Court-Appointed Roles > Patient Care Ombudsman
The Patient Care Ombudsman is a professional role applicable in healthcare bankruptcies filed under Chapters 7, 9 or 11 of the Bankruptcy Code. The Ombudsman position, awarded no later than 30 days after the commencement of a case, is responsible for monitoring the quality of patient care, representing patient interests and addressing cross-disciplinary financial, operational and clinical concerns within a distressed healthcare organization.
Focus healthcare professionals possess the following characteristics, making them uniquely qualified to serve as a Patient Care Ombudsman:
- Familiarity with standards to insure the highest quality of care – Focus has experience working with healthcare staff and can assess whether they meet Joint Commission on Accreditation standards, state regulatory standards and national regulatory requirements.
- Experience with patients and patient issues – Focus Professionals have extensive experience dealing with patients on satisfaction and quality of service.
- Familiarity with HIPAA requirements – Focus Professionals are well versed in all aspects of HIPAA and other confidentiality requirements required in directing healthcare operations.
- Experience with professional medical liability issues – Focus has experience with professional medical liability, general liability and special liability challenges that face healthcare delivery organizations.
- Extensive Reorganization and Business Consulting Skills – Focus has worked directly on the operations and management of distressed or insolvent facilities on a daily basis.
- Bankruptcy Experience – Focus understands the divergent needs of the groups participating in bankruptcies and works to arrive at solutions that satisfy the interests of all groups.