates patient experience reports for departments, programs and the BOARD, identifying opportunities to influence practices aimed at improving the overall patient experience

Patient and Family Education
- works with clinical and research teams to develop oral and text based forms of communication using health literacy/ plan language principles
- mentors and coaches teams to use teach back as a way of ensuring that health information is understandable and actionable
- identifies and addresses the intended audiences characteristics, needs, and interests when communicating health information
- assesses text based information using readability formulas (SMOG, Flesch Reading Ease)
- Understands and follows commonly accepted standards of grammar, punctuation and style for health literacy (writing like people talk, using a conversational tone)
- develops brochures, posters, promotional materials that advances Patient and Family Centred Care

Advancing a Culture of Patient and Family Centred Care
- Participates in the development and achievement of the Patient Experience Plan and associated projects
- Works in collaboration with the patient experience team to foster a culture that supports continuous improvement through the identification and affective management of patient feedback
- Lead/support improvement projects as identified in collaboration with clinical teams (i.e. family presence, video family visits)
- Mentors staff, leadership, physicians and volunteers on the varied ways to humanize a patient’s experience based on feedback from individual patients and their families
- Works closely with Patient Experience Partners in program and policy development and quality improvement initiatives
- Participates and supports facilitating Patient Experience Panel (PEP) meetings
- Supports and advances the Care Partner program
- Participate on internal and external committees to influence the patient experience agenda (Health Professions Advisory Committee (HPAC), PEP, Patient Experience Community of Practice)
- Decision Making
- Classifies patient and family concern as a quality/risk issue and takes appropriate action to resolve concern to patient/family and hospital's satisfaction
- Assesses level of risk to the hospital and refers to Risk Management policies

**Education**:

- Master’s Degree in a related healthcare discipline.
- Member in good standing of a professional regulatory body.
- Additional education in facilitation, mediation and/or conflict resolution, preferred.
- Education in health promotion, adult education, an asset.
- Education in graphic design, an asset.
- Education in lean methodology or equivalent, an asset.

**Experience**:

- Minimum 10 years in one or more health disciplines with evidence of progressive responsibility.
- Experience in a patient experience or patient relations role in a health care setting, an asset.
- Experience in the use of lean or other process improvement methodologies, an asset.
- Project management experience, an