Quality Improvement Specialist, Winston Salem

JOB SUMMARY: 

Performs tasks key to the clinical transformation. Performs quality improvement efforts to improve quality of care, reduce cost of care, enhance patient experience of care and improve provider satisfaction. Responsible for designing a data-driven, strategic approach to continuous quality improvement (CQI) based on identification of gaps in care, perceived ability to measurably improve with resources available, potential to impact multiple settings/ease of replication or spread. 

EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE: 

• Bachelor's degree in health related field or industrial engineering. 
• Master's degree preferred or equivalent work experience. 
• Four years' experience in health care setting with minimum of three years' experience in quality improvement, process improvement, change management, etc

LICENSURE, CERTIFICATION, and/or REGISTRATION: 

• Certification in Health Care Quality (CPHQ), Six Sigma or other health quality certification preferred. 

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS: 

1. Evaluates performance through assessment of workflow efficiency, competency of staff, utilization of resources, safety and compliance. 

2. Develops and facilitates implementation of improvement plans following the IHI Model for Improvement and LEAN. 

3. Works closely with select departments to identify and prioritize opportunities for improvement 

4. Analyzes data for patterns and trends in care delivery; discovers root causes for specific patient care trends and for critical event analysis (i.e., Root Cause Analysis, Failure Modes and Effects Analysis). Translates data into actionable information (using data to drive change). 

5. Disseminates/displays data using common performance improvement tools (e.g., run charts, histograms). Maintains trended reports and summaries of key findings. 

6. Translates findings and outcomes and recommend strategies for early intervention and health/disease management, new programs, workflow and operational improvement activities. Assists in facilitating changes and improvements based on the data. 

7. Assures all staff have the education and resource material needed to facilitate the change. 

8. Ensures administration, staff and providers are aware of performance in relation to the desired performance level, and the evidence base for the measure. Disseminates information via corporate meetings, flyers, email, SharePoint and in personalized office training classes. 

9. Collaborates with select teams to increase the number of practices/providers with NCQA recognition for Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), Diabetes, Heart and Stroke, and others. Ensures those already recognized maintain their recognition status. 

10. Assures that improvement activities are documented and reported within the organization and externally as appropriate. 

11. Highlights results and accomplishments of QI initiatives. 

12. Demonstrates problem solving, leadership, conflict management and team building skills in order to ensure a productive work environment and achievement of goals. 

13. Aligns efforts with other departments to increase the likelihood of achieving our common goals. 

14. Collaborates with leadership and staff to create policies and procedures that ensure excellent quality care and minimize harm to the patient. 

15. Attends meetings, conferences and trainings related to continuous improvement. 

Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is a pre-eminent academic health system based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist is part of Advocate Health, which is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and is the fifth-largest nonprofit health system in the United States, created from the combination of Atrium Health and Advocate Aurora Health. Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist’s two main components are an integrated clinical system – anchored by Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, an 885-bed tertiary-care hospital in Winston-Salem – that includes Brenner Children’s Hospital, five community hospitals, more than 300 primary and specialty care locations and more than 2,700 physicians; and Wake Forest School of Medicine, the academic core of Atrium Health Enterprise and a recognized leader in experiential medical education and groundbreaking research that includes Wake Forest Innovations, a commercialization enterprise focused on advancing health care through new medical technologies and biomedical discovery.

Wake Forest Baptist Health, Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Atrium Health have joined forces in a strategic combination that will enhance care, transform medical education and create economic opportunity for countless lives in North Carolina and beyond. As a part of that combinat