Sr Director - Patient Experience & Advocacy

If you are looking to make an impact on a meaningful scale, come join us as we embrace the Power of One!We strive to be an employer of choice and establish a reputation for being a talent rich organization where Associates can grow their career caring for others. For over a century, we’ve served the health care needs of the people of Memphis and the Mid-South.Responsible for the development, execution, and continuous advancement of a system-wide patient experience and advocacy strategy across the continuum of care. Leads efforts to create one consistent, high-reliability experience standard that supports the patient's physical comfort, emotional well-being, education, spiritual needs, and responsiveness of care. Drives measurable improvements in patient experience outcomes by integrating experience into clinical operations, clinical governance, and frontline care delivery. Partners closely with physicians, nursing, and operational leaders to embed experience as a core quality domain, aligning with system priorities and values. Model appropriate behavior as exemplified in MLH Mission, Vision and Values.Working at MLH means carrying the mission forward of caring for our community and impacting the lives of patients in every way through compassion, a deliberate focus on service expectations and a consistent thriving for excellence.A Brief OverviewResponsible for the development, execution, and continuous advancement of a system-wide patient experience and advocacy strategy across the continuum of care. Leads efforts to create one consistent, high-reliability experience standard that supports the patient's physical comfort, emotional well-being, education, spiritual needs, and responsiveness of care. Drives measurable improvements in patient experience outcomes by integrating experience into clinical operations, clinical governance, and frontline care delivery. Partners closely with physicians, nursing, and operational leaders to embed experience as a core quality domain, aligning with system priorities and values. Model appropriate behavior as exemplified in MLH Mission, Vision and Values.What you will doEnterprise Patient Experience Strategy • Leads development and execution of the system-wide patient experience strategy • Establishes a standardized experience model across all care settings • Defines “what good looks like” for patient-centered care at every touchpointWhole-Person Experience Model • Designs and operationalizes a system approach addressing: o Physical comfort (pain, environment, cleanliness, quietness) o Emotional support (empathy, respect, compassion) o Patient and family education (clear communication, shared decision-making) o Spiritual and cultural needs (integration with chaplaincy and support services)Experience Standards & Reliability • Establishes clear, observable service behaviors and interaction standards • Embeds experience expectations into bedside care, rounding structures, tiered huddles and leader standard work • Drives consistency and accountability across all sitesPatient Feedback & Listening Systems • Oversee system-wide patient feedback strategy, including: o HCAHPS and CG-CAHPS performance o Real-time patient feedback and escalation o Patient complaints, grievances, and compliments • Develop closed-loop feedback processes to ensure patients are heard and issues resolvedPerformance Improvement & Outcomes • Leads targeted initiatives to improve experience metrics and key drivers • Translate feedback into actionable improvement plans • Standardizes dashboards for facility, system, and board-level reportingPatient Advocacy & Service Recovery • Overseas patient advocacy programs, ensuring timely and effective response to concerns • Designs system approach to service recovery and trust rebuilding • Partners with Risk Management on patient communication and transparencyCulture, Engagement & Accountability • Drives a culture of compassion, accountability, and ownership of experience • Partners with HR and leadership to integrate experience into performance evaluations, leadership expectations and recognition programs • Promotes psychological safety and respectful care environmentsClinical Governance Integration • Serves as a key leader within the system clinical governance structure • Aligns patient experience with quality, safety, and access priorities • Partners with physician leaders to embed experience into clinical workflowsEducation, Training & Capability Building • Develops system-wide training for experience excellence • Ensures onboarding and continuous education includes: o Communication skills o Empathy and compassion training o Service recovery techniques • Supports leadership development in experience improvementEquity & Inclusion in Experience • Identifies and addresses disparities in patient experience outcomes • Ensures culturally competent, inclusive care across all populations • Partners with equity leaders to improve experience for underserved groupsExternal Benchmarking & Innovation • Brings best practices from leading systems and industries • Establishes partnerships and benchmarking opportunities • Introduces innovative approaches to enhance patient experienceKey Performance Indicators (KPIs) • Improvement in HCAHPS overall rating and likelihood to recommend • Improvement in key drivers including nurse & physician communication, responsiveness and care transitions • Reduction in patient complaints and escalation severity • Improvement in real-time patient feedback scores • Increased service recovery effectiveness • Reliability of frontline experience behaviorsEducation QualificationsRequired - Master's Degree NursingPreferred - Master's Degree Business AdministrationPreferred - Master's Degree Healthcare AdministrationPreferred - Master's Degree Public HealthPreferred - Clinical degree (RN, MD, or equivalent)Experience QualificationsRequired - Minimum 5–7 years of progressive leadership experience in patient experience, service excellence, or healthcare operations; Demonstrated success leading system-level experience transformation initiatives; Experience working with patient feedback systems (e.g., HCAHPS, Press Ganey, real-time feedback tools)Preferred - Experience in high reliability organizations and culture transformationSkills and AbilitiesDeep expertise in patient safety science, human factors, and high reliability principlesDemonstrated ability to lead enterprise-wide change and culture transformationStrong analytical capability in safety data interpretation and performance improvementAbility to influence physician, nursing, and executive leadership without direct authorityExcellent communication and presentation skills (Board, ELT, and frontline engagement)Strong program management, facilitation, and team leadership capabilitiesKnowledge of regulatory and accreditation requirements (DNV, CMS, or equivalents)Licenses and CertificationsRequired - Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP) Patient Experience Institute (PXI)Preferred - Six Sigma Black Belt - Authorized Six Sigma Certification IssuerSupervision Provided by this PositionDirectly manages system-level patient experience and advocacy teamProvides matrix leadership to facility-based experience leadersOversees coordination across clinical, operational, and support departmentsPhysical DemandsThe physical activities of this position may include climbing, pushing, standing, hearing, walking, reaching, grasping, kneeling, stooping, and repetitive motion.Must have good balance and coordination.The physical requirements of this position are: light work - exerting up to 25 lbs. of force occasionally and/or up to 10 lbs. of force frequently.The Associate is required to have close visual acuity to perform an activity, such as preparing and analyzing data and figures; transcribing; viewing a computer terminal; or extensive reading.The conditions to which the Associate will be subject in this position: The Associate is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions; job functions are typically performed under conditions such as those found in general office or administrative work.Our Associates are passionate about what they do, the service they provide and the patients they serve. We value family, team and a Power of One culture that requires commitment to the highest standards of care and unity.Boasting one of the South's largest medical centers, Memphis blends a friendly community, a thriving and growing downtown, and a low cost of living. We see each day as a new opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the people in our community.
#J-18808-Ljbffr