Patient Advocate - Willemsted, Curacao

SUMMARY 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. ESSENTIAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES include but are not limited to the following: • Remain available throughout agreed hours of coverage for contact by the RMI GCC. • Deploy to pre-defined medical facilities in the 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 the 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. QUALIFICATIONS To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. EDUCATION and EXPERIENCE: • 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. • Global Coordination Centre – Experience of working with case management specialists. • Ability to demonstrate productivity and self-proficiency in the management of workload. COMPUTER SKILLS: Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and general computer & technology literacy preferred. CERTIFICATES AND LICENSES: Valid driver’s license for the area of operation (preferred) WORKING CONDITIONS: All conditions, skills and abilities listed below are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential job functions. LANGUAGE SKILLS: Ability to understand, speak, read, and write in English. Ability to effectively present information in one-on-one and small group situations to customers, clients, and other employees of the organization. Ability to understand, speak, read, and write in the local dialect applicable to the area of operation. REASONING ABILITY: Ability to solve practical problems and deal with a variety of concrete variables in situations where only limited standardization exists. Ability to interpret a variety of instructions furnished in written, oral, diagram, or schedule form. PHYSICAL DEMANDS AND WORK ENVIRONMENT: The physical demands and work environment described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Work involves considerable exposure to medical facilities. Exposure to blood-borne pathogens. Physical readiness and conditioning may be a condition of job retention. Employees must be able to work in close contact with small and large groups. Frequent hearing and talking is required.