Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs, Department of Pediatrics

Description

The Vice Chair for Clinical Affairs (VCCA) is the senior physician leader for the clinical mission of the Department of Pediatrics and UVA Health Children’s. Reporting directly to the Department Chair, the VCCA is responsible for implementing the strategic direction, operational performance, and financial sustainability of the Department's clinical enterprise.

 

The VCCA's primary domain is the Department of Pediatrics' clinical enterprise: faculty clinical productivity, access, ambulatory and programmatic growth, and the financial health of the clinical mission. The VCCA collaborates closely with the Children's Hospital Inpatient Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) as well as Ambulatory ACMO on matters that span inpatient and ambulatory care, but operational authority of these domains rests with the respective ACMOs. In this partnership, the VCCA's role is strategic and faculty-facing; the ACMO's role is operational and hospital-facing.

 

The position is a member of the Department's Executive Leadership Team, provides direct counsel to the Chair, and serves as a key voice for the Department in system-level clinical governance. The VCCA maintains an active clinical presence and scholarly portfolio (approximately 70% of total effort).

 

Key Responsibilities:

• Clinical Strategy and Program Growth

  • Lead development and implementation of the Department's clinical strategic plan in alignment with UVA Health and UVA Health Children's Hospital priorities.

  • Identify opportunities for clinical program growth, new specialty service development, and network expansion in the pediatric market.

  • Lead assessment of new clinical partnerships, outreach opportunities, and regional market development strategies, including off-site clinic expansion.

  • Champion value-based care initiatives; serve as the Department's representative on the value-based care portfolio steering task force.

  • Collaborate with Children's Hospital leadership and health system executives to advance pediatric clinical priorities at the institutional and system level.

• Clinical Operations

  • Partner with departmental and health system administrative leadership to optimize productivity, access and patient experience, and in accordance with this, address systemic operational barriers impacting faculty productivity, access and patient experience.

  • Promote standardization of clinical workflows across divisions and outpatient sites.

  • Partner with the Chief Quality Officer and hospital quality teams on quality improvement projects specific to departmental clinical operations; coordinate with the ACMO on QI initiatives spanning inpatient and outpatient care

  • Provide direct oversight of Department of Pediatrics' Clinical Directors. Maintain a collaborative partnership with Hospital-appointed Medical Directors on departmental clinical strategy, standards, and faculty engagement; operational oversight of Medical Directors rests with the ACMO

• Faculty Clinical Performance and Workforce

  • Collaborate with Division Directors to optimize faculty clinical effort, productivity benchmarks, and engagement across all divisions.

  • Work on clinical workforce planning, including physician staffing models, specialty coverage design, and APP utilization within the Department's clinical programs.

  • Support the recruitment, onboarding, and retention of clinical faculty, including participation in faculty candidate evaluation and selection.

  • Promote sustainable clinical practice environments that support faculty wellbeing, professionalism, and longevity.

  • Work with Division Directors and the Chair to manage professionalism concerns among departmental faculty through established HR and academic processes.

• Financial Stewardship and Clinical Sustainability

  • Monitor departmental clinical financial performance, including revenue cycle metrics, billing and coding compliance, physician productivity benchmarks (wRVUs), and payer mix.

  • Partner with departmental administration to evaluate clinical business plans and investment opportunities for new programs or service line expansions.

  • Support the development of productivity frameworks and physician compensation models, in partnership with the Chair and departmental administration.

  • Recommend and implement strategies to improve clinical sustainability, operational margin, and financial performance across the Department's clinical