Purpose:This position is responsible for contributing to hospital and departmental quality initiatives. This involves performing the assessment and analysis of operations and processes. Additionally, the Senior Improvement Specialist works collaboratively with staff and leadership to design and implement improvements and innovations across their hospital(s). Their work is focused on hospital quality initiatives. In order to achieve defined outcomes the senior improvement specialist engenders commitment, fosters cultural changes, disseminates information and provides support for behavioral and process changes. The overarching focus of the senior improvement specialists work is patient centeredness, staff vitality, process efficiency and waste reduction and safe and reliable patient care.
Responsibilities: - Demonstrate exceptional improvement skills using the UPMC improvement model to drive system level improvement.
- Measures and analyzes data to understand and interpret information to focus on the right problem to solve.
- Assess hospital/facility/departmental readiness and identifies strategies to achieve goals.
- Effectively communicates improvements that are made to work teams, staff, managers and administrators throughout the organization.
- When assigned, completes special projects and performs other related duties according to agreed upon goals and parameters.
- Works to ensure that quality improvement and innovation work remains focused on one more of the following goals: patient centeredness, staff vitality, process efficiency and waste reduction and safe and reliable patient care.
- Effectively coordinates the assessment of current operational processes.
- Designs models for testing various approaches and evaluating effectiveness.
- Acts as a lead in absence of the Director.
- May manage direct reports.
- Maintains accountability for ongoing self-development activities especially related to presentation facilitation, change management and application of quality improvement activities.
- Skilled with representing UPMC by presenting accomplishments to regional and national forms.
- Strategizes and drives Quality/Improvement agenda.
- Leads and engages teams across the hospital and interacts with all levels of executives at times directing to look at alternative more efficient/effective approaches.
- Assures project management skills are utilized to lead progress towards goals by collecting accurate, timely data to display the quality, cost and service outcomes.
- Leads improvement utilizing various approaches such as TPS/Lean/PDSA or others as appropriate.
- Creates a supportive environment in the department, hospital or service line where improvement is being done that is sensitive to address the issues and needs of that area by regularly consulting with the Executive Sponsor, Director and front line staff.
- Partners with hospital and divisional leaders to implement and deploy system and local change.
- Utilized expert engagement approaches to drive change.
Qualifications:Bachelor's degree in nursing, business or a relevant field required. Master's degree, or UPMC approved certification, or completion of 2 years in a 4 year Bachelor's to PhD/DNP program required. Minimum 7 years of improvement experience with 5 years in Quality and or healthcare experience required. Knowledge of information systems and process improvement techniques. Must be able to demonstrate skills to understand and interpret data. Ability to establish and maintain positive, caring relationships with executives, managers, physicians, non-physician providers, ancillary and support staff, other departments, and patients/families. Demonstrates a progressive leadership track. Skilled in Microsoft and office and data applications. Demonstrates strong project management skills to drive change. Ability to work productively and effectively within a complex environment, handle multiple/changing priorities. Exemplary critical thinking, analytical and problem solving abilities required as related to various aspects of patient care and improvement skills. Mobility and visual manual dexterity. Physical stamina for frequent walking, standing, lifting.
Skills preferred: collaborative, forward thinking, great teamwork, innovation.
Licensure, Certifications, and Clearances:UPMC approved certification or Masters degree in a related field required. Must maintain certification status.
