"Patient Relations Decedent Affairs Specialist"

The Patient Relations and Decedent Affairs Specialist serves as a bridge between the Medical Center and patients, families, and staff. This role coordinates communication, manages complex complaints and grievances under regulatory timeframes, and ensures concerns are directed to appropriate departments for resolution.

In addition, this position supports and manages daily operations of the Decedent Affairs program, ensuring compliance with County, State, and Federal regulations while providing compassionate guidance and practical support to families during end-of-life processes.

This is a highly autonomous role requiring advanced knowledge of patient relations practices, regulatory standards, and decedent affairs procedures, along with sound judgment and strong problem-solving skills.

Key Responsibilities:

Inquiry, Complaint & Grievance Case Management

• Independently manage inquiries, complaints, and grievances, including complex quality-of-care allegations received in person, by phone, email, or mail.
• Facilitate de-escalation of acute patient and staff concerns to minimize institutional impact.
• Collaborate with Risk Management, Privacy Office, Legal Affairs, Security, and Threat Management teams as needed.
• Ensure compliance with patient rights regulations including HIPAA, CMS, and Joint Commission standards.
• Draft and deliver patient-facing written and verbal communications to achieve case resolution.
• Lead multidisciplinary conferences to address patient, family, and staff concerns.
• Serve as consultant and liaison between patients/families and clinical and non-clinical departments.
• Document confidential inquiries in the Patient Relations database for benchmarking and reporting.
• Promote staff education on patient rights, equal access, cultural competency, service excellence, and regulatory compliance.

Decedent Affairs Program Management

• Support and manage daily operations of the Decedent Affairs program in compliance with city, state, and federal regulations.
• Process legal and hospital documentation including death certificates, permits, and related forms.
• Act as liaison among physicians, nursing staff, pathology, social work, grieving families, medical examiners, public administrators, funeral directors, and mortuaries.
• Verify authorized patient representatives and lead investigations when necessary to identify legal next of kin.
• Coordinate autopsy permits and ensure adherence to family wishes.
• Arrange culturally sensitive decedent viewings in collaboration with pathology and chaplain services.
• Maintain working knowledge of end-of-life cultural practices and regulatory requirements.
• Lead workflow updates, policy revisions, and regulatory compliance initiatives.
• Serve as liaison to donor networks and external regulatory agencies.
• Participate in emergency management planning and special projects related to morgue operations and downtime procedures.

Service Excellence & Organizational Representation

• Model professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity, and excellence in all interactions.
• Demonstrate strong mediation, conflict resolution, and communication skills.
• Maintain positive relationships with administrators, clinicians, staff, and external partners.
• Promote teamwork and contribute to a respectful and supportive work environment.
• Adhere to privacy, confidentiality, safety, and infection control standards.

Additional Responsibilities

• Manage patient addendum and amendment requests.
• Provide intake coverage and triage of complaints and grievances.
• Participate in proactive patient rounding and service recovery initiatives.
• Develop and deliver educational sessions related to Patient Relations, Decedent Affairs, and customer service.
• Support departmental special projects and operational initiatives.

The final salary and offer components are subject to additional approvals based on UC policy.

To see the salary range for this position (we recommend that you make a note of the job code and use that to look up): TCS Non-Academic Titles Search

Please note: An offer will take into consideration the experience of the final candidate AND the current salary level of individuals working at UCSF in a similar role.

For roles covered by a bargaining unit agreement, there will be specific rules about where a new hire would be placed on the range.

To learn more about the benefits of working at UCSF, including total compensation, please visit: https://ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu/compensation-and-benefits/index.html