The Vice President of Quality and Clinical Excellence is responsible for the vision and development of an
executable plan to attain exemplary patient safety & quality processes and procedures across the ARH Health
System. Bringing patient and clinical safety expertise, he/she will partner to identify opportunities for short- and
long-term gains in standardization, reduction of variability and adherence to best practices. This leader shares
accountability with clinical and operational leaders to achieve safe, high-quality outcomes as measured by
internal and external KPIs and reports. The individual in this role will identify opportunities to optimize
performance, build internal competencies and create a rigorous System approach to safety and clinical quality.
The establishment of a culture of ownership, responsibility, and accountability will be a foundational
characteristic for this role. He/she maintains strong positive relationships with team members, medical staff,
senior leaders, and patients.
Effectively develops, executes, monitors and adjusts the organization's long- and short-term strategic plans
relevant to the role:
−Patient Safety
−High Reliability Organization (HRO)
−Quality Management
−Public reporting programs related to clinical quality and patient experience
•Oversees and directly participates in the execution of the Patient Safety/HRO plan:
−Identifies and incorporates effective elements of a contemporary Quality and Patient Safety program into the
ARH program and standards.
−Establishes and incorporates safety and HRO training as appropriate and in partnership with Human Resources
and other key stakeholders. Audience for the curriculum includes all levels of leadership, team members and
providers.
−Collaborates with the Data Science team and subject matter experts to identify, analyze and report relevant
data with actionable insights
−Incorporates best practices for building and sustaining a fair and just culture of safety and performance
excellence
−Identifies and supports high priority patient safety initiatives across the continuum of care
−Assesses program/initiative effectiveness and reports routinely to senior leadership regarding progress, risks
and barriers
•Oversees and directly participates in the execution of the Quality Management & Patient Safety plan:
−Establishes standards and coordinates individual departmental Performance Improvement Plans
−Serves as an expert resource for Quality Management related metrics, definitions, dashboards and reports.
Including but not limited to ARH’s clinical benchmarking databases and dashboards.
−Demonstrates a relentless pursuit of excellence and an ability to motivate others through highly developed
influential leadership skills.
−Maintains a current and expert knowledge of external, publicly reported measures of quality. Including
methodology, results and best practices for improvement.
−Coordinates quality improvement efforts across business units, the continuum of care and shared system
departments for the purposes of alignment, synergy and effectiveness.
−Oversees ARH’s public reporting programs including data abstraction and submission to CMS, Accrediting
agencies, and specialty registries. Coordinates responses and established strategies for improvement related to
quality and patient safety surveys (e.g. Leapfrog and HRIP, CMS Stars Rating).
−Ensures compliance with CMS, State and Accrediting agency requirements related to the provision of
transparent information to the governing body.
−Engages and advises senior leadership in matters related to quality management risks, opportunities and plans
for improvement.
•Participates in annual budgeting process. Monitors and adjusts expenditures to manage within the approved
departmental budget.
•Evaluates, coaches, mentors and manages the workforce for optimal individual and team contribution
•Other managerial duties (recruitment, hiring, evaluations, departmental policy development, etc.)
•Complies with all ARH System policies, standards of work and code of conduct
•Performs other duties as assigned
• Complies with all policies and standards
Education
7-10 years of progressive quality improvement experience and a minimum of 5 years of
progressive managerial experience in healthcare is required
Knowledge, Skills and Abilities
Comprehensive understanding of performance improvement, quality assessment, regulatory and risk management, patient
safety, and program management.
Quality experience in a healthcare system ( including hospitals, clinics and home health) is highly preferred.
Knowledge and experience with managing performance improvement teams and workgroups.
Experienced in financial and data analysis; national, state, and local quality improvement initiatives, regulations, and
accreditation requirements.
Demonstrated experience and knowledge of CMS and state and federal healthcare regulations, Required
Demonstrated ability to improve publicly reported rankings that measure quality and patient safety.
Familiar with quality improvement tools and techniques (PDSA, Lean Thinking, Six Sigma, robust process improvement, etc.).
Experience in fair and just culture programs.
Extensive knowledge and experience with public reporting, pay-for-performance, national quality improvement initiatives and
performance trends, APR DRGs, coding optimization, third-party payor requirements related to quality indicators, and regulatory
standards DNV, CMS, etc.).
Licenses/Certification
Registered Nurse (RN) – single state or compact RN Preferred
Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) or Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) Required