Quality Improvement Specialist - Patient Safety & Quality - F/T Days - Hackensack Meridian Health

Our team members are the heart of what makes us better. At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community. Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change. 

The Quality Improvement Specialist acts in conjunction with the Regional Chief Quality & Safety Officer, HMH Vice President Clinical & Nursing Quality, HMH Patient Safety Officer and local Director of Patient Safety & Quality to provide leadership for quality & safety improvement initiatives. The Quality Improvement Specialist collaborates with HMH initiative-focused groups, clinical transformation services and quality councils to achieve transformational and sustainable outcome improvements using project/program management, process and system mapping, reliability science data driven strategies, evidence based best practices and quality improvement strategies. These components, along with knowledge and experience of front-line clinical operations, will provide structure and oversight to improve quality and patient safety. The identification, planning and execution of quality improvement and safety projects are necessary in order to deliver successful sustainable results and build a strong and sustainable culture of safety & quality for patients and team members.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Required:

• Bachelor's degree in healthcare or health science.
• 5 years of experience in health care.
• Proficiency in the use of computer applications and software including Outlook, Word, Power Point, Excel.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with ability to present to various levels within the organization.
• NPSF CPPS certification within one year of hire.

Education, Knowledge, Skills and Abilities Preferred:

• Master's degree and/or professional degree and certification.
• Performance improvement experience.
• Experience in statistics or clinical research.
• Understanding of The Joint Commission and regulatory standards.

Licenses and Certifications Preferred:

• Certified Professional in Patient Safety.

• Facilitate and lead highly functioning teams organized around quality & safety initiatives. Develop methods of engaging and developing team members in the work of quality & safety initiatives and improvement measures.
• Identify improvement priorities specific to each HMH initiative-focused improvement work, clinical transformation service, or quality council based on evidence based practice, taking into consideration regulatory requirements and accrediting agencies such as CMS, Pay for Performance, The State of New Jersey Department of Health, and The Joint Commission.
• Bring safety and quality events, concerns and needs to local morning safety huddle.
• Encourage event reporting and transparency related to events, concerns, needs, processes to identify precursor and safety events.
• Identify & implement data driven strategies to ensure team's success.
• Utilize the Quality Scorecard to drive improvements by the HMH initiative-focused improvement work, clinical transformation service, or quality council.
• Provide expert knowledge, leadership and mentoring in patient safety & quality initiatives utilizing safety and high reliability science.
• Strategize with personnel at all levels to develop and coordinate patient safety programs. Provide coaching and hands-on support of quality and safety strategies.
• Create and maintain timely and thorough progress reports that include key driver diagrams, run charts and PDSA testing documentation. 10. Develop metrics and report key quality &safety metrics to accurately demonstrate improvement in safety & quality across the medical center and network.
• Provide timely, actionable feedback and reports to clinical, administrative and support staff on all safety & quality initiatives.
• Analyze and investigate event reports related to assigned clinical area.
• Ensure appropriate referral and follow up for events including escalation for regulatory reporting.
• Increase transparency, reinforce high reliability and advance the safety culture by participating in and facilitating safety huddles, patient safety activities, just culture reinforcement and shared learning.
• Facilitate the NPSF RCA-2 process as needed. Provide leadership, guidance, support and direction resulting shared learning within designated clinical areas and across the institution and network.
• Advance the science of safety and quality improvement through dissemination of methods, results and lessons learned from improvement projects.
• Present improvement methods and results at local, national and international forums.
• Monitor standards of practice to ensure compliance with codes of internal and external regulatory and accrediting agencies including: a. The Joint Commission b. NJS and Federal Codes (i.e.: DOH, OSHA) c. Professional review organizations
• Effective trend analysis of performance data with comparison over time to internal and external benchmarks to identify improvement opportunities, and progress.
• Coordinate and mentor team members in quality projects. Coordinate and assist the performance improvement work of the unit councils.
• Attend root cause analysis meetings as specific to HMH initiative-focused group, clinical transformation service, or quality council focus area.
• Direct patient and team member safety by identification of actual or potential safety issues.
• Advance & enhance professional growth and development through seminars, workshops and professional networking opportunities to maintain and extend expertise.
• Adhere to the standards identified in the Hackensack Meridian Health's organizational competencies.