Patient Ambassador

About the Role

The Patient Ambassador is frequently the first impression in the Patient Experience, providing support to patients, families, visitors, and fellow team members. This position is committed to Service Excellence and to working with other departments to enhance the art of healing at Good Shepherd Penn Partners. The Patient Ambassador’s goal is to exceed every expectation for every patient, family, team member, and visitor every time.

Responsibilities

Patient/Customer Service

• Exceeds the customer service expectations of patients and guests.
• Greets all patients, families, visitors, and fellow team members.
• Places patients’/guests’ needs first and analyzes situations from their point of view.
• Demonstrates awareness while assessing and anticipating patients’/customers’ and fellow team members’ needs and acts accordingly.
• Presents self professionally and demonstrates professional behavior during interactions with others.
• Adheres to a dress code and promotes the Quality Brand and Professionalism of GSPP.
• Demonstrates understanding and ownership of how his/her role contributes to achieving the best patient experience possible.
• Develops collaborative relationships with team members to promote the patient experience.
• Demonstrates a personal commitment to ensuring a clean and safe environment; picks up debris as necessary and notifies appropriate personnel for facilities-related repairs and safety concerns.
• Empowers fellow team members to resolve conflict at the lowest level possible.
• Collaborates with team members to create a work environment with a team approach and shares work schedules to prevent non-coverage of shifts.
• Promotes the availability of Patient Ambassador Services to all patients and guests needing assistance.
• Identifies program needs that would better serve patients and guests and maximize the patient experience.
• Promotes and thanks patients for choosing GSPP for their healthcare.
• Ensures communication and collaboration with supervisors and fellow co-workers to serve patients and other customers to the best of his/her ability.
• Uses resources wisely—as if they were one’s own.
• Complies with HIPAA and all other patient confidentiality regulations/policies.
• Seeks feedback on how to improve performance and results and offers constructive feedback.
• Applies learning for improved performance and results.
• Appreciates the difference between effort and achievement and produces results that are important to the patient and the HUP mission, vision, and core values.
• Adapts to changing work and methods; utilizes learning opportunities to prepare for change.
• Demonstrates a willingness to carry out responsibilities and a positive approach to accomplishing work.
• Effectively transmits and interprets information with internal and external customers.
• Demonstrates the ability to empathize with all types of individuals—including those who are ill, in pain, or physically/mentally challenged.
• Displays an outgoing personality and positive enthusiasm.
• Demonstrates good judgment, communication, and problem-solving skills to accurately resolve or triage inquiries and requests while providing timely follow-up on progress.
• Manages difficult customer service situations and implements service recovery techniques to ensure positive patient relations.
• Escalates awareness and interventions to appropriate supervisors as needed.
• Works effectively both independently and within a team environment.
• Promotes an environment of teamwork and achievement of common goals.
• Flexibility with changes to scheduled hours; may be required to work night and weekend shifts.
• Transports patients using wheelchairs or provides standing support as needed.
• Complies with all GSPP policies and procedures.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Performance Measures

• Communicates verbally and non-verbally in a professional and timely manner.
• Initiates communication in challenging situations.
• Selects the most appropriate person(s) with whom to communicate.
• Listens actively and attentively to understand what is being communicated by others.
• Demonstrates professionally and technically correct verbal communication.
• Evaluates effectiveness of own communication and modifies communication accordingly.
• Communicates pertinent information to the appropriate person in a timely manner.
• Modifies communication style to effectively handle challenging customer situations.
• Complies with Standards of Appearance policy.
• Completes HIPAA examinations with passing score and attends meetings regarding HIPAA policies.
• Understands and adheres to departmental policies and procedures.
• Demonstrates behaviors that contribute to a positive work environment.
• Treats others with positive regard, dignity, respect, and compassion.
• Establishes rapport with patients.
• Accepts responsibility for own actions and takes corrective action when appropriate or advised by Supervisor.
• Demonstrates initiative.
• Adapts to change.
• Accepts constructive feedback with positive outcomes and follows direction from authority.
• Maintains a pleasant disposition at all times, even in adverse circumstances.
• Knows the process of when and whom to notify (e.g., Supervisor/management) when an issue becomes too complicated to solve independently.
• Body Language: Consistent and pleasant disposition, eye contact.
• Voice: Consistently demonstrates the ability to communicate clearly, pleasant voice tone, demonstrates understanding and calmness with all patients/customers.
• Communication: Ensures patient/customer understanding and anticipates needs, delivers appropriate information, addresses patient/customer with proper surname.
• Builds rapport and exhibits approachability by being easy to talk to, sensitive to patients’/customers’ anxieties and needs, and capable of putting others at ease.
• Uses AIDET model and ends every interaction with “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Patient/Employee Safety

• Participates in Entity and Department-wide initiatives for Patient/Employee safety.
• Demonstrates an awareness of patient/employee safety when carrying out daily responsibilities.
• Validation of annual competencies required for the position.

Operations

• Scheduling Functions
  • Demonstrates working knowledge and accurate use of Penn Cart, SCM, SMS, HBOC, Navicare, and Canopy systems.
  • Demonstrates ability to register patients for admission and to communicate with the HUP Admissions/Bed Management Center with accuracy.
  • Demonstrates ability to verify patients’ insurance coverage with accuracy.
• Patient Identification
  • Identifies the patient correctly using two identifiers: Patient’s full name or name by which he/she is known in medical documents and patient’s date of birth.
  • Verifies correct DOB, address, telephone number, insurance information, and emergency contact information for every new patient.
• Check-in Process
  • Greets patient and visitors and welcomes them to GSPP.
  • Notifies physician and nurse of patient arrivals.
  • Reviews consent forms for patient signatures and applies patient ID band.
  • Reviews admission binder with patient and orients them to the facility.
  • Updates demographic information as needed in appropriate locations.
  • Copies insurance cards, front and back.
  • Calls emergency contact person to notify them of the patient arrival to GSPP.
  • Ensures patient is assigned to correct bed location with active ERM account.
• Daily Rounding
  • Completes daily Service Excellence rounding with patients at the bedside using AIDET model, addressing needs immediately, following up with the patient, family, or visitor for resolution, and ends each session by asking “is there anything else I can do for you?”.
  • Completes daily Service Excellence rounding in the hallways, lobbies, and other public locations available to patients and visitors, addressing needs immediately and following up with them for resolution.
• Check-out Process
  • Confirms planned patient discharges each day and updates Navicare bed board.
  • Completes the discharge of patients in Navicare when the patients leave the facility.
  • For unscheduled transfers to ED or acute care, contacts the HUP Bed Management Center to coordinate appropriate discharge from ERM system and also coordinates the appropriate reinstatement of the ERM account if the patient returns to GSPP.
  • Initiates room turnover process when patients are discharged.
• Management of Medical Records
  • Records are filed in a timely manner.
  • Medical records requests are processed according to department protocol.
  • Ensures unit workstations are prepped for daily activities.
  • Ensures all charts are available.
  • Collaborates with clinical teams to ensure follow-up appointments are scheduled appropriately.
• Management of Telephone and Call Bell Systems
  • Monitors, responds, and takes action to patient and visitor needs using call bell and telephone systems.
  • Delivers standard department greeting when answering the phone and call bell.
  • Takes messages appropriately and checks voicemail.
  • Ensures proper use of business phone.
  • Closes phone calls with “is there anything else I can do for you?”
• Attendance/Time Management
  • Rearranges daily schedule with ease to meet operational needs.
  • Meets GSPP requirements regarding absences and lateness.
  • Appropriate use of downtime.
  • Follows time clock policy & procedure.
  • Submits and takes accountability for appropriate and timely submission of Time Entry Adjustment documentation.
  • Attendance and participation in all departmental meetings (all staff, unit, support staff, update, others).
  • Takes minutes and participates during meetings (offers solutions, provides feedback).
  • Health System ID is worn in accordance with GSPP policy.

Requirements