Quality Improvement & Safety Registered Nurse - Quality Assurance and Safety

Overview

The Quality Improvement and Safety RN leads and promotes clinical quality improvement and patient safety efforts throughout the organization. The role supports and promotes safe and high-quality patient care through systematic, coordinated and continuous approach to improvement. Quality Improvement & Safety RN works collaboratively with providers, organization leaders and staff to identify and enhance patient safety practices and to identify QI opportunities and assist the team in the improvements.

The role works in coordination with the Quality Department and with primary care teams to ensure that contractual obligations with payers are met and projects are completed within specified timelines. Responsibilities include overseeing and coordinating payer activities and projects, participating in clinic-based projects, managing gap closure efforts for each assigned payer, representing program interests at meetings, assisting with updating documents, and reporting outcomes of project-based work. Additionally, the specialist reviews patient charts, conducts patient outreach to address care gaps as needed, and identifies workflow improvements    

Responsibilities

•  Collaborates with staff and leadership to identify and implement key clinical quality and patient safety improvement initiatives:
• Provides back-up oversight to event reporting systems to assure review and follow up to promote clinical quality and patient safety;
• Completes investigative chart reviews and reports findings to the appropriate leaders;
• Evaluate clinical and operational data to identify performance gaps, measure key metrics, and benchmark against industry standards.
• Assists in the maintenance of processes which support improvement and safety, enable the collection, storage, and analysis of improvement and safety data, and enable compliance with external regulatory agency requirements;
• Identifies trends and significant safety issues and communicates them to the Director of Quality & Patient Safety;
• Assists with coordination of the Weekly Occurrence Review meeting and Regulatory activities, providing education, establishing and measuring outcomes for effectiveness;
• Uses clinical and operational knowledge in formal and informal consultation with individual staff, providers, clinicians, and managers, to address clinical quality and safety concerns.  
• Provides education and acts as a support and resource to staff, providers and leadership related to Patient Safety: 
• Must be knowledgeable regarding systems or process engineering principles and be able to communicate these principles to others;
• Develops educational materials and programs in conjunction with the Director of Quality and Patient Safety;
• Promotes a culture of patient safety throughout the organization;
• Design, implement, and lead evidence-based QI initiatives using standard methodologies like Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) or Lean Six Sigma;
• Provide education regarding patient safety, system/process engineering, and regulatory to clinical and non-clinical staff during orientations, staff meetings, and in response to ad hoc requests for education from departments or in response to a particular request or need.
• Assists departments/units with performance improvement activities related to Patient Safety:
• In conjunction with the Director of Quality & Patient Safety and in collaboration with other department members, participates in and/or facilitates clinical adverse event evaluation and root cause analysis;
• Monitors, interprets and recommends action based upon identified risks related to Patient Safety;
• Provides oversight for sustainable process changes and recommends replication when appropriate;
• Communicates concerns, progress and results of interventions regarding patient safety to the Director and other appropriate personnel.
• Prepares materials and reports as requested by the Senior Leadership or the Director of Quality & Patient Safety.
• Works in coordination with the Quality Department and with primary care teams to ensure that contractual obligations with payers are met and projects are completed

Performs other duties as required or assigned.

Qualifications

• 5 years relevant work experience in clinical healthcare and quality
• Registered Nurse (NH RN license), Bachelor’s Degree preferred
• Certification in modern improvement methodology (Lean, Six Sigma, etc.) and/or Professional Project Management (PMP) and /or Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) preferred and/or Patient Safety (CPPS) preferred
• Understanding of CAH and other regulatory standards in healthcare preferred
• Ability to maintain confidentiality
• Strong interpersonal, and interdepartmental relational skills
• Ability to successfully manage unpredictable and rapidly changing work environments