Patient Advocate -Rhode Island, USA

About the role

Under indirect supervision, provides and manages access to local medical care in the area of operation, providing support to RMI Global Coordination Centre (GCC) in the security and receipt of payments to third party medical establishments. Acts as the RMI representative for all operational and pastoral requirements of patients under the care of RMI.

Responsibilities

• Remain available throughout agreed hours of coverage for contact by the RMI GCC
• Deploy to pre-defined medical facilities in area of operation to meet and greet RMI patient within 1 hour of notification from GCC (or any other agreed timeframes)
• Work in conjunction with the GCC to ensure that payment methods have been agreed with the receiving medical facility; where applicable, act as a mediator between medical facility and GCC
• Ensure swift access to care for RMI patients, responding to problems in a pragmatic and professional manner to resolve as quickly as possible
• Provide translation from local dialect to English in both verbal and written forms and pass this on to the GCC
• Deploy to medical facilities daily when a protracted in-patient stay occurs
• Manage the welfare of patients through any admission to a medical facility, ensuring that the patient is comfortable, understands the treatment being provided and meet reasonable requests for support
• Establish working relationships with treating physicians and where applicable speak directly with the treating medical team to acquire up to date information
• Provide timely updates to the GCC on the status and proposed plans for the patient in both written and verbal forms
• Always demonstrate a professional and calm persona, with a confident ability to liaise with client management as required
• Utilize local knowledge to arrange other services, as required

Requirements

Minimum of 2 years’ experience as a medical healthcare professional in area of operation; bilingual – local language & dialect (as per area of operation), and English; experience providing patient advocacy in remote/international areas preferred; foreign travel experience; excellent communication skills and professionalism; demonstrated self-discipline; ability to integrate into a cross‑cultural social structure.

Qualifications

Valid driver’s license for area of operation (preferred)

Skills

Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, and general computer & technology literacy preferred.