Vice President of Patient and Family Experience

Job Description:

The Vice President of Patient and Family Experience provides executive leadership and strategic oversight of initiatives that enhance the experience of patients, families, caregivers, volunteers, and the communities served by the organization. This position develops and implements organization-wide strategies focused on patient and family satisfaction, service excellence, volunteer services, and continuous improvement across the hospice experience. This position serves as a primary advocate for the patient and family voice and collaborates with Clinical, Operations, Quality, Education, and Executive Leadership to ensure services and programs align with patient and family needs. The position provides strategic oversight of Volunteer Services, including recruitment, training, engagement, utilization, supervision, and compliance, while using experience data, feedback, and performance metrics to identify opportunities for improvement and support organizational goals.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS/RESPONSIBILITIES

Patient & Family Experience

• Develop and lead an organization-wide Patient and Family Experience strategy aligned with organizational priorities, serving as a primary advocate for the patient, family, and caregiver voice.
• Establish and promote standards for patient- and family-centered service excellence across the hospice journey, from referral and admission through end-of-life care and bereavement.
• Monitor patient and family satisfaction, feedback, complaints, grievances, and other experience data to identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement.
• Develop service recovery and improvement strategies and partner with Clinical and Operations leadership to address barriers to exceptional patient and family experiences.
• Establish measurable experience goals and monitor organizational performance to drive accountability and continuous improvement.

Volunteer Services

• Provide executive oversight and strategic direction for Volunteer Services, including leadership of the Area Volunteer Coordinator team.
• Develop and oversee volunteer recruitment, orientation, training, engagement, utilization, supervision, evaluation, and recognition programs.
• Monitor volunteer recruitment, retention, utilization, and engagement metrics and ensure accurate documentation and compliance with applicable regulatory and organizational requirements.
• Ensure volunteer services are effectively integrated into the hospice interdisciplinary model and aligned with the needs of patients, families, caregivers, and the communities served.
• Promote and expand volunteer services through organizational and community engagement initiatives.

Quality & Continuous Improvement

• Utilize patient/family experience, volunteer, satisfaction, complaint, grievance, and other performance data to identify opportunities and drive measurable improvement.
• Develop, implement, and monitor action plans to address identified gaps and improve patient, family, caregiver, and volunteer outcomes.
• Partner with Clinical, Quality, Operations, and other leaders to align experience initiatives with quality outcomes and organizational priorities.
• Support regulatory and accreditation readiness related to patient rights, satisfaction, experience, and volunteer services.
• Promote a culture of accountability, compassion, service excellence, and continuous improvement.

Executive & Organizational Leadership

• Serve as a member of the executive leadership team and contribute to organizational strategy, decision-making, and strategic initiatives.
• Collaborate with Clinical, Operations, Education, Quality, and other departments to promote consistent patient, family, caregiver, and volunteer experiences.
• Provide leadership, direction, and accountability for assigned teams, programs, budgets, and organizational initiatives.
• Build and maintain relationships with patients, families, caregivers, volunteers, employees, physicians, community partners, and other stakeholders.
• Represent the organization in community and professional settings and identify opportunities to strengthen engagement and organizational relationships.
• Perform additional duties and responsibilities as assigned by the Chief Executive Officer.

• Extensive knowledge of patient- and family-centered care and service excellence principles.
• Understanding of hospice, healthcare, post-acute care, or other patient-centered service environments.
• Demonstrated ability to develop and execute organization-wide strategic initiatives.
• Proven ability to lead diverse teams and develop leaders.
• Strong understanding of quality improvement and performance management.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze data, metrics, surveys, and performance indicators to drive decisions and improvements.
• Excellent oral and written communication skills.
• Strong presentation, public speaking, and facilitation skills.
• Exceptional interpersonal and relationship-building skills.
• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, families, caregivers, volunteers, employees, physicians, executives, and community partners.
• Strong decision-making, problem-solving, conflict-resolution, and critical-thinking skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities, projects, and competing organizational needs.

Affinity Hospice is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.