University of Iowa Health Care has an opening for a full-time Director of the Office of the Patient Experience. The Director of the Office of the Patient Experience is responsible for collaborating with Senior Leadership to develop and implement a vision of exceptional patient experience. The Director designs, implements, and monitors initiatives required to create and sustain a culture of patient-centeredness and service excellence.

The Director Is Responsible For

Designing and implementing initiatives deemed necessary to achieve exceptional patient experience and key organizational objectives as established by UI Health Care senior leadership and the Patient Experience Optimization Council.
Representing and promoting service excellence and the Professional Behavior Standards throughout UI Health Care.
Monitoring patient satisfaction performance on internal and external metrics and leading the development and implementation of a UI Health Care strategy to achieve top ten percentile ranking.
Directing the Patient & Family Advisory Board and incorporating patient and the community feedback into the vision and strategy for UI Healthcare.
Overseeing the day-to-day operations of the Office of the Patient Experience and supervising its personnel.
Administrative oversight of all areas within the Office of the Patient Experience:
- Patient Relations, Strategic Improvement Team, Guest Services, Volunteer Services Interpreter Services, Spiritual Services, Patient Education Program, Patients Library, Project Art, and COPE (peer-support program).
Acting as a change agent for improving the patient experience in all areas (units, clinics, and procedural/lab/imaging areas) within UI Health Care through an interdisciplinary approach to performance improvement.

The Successful Candidate Demonstrates

Strong advisory and influencing skills, including with senior leadership.
Flexibility to work within a fast-changing environment and cope with degrees of ambiguity.
Vision for and be a change agent for continuous improvement in service excellence.

Characteristic Duties And Responsibilities

Leadership in UI Health Care:
Collaborates in the development of long-term strategies and methodologies that enhance patient experience and contribute to UI Health Care’s strategic goals. Evaluates processes and outcomes across the continuum of care, including measurement, analysis, and reporting of data used in improving processes to optimize the patient experience.
Ensures regular and transparent delivery of patient experience metrics to key stakeholders.
Develops a strategic vision and operational plan to set UI Health Care patient experience excellence goals and develops a strategy to achieve them.
Serves as institutional resource on performance improvement methods and service excellence.
Collaborates closely with the Director of the Quality Improvement Program, nursing leadership and all clinical departments to create institutional change that results in high quality, patient safety, and efficient care that leads to excellent patient and staff satisfaction.
Collaborates closely with Human Resources throughout UI Health Care to achieve service excellence goals.
Oversees responses to patient complaints and grievances and maintains regulatory standards for responses to complaints and grievances.
Develops and maintains relationships with clinical and hospital leaders and staff to achieve service excellence goals establish by the Office of the Patient Experience, Patient Experience Optimization Council, and UI Health Care senior leadership.
Organizes and directs internal educational programs for staff (including the Provider Communication Program and the Compassionate Connected Care Program) throughout UI Health Care. Oversees the coaching team to assist improvements in patient communication and patient experience.
Oversees the development and advancement of the Patient & Family Advisory Board.
Represents the Office of The Patient Experience on UI Health Care committees.
Leadership in the Office of the Patient Experience
Leads the development, implementation, and evaluation of a strategic plan to improve service delivery and experience for patients, families, visitors, and staff.
Develops priorities for areas of improvement within the Office of the Patient Experience and implements improvement plans that enhance service delivery and service quality.
Serves as a resource for service recovery throughout UI Health Care and monitors the processes, training, and tools used to deliver effective service recovery.
Responsible for the public reporting of mandated patient satisfaction metrics and for improvement of these metrics to achieve a benchmark of top ten percentile.
Establishes consistent communication with staff regarding information relevant to their role and the success of the team.
Identifies best practices and current developments in patient and staff satisfaction. Assists in the development and implementation of appropriate initiatives that will elevate and maintain UI Health Care as a leader in patient satisfaction and as a workplace of choice.
Provides administrative leadership to professional and support staff.
Maintains a climate of learning that promotes professional growth of staff.
Creates and maintains a culture of accountability and service excellence.
Oversees system-wide strategy and contracting for patient experience surveys.
The Office of the Patient Experience Operations
Develops and directly oversees departmental budgets and monitors and controls expenditures.
Oversees contracting of vendors (ex: patient satisfaction surveys, interpreter services, etc.)
Serves as the primary contact for vendors regarding patient satisfaction and communicates information in a bi-directional manner.
Oversees the delivery of data and the presentation of information to UI Health Care Leaders, clinical departments, units, and individual providers.
Oversees the active engagement of individual providers and staff in improving their patients’ experiences through transparent sharing of individual data and developing and operationalizing a multidisciplinary plan of improvement.
Oversees personnel functions in accordance with University of Iowa and University of Iowa Healthcare policies, Collective Bargaining Agreements and Affirmative Action policies and procedures.
Makes decisions regarding selection, appointment, promotion, and discipline of all OPE staff in keeping with UI Health Care and university policies and procedures.
Provides good stewardship of the department and organizations resources including staffing, equipment, and facilities.
Organizes and directs internal educational programs for staff.
Prepares materials for presentations, distributions, and publications pertaining to services and/or related initiatives regarding service excellence.
Maintains statistical records and prepares special periodic reports on the activities of the office.

Percent of Time: 100% (full-time)

Location: This position is located at the University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center, 200 Hawkins Drive, Iowa City, Iowa

University classification: Healthcare Services Associate Director/PVB3

Salary range 7A. Starting salary will be commensurate with qualifications and experience. To view the entire salary range for 7A: Professional and Scientific Pay Structures | University Human Resources - The University of Iowa (uiowa.edu)

Type of Position: At-Will; https://hr.uiowa.edu/careers/professional/status-definition

Benefits Highlights: Fringe benefit package including paid vacation; sick leave; health, dental, life and disability insurance options; and generous employer contributions into retirement plans. Complete information regarding the full benefits package may be viewed at: https://hr.uiowa.edu/benefits

About UI Health Care: The University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center—recognized as one of the best hospitals in the United States—is Iowa's only comprehensive academic medical center and a regional referral center. Each day more than 12,000 employees, students, and volunteers work together to provide safe, quality health care and excellent service for our patients. Simply stated, our mission is: Changing Medicine. Changing Lives.®

Living in the Iowa City area: The University of Iowa Health Care Medical Center is located along the picturesque Iowa River in Iowa City, a city of some 77,000 people (170,000+ in the metro area) regularly ranked as one of the nation’s best places to live. Iowa City is less than four hours from Chicago and within five hours of Minneapolis, St. Louis, and Kansas City, readily accessible via interstate highways and a regional airport 30 minutes away.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications:

A master’s degree in nursing, healthcare administration, public health, business, or related field, or the equivalent combination of education and experience is required.
3-5 years’ healthcare administration, management, or patient experience leadership experience with direct oversight of staff members is required.
Demonstrated knowledge and evidence of effective implementation of improvements of patient experience outcomes and performance improvement tools/techniques is required.
Considerable knowledge of accounting principles and applications, including experience preparing and managing budgets is required.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills and public speaking experience is required.
Ability to demonstrate positive interpersonal skills and work as a member of and/or lead team and work groups is required.
Demonstrated ability to influence others and align diverse stakeholders to a common goal is required.
Demonstrated ability to solve complex problems and manage challenging high-stakes situations is required.
Professional job-related experience fostering or promoting a welcoming and respectful work/academic environment where people of all backgrounds and perspectives feel welcomed and appreciated; or demonstrated the ability to do so is required.
Demonstrated proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including Word, Power Point and Excel is required.

Desired Qualifications

Advanced analytical skills necessary for the evaluation of complex data sets is desired.
3-5 years’ clinical experience in healthcare is desired.
Previous work experience/leadership experience at an academic health center is desired.
Formal continuing education in performance improvement techniques, such as Six Sigma, Lean, or similar nationally recognized techniques is desired.
Some knowledge of University of Iowa and UI Health Care policies, procedures, and regulations is desired.

Application Process

In order to be considered for an interview, applicants must upload a current resume/CV and a cover letter that clearly addresses how they meet the listed required and desired qualifications of this position.
Job openings are posted for a minimum of 14 calendar days. Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on Monday, February 10, or on date of closing.
Successful candidates will be required to self-disclose any conviction history and will be subject to a criminal background check.
Professional references will be requested at a later step in the recruitment process.
This position is not eligible for University of Iowa sponsorship for employment authorization.
For questions, contact Heidi Bodensteiner at heidi-bodensteiner@uiowa.edu

Additional Information

Classification Title: HC Svcs Associate Director
Appointment Type: Professional and Scientific
Schedule: Full-time
Work Modality Options: On Campus

Compensation

Pay Level: 7A

Contact Information

Organization: Healthcare
Contact Name: Heidi Bodensteiner
Contact Email: heidi-bodensteiner@uiowa.edu

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