Patient Liaison

At Houston Methodist, the Patient Liaison position is responsible for acting as an advocate for patient issues effectively interpreting and communicating Houston Methodists philosophy, policies, procedures and services to patients, their families and visitors and participates in the resolution of problems to maximize patient and family satisfaction. This position receives grievances, complaints, and concerns from patients, their families and others; works with patients and families along with department management for resolution in accordance with HM grievance policy and regulatory guidelines. As Patient Liaison, this position liaises between Houston Methodist administration and patients, physicians, and other hospital personnel ensuring a satisfying hospital experience for patients from admission through discharge. As a patient advocate, the Patient Liaison position enables patients and their families to obtain solutions to problems by acting on their behalf.

FLSA STATUS: Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

• EDUCATION: Bachelors degree
• EXPERIENCE: Two years experience as a patient liaison or comparable health care/customer service/conflict resolution experience
• LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS:
• Required: None listed
• Preferred: BLS - Basic Life Support or Instructor (AHA)

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations.
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security.
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles.
• Must have excellent communications skills and be able to relate to patients, families, and across all hospital staff and management.
• Must be able to work with people of various age groups and cultural backgrounds.
• Ability to accurately document information and maintain records.
• Must have excellent problem resolution and crisis management skills.
• Critical thinking, problem-solving, and mature judgment.
• Ability to express ideas effectively both in speech and writing.
• Intermediate level of computer competency - Microsoft Office Suite, and knowledge of health care information systems.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

People Essential Functions

• Meets and/or rounds on all new patients.
• Directs patients and/or families to appropriate resources when specific requests are made, i.e. Medical Power of Attorney, Directives, End of Life issues, etc.
• Communicates directly with department management, their designee and/or administrative staff regarding specific problems and trends in service.
• Interacts with patients, families and visitors, providing support and problem solving.
• As appropriate, consults with Sr Patient Liaisons/supervising leader when problems arise that require an additional level of experience.
• Contributes towards improvement of department scores for employee engagement, i.e. peer-to-peer accountability.

Service Essential Functions

• Assigns priority to patient requests and problems and follows the process through to resolution, notifying all parties of status of solution.
• Interviews patients who have stated a specific need for services.
• Provides information about services offered by the hospital.
• Interprets hospital policies and procedures as needed to ensure that the patient understands the types and levels of services provided.
• Ensures adequate closure to patient issues through thorough and prompt follow-up facilitating the resolution of problems to the satisfaction of the patient and HM.
• Intervenes in complaints or conflict with the interests of patients, families, physicians and other inter-professional health care team members to increase patient satisfaction scores and reporting their appreciation, comments, concerns, and/or problems.

Quality/Safety Essential Functions

• Receives grievances, complaints, and concerns from patients, their families and others; works with patients and families along with department management for resolution.
• Responds to all grievances according to the HM grievance policy and appropriate regulatory guidelines.
• Partners with Risk/Quality as appropriate.
• Utilizes pertinent findings from Patient Satisfaction Surveys, Customer Complaint Data and other sources to identify areas of focus and implement proactive interventions as the patient advocate.
• Documents results of patient interview, obstacles to delivery of services, grievances, complaints and compliments in appropriate database.
• When appropriate, initiates a corrective action and sends to department management for investigation and resolution.

Finance Essential Functions

• Identifies cost savings or revenue opportunities within the department or Houston Methodist.
• Utilizes resources with cost effectiveness and value creation in mind.
• Self-motivated to independently manage time effectively and prioritize daily tasks, assisting coworkers as needed.

Growth/Innovation Essential Functions

• Participates in department projects and process improvement initiatives.
• Generates and communicates ideas and suggestions that improve quality or service.
• Seeks opportunities to identify self-development needs and takes appropriate action.
• Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management.
• Completes and updates the My Development Plan on an on-going basis.

Supplemental Requirements

• Work Attire:
• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: No
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No
• On-Call:
• Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.
• Yes
• Travel:
• Travel specifications may vary by department.
• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area: No
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area: No

Company Profile

Houston Methodist Willowbrook Hospital is a Magnet-recognized, not-for-profit, faith-based hospital that serves the growing Northwest Houston community. We are committed to providing quality, cost-effective health care in a compassionate environment for a full range of services, including emergency care, cardiology, orthopedics and sports medicine, comprehensive womens services, neurology and neurosurgery, oncology, and primary and general medicine.

Houston Methodist is an Equal Opportunity Employer.