Director, Performance Improvement & Project Management, Center for Healthcare Transformation

Job Description

General Summary

Under general supervision, provides leadership, oversight, coordination, and assistance for System-led performance improvement, program management and project management across all System entities.

Responsibilities include supervising process improvement and project management team members and facilitating process improvement teams.

Has oversight for monitoring and measuring improvement team results; ensures development of standards and benchmarking and best practice applications to support improvement at the team and organizational levels.

Develops and manages comprehensive projects and programs to meet the organizational development needs, including education, training, development, care delivery, patient experience, finance, and efficiency, supporting leaders at all levels.

Develops and maintains relationships with front-line staff, mid-level management, and senior leaders at both the System and local hospital level.

Principal Responsibilities and Tasks

Organizational Leadership : Provides leadership, support, oversight, and coordination for the hospital-level clinical improvement program.

Plans additional performance improvement initiatives consistent with the UMMS / germane strategy, annual operating plan priorities, and other critical business processes.

Assembles multidisciplinary performance improvement and program management teams and assigns needed consultants. Coaches, mentors, facilitates and guides teams and hospital-based performance improvement staff.

Partners with Physicians, Nursing, Finance, outside consultants, and others to develop comprehensive process improvement and performance excellence system.

Project Management : Displays budgetary discipline, ensuring PI / PM Team projects, task forces / work groups have a project management plan with clearly defined beginning / end dates, as well as clearly defined deliverables with transition plans to stakeholders.

Facilitates using project management tools, i.e., Gantt Chart / Excel Project Management tools, to manage project start / end dates, forecasting activities, timeliness of project deliverables, and expected reporting to appropriate committees.

Utilizes standard project management methodologies to adhere to expectations. Provides overall strategic direction and governance for the project by establishing strategic priority standards, processes, and tools to facilitate project management and implementation.

Coordinates and oversees project management resources to ensure appropriate allocation to facilitate projects tracks and monitors projects to achieve organizational goals and objectives.

Change Leadership : Supports the structure, organization, and culture for continuous quality and operations improvement.

Initiates and facilitates redesign and process improvement strategies for strategically essential organizational priorities.

Creates detailed, comprehensive project and action plans and timelines to ensure successful execution of programs. Develops quantifiable metrics to measure return on investment (ROI) and effectiveness.

Monitors and measures results; develops standards and applies benchmarking and best practice applications to support improvement at the team and organizational levels.

Acts as a consultant and advisor to leadership to build consensus and support for process improvement initiatives at a managerial level.

Researches and remains current on process improvement opportunities and methodologies appropriate for a healthcare environment.

Provides training and education to support process improvement initiatives in the organization. Consults with organizational learning and development and designs educational curriculums and programs to support leadership, medical staff, and employee education and training to participate in process improvement initiatives.

Mentors and supports performance improvement staff and other organizational leaders and change efforts to support their development and improvement efforts.

Assists leaders and teams to facilitate major change and organizational improvement.

PI Efficiency and Effectiveness : Utilizes accepted methodologies, i.e., A3, PDCA (with rapid cycle tests of change), RCA, FMEA, Fishbone, other quality tools, etc.

to improve PI efficiency and effectiveness. Ensures hospital teams / service line leaders develop / implement actionable plans for targeted quality measures.

The follow-up is to ensure the sustainability of improvements, moving the metric into stable monitoring mode when appropriate with routine, scheduled oversight.

Facilitates proactive risk reduction teams utilizing Failure Mode Effects Analysis (FMEA) methodologies.

Process Improvement Leadership : Expert on performance improvement tools and techniques. Leads and facilitates process improvement teams to achieve significant quality improvement and business results, giving them ownership of changes.

Works with executive champions and physician leaders to enable performance improvement teams and achieve timely results consistent with strategic and operational goals and to create a charter focused on group process steps, meeting planning, and results with specific timelines and goals for the team.

Provides just-in-time training on process improvement tools and techniques to support executive champions, leaders, and performance improvement teams.

Acts as a coach and advisor to the executive champions and leaders on processes and approaches to accomplish goals and achieve results.

Keeps the executive champion, leader, and performance improvement team on track with timelines and expected results based on the charter.

Collects and analyzes data to evaluate operational difficulties and makes recommendations to solve problems. Identifies inefficiencies and analyzes and reports solutions to correct inefficiencies.

Coordinates staff and resources in reporting and non-reporting relationships.

Technology and Infrastructure Development : Works directly with UMMS / UMMC Information Systems to translate process analysis models into technology system requirements and design specifications;

communicates with Electronic Health Record system and other technology developers and users to drive technology enablers supporting sustained performance improvement.

Qualifications

Education and Experience

• Master’s Degree in Engineering, Health Care Administration, Business, or related field required
• Certification / Licensure / Registration
• Lean or TPS required
• Six Sigma Black Belt Certification required
• Proven Project Management leadership experience or Professional Certification required
• Experience
• 6-8 years’ experience in leadership and management required
• 4-6 years of healthcare experience is required
• 4-6 years of training in continuous quality improvement and process management is required
• 4-6 years’ experience facilitating process improvement teams / role as a change agent required
• 4-6 years’ experience in teaching and instruction required
• 4-6 years hands-on experience with process improvement methodologies and approaches at an organizational level require

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Strong Verbal Communications Skills,
• Strong Written Communications Skills,
• Excellent Interpersonal Skills,
• Computer skills : Access, Excel, PowerPoint, MS Word - Intermediate Level,
• Excellent Organizational Skills,
• Ability to lead, coach, and persuade others as needed to accomplish projects,
• Knowledge and experience with rapid cycle performance improvement,
• Ability to work with statistical concepts and analysis,
• Knowledge of organization and leadership development concepts and tools.

Additional Information