Position Description

Position: Chief Quality Officer

ORGANIZATION:PeaceHealth — Oregon Region (www.peacehealth.org/Oregon)

LOCATION: Eugene, OR

ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND

PeaceHealth is guided by the values of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace. Under the sisters' leadership, PeaceHealth has achieved national recognition for exceptional medicine and compassionate care. PeaceHealth Oregon Region was named one of the 100 best companies to work for by Oregon Business magazine. With more than 5,000 employees, PeaceHealth is the area's largest employer. PHOR includes: Sacred Heart Medical Center; Cottage Grove Community Hospital; Peace Harbor Hospital; PeaceHealth Medical Group; and South Lane Medical Group. The PHOR medical staff includes 655 physicians.

PeaceHealth's Sacred Heart Medical Center (SHMC) is a 432-bed tertiary hospital and Level II Trauma Center offering a comprehensive range of services including orthopedics, neurology, surgery, emergency care, neonatal intensive care, adult intensive care and rehabilitation. Known for its interdisciplinary approach, the Oregon Heart & Vascular Institute provides exceptional care for heart and vascular disorders from prevention and diagnosis to treatment and rehabilitation. The hospital, which just celebrated its 70th anniversary, also provides outpatient services ranging from physical therapy to home health and hospice. SHMC is the largest hospital between Portland and San Francisco, primarily serving Lane County with a population of more than 330,000 people and specialty referrals from all of Southern Oregon. Oregon's second-largest city, Eugene, has a population of 142,000.

PeaceHealth is nearing completion of RiverBend, a 400+ bed quaternary care facility. RiverBend will include a full-service emergency and trauma department, operating rooms, several specialty care institutes, and physician offices. Estimated completion date is 2008 at which time the current campus will be renovated to include outpatient services, 24-hour emergency care and primary care.

PHOR executives support the development of culture around building relationships, creating a compassionate, committed team within the hospital and creating a healing environment. This includes maintaining balance between work life and personal life, maintaining a spiritual center of life, treating all persons with respect and dignity. These personal attributes will be demonstrated through effective development of teams to plan and implement projects critical to the success of the organization. PeaceHealth has just begun collaboration with Oregon Health & Sciences University (the state's medical school) in Portland and the University of Oregon in Eugene. This will bring increasing numbers of medical students to Eugene for both clinical and didactic studies.

REPORTING RELATIONSHIPS

The Chief Quality Officer (CQO) reports to Mel Pyne, Chief Executive Officer, PHOR. The CQO is a member of the PHOR executive team. Reporting to the CQO is the Director of the Center for Healthcare Improvement (CHI); the position may also include supervising the Regional Director for Healthcare Information Management, Director of Risk Management, Director of Health Records and Director of Medical Staff Services depending on experience and desire. Other members of the PHOR executive team include: Regional Chief Executive Officer, Siuslaw Region; Chief Executive, Foundation; Chief Operations Officer; OML Chief Executive Officer; Regional Vice President, Medical Practice Operations; Regional Vice President, Business Development; Chief Financial Officer; and Regional Vice President, Physician and Employee Relations.

POSITION SUMMARY

The Chief Quality Officer (CQO) provides regional leadership in the development and alignment for all quality improvement, patient safety, and compliance initiatives for PHOR. The position's focus is on continuous improvement and redesign of processes, utilization, and quality initiatives to enhance and improve patient satisfaction and outcomes. Working in partnership with the medical staff, the CQO will provide the wisdom, focus, and leadership necessary for PHOR to rise to the challenges of achieving best practice standards for effective, safe, timely, patient centered, equitable and efficient care.

INITIAL PRIORITIES

• Conduct an assessment of existing quality activities and information systems, and seek input from key managers and medical directors.
• Develop strategies to improve the efficiency of the care delivery process in a service line approach.
• Identify specific aspects of care delivery that must be monitored via data collection systems and the performance metrics to be incorporated.
• Delineate specific policies and procedures that can be improved and implemented.
• Develop appropriate financial impact projections.

SCOPE OF RESPONSIBILITIES

• Under the direction of the CEO, makes decisions affecting strategy, implementation and management of the Center for Healthcare Improvement (CHI), Quality Initiatives, Institutes and Centers of Excellence.
• Provide for overall regional support, strategic direction, advancement, and management of quality improvement initiatives.
• Engage medical directors and medical staff in quality work to develop and move the Institutes and Centers of Excellence forward.
• Serve as principal spokesperson for Quality. Communicate the mission and implementation of quality activities.
• Persuade and inspire staff throughout the organization to support quality initiatives.
• Implement analysis and research activity focused upon using data to develop enhanced clinical pathways, practice guidelines, and other outcomes improvement strategies.
• Develop priorities and focus for quality improvement activities.
• Help lead the development of PeaceHealth system-wide clinical programs.
• Serve as the Oregon Region Organizational Integrity/Compliance Officer and a member of the PeaceHealth System compliance team.
• Establish a culture of ethical and compliant behavior.
• Ensure comprehensive in-service education and training is in place to continually support enhancement of operational effectiveness of quality programs and services.
• Plan and recommend budgets for all departments under position's responsibility that ensure financial integrity; manages expenditures, and reports on budget variances.
• Develop a thorough understanding of healing culture as defined by PeaceHealth. Be a visible leader of the PHOR initiative to develop a healing environment for patients, family and staff.
• Bring a strong commitment to the core values of PeaceHealth and actively demonstrate those values each day.
• Maintain personal integrity in all aspects of communication and relationship throughout the organization. Be proactive and adept in communicating with peers and staff.
• Create a balance between professional pursuits, and spiritual aspects of the job.
• Be a full partner with other members of management in solving problems.
• Create opportunities to celebrate the accomplishments of staff, physicians and peers.
• Works on a collaborative basis with counterparts in other PeaceHealth regions.

This position may have additional responsibilities as assigned. All job duties must be performed in a manner that demonstrates the PeaceHealth Personal Accountabilities, Core Values, Behavioral Expectations, and the Mission & Values of PeaceHealth Oregon Region.

CANDIDATE QUALIFICATIONS

Attributes

• A compassionate leader who exhibits warmth and provides clear, direct leadership. Builds strong teams and cultivates a culture of team work and collaboration.
• Articulate, poised, and persuasive, the CQO must possess exceptional communication skills.
• Has a reputation as creative, passionate, proactive, innovative, and willing to take calculated risks.
• Has a calm, steady style.
• Is action-oriented and outcomes-focused; has a reputation for follow through.
• Manages effectively through influence. Is adept at creating win-win situations. Is politically savvy and handles complex situations with sensitivity.
• Promotes cooperation and teamwork. Is inclusive of peers and/or key stakeholders when making decisions that affect the organization
• Solicits feedback and ideas from staff; holds others accountable and is fair. Delegates appropriately and provides opportunities for team to cross-train and further develop skills.

Experience to include:

• Proven leader with minimum of 10 years in clinical practice, 5 years executive leadership, and 5 years of quality improvement experience. Quality improvement training required.
• Knowledge and experience in compliance/HIPAA process, regulations and internal controls.
• Understanding of quality improvement tools and methodologies.
• Demonstrated ability to lead and implement quality improvement initiatives; and the demonstrated ability to lead medical staff quality initiatives.
• Preference for a leader with experience in systems with employed physician groups within the medical staff.

EDUCATION and LICENSURE

• An MD degree is required; successful graduation from an accredited medical school, and completion of an accredited residency program in a medical specialty. Must be Board-Certified in field of specialty and agree to maintain such Board Certification through tenure of employment.
• Licensed as an Oregon State physician. Board Certification required

CONTACT

Kate Kingsley or Barbara Walker
KLKingsley Executive Search
1333 No. California Blvd., Suite 570
Walnut Creek, CA 94596

Email: kate@klkingsley.com or barbara@klkingsley.com
Web: www.klkingsley.com

Phone: 925-934-4306
Fax: 925-934-4327