AVP Patient Safety

General Summary of Position
The Assistant Vice President (AVP) of Patient Safety is an experienced clinician and safety leader who leads the development and execution of a MedStar Health's systemwide strategy for MedStar's overall patient safety program including both proactive and reactive approaches. The AVP is accountable for understanding, coordinating, and measuring performance of all internal and external safety metrics and requirements. Manages a team of people to prioritize MedStar safety initiatives and operationalizes these in all ten hospitals along with MedStar's several hundred ambulatory sites. Collaborates with numerous stakeholders both at the local and system level to lead and facilitate the ongoing transformation and optimization of MedStar Health's safety culture. Leverages relationships and knowledge of the MedStar organization to pull diverse resources and create innovative approaches to patient and associate safety improvements. Develops high level relationships with national and international organizations and serves as content expert sought out by entities interested in MedStar's safety program. Responsible and accountable for all proactive and reactive patient safety and risk reduction programs of MedStar Health. The AVP has senior oversight and responsibility for system wide programs in psychological safety, just culture, event review process, proactive safety HRO culture, and safety culture. This includes oversight of the SafetyNet (PSE) reporting system for MedStar Health and system leadership responsibility for the entity Patient Family Advisory Councils for Quality & Safety (PFACQS). The AVP will lead the prioritization of health equity and the integration of equity, inclusion, and diversity into MedStar Health's safety programs and collaborate with the AVP for health equity and the VP patient safety to identify and improve areas of disparity in safety.

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

• Develops and contributes to the achievement of department goals and objectives and adheres to department policies procedures quality standards and safety standards. Ensures compliance with hospital/facility policies and procedures and governmental/accreditation regulations.
• Envisions the ongoing evolution of MedStar Health's system-wide High-Reliability strategy and initiates implementation develops and implements programs for ensuring consistent attainment of system targets related to serious safety events and precursor safety events.
• Develops and implements programs to maximize MedStar Health's appropriate response to serious unanticipated outcomes (SUOs) serious safety events and other precurser events to include the MedStar Health event review process (resulting in sustainable and effective mitigations) patient and family communication (in collaboration with risk management) and care for the caregiver (in collaboration with the Center for Wellbeing).
• Develops and implements proactive safety programs including mechanisms of data collection and thematic analysis oversight of the SafetyNet System proactive risk assessments and identification and mitigation of the highest risk safety issues before patients are injured.
• Collaborates with members of the National Center for Human Factors in Healthcare and MedStar SiTEL to develop meaningful and effective high reliability and safety curriculum for all levels of associates and leaders throughout MedStar Health. Partners with education and training leaders to develop the strategy to ensure that this education is disseminated and integrated into all levels of associate training.
• Maintains strong working relationship with the MedStar Health Vice President of Risk Management and the Risk Management department sharing safety and risk data ensuring a coordinated approach to safety events resolution of those events and risks within the system.
• Creates and executes a roadmap for the continual improvement of MedStar Health's High-Reliability Safety programs in all ten MedStar hospitals and several hundred outpatient sites. Determines the appropriate application of MedStar resources to high-reliability safety initiatives. Implements safety components of the MedStar Strategic plan and oversees system-wide initiatives.
• Leads systemwide committees and meetings related to MedStar Health's High-Reliability program including proactive safety programs event response and others such as the MedStar Health Safety Leaders Forum.
• Ensures appropriate MedStar representation in external collaborative benchmarking groups and other safety initiatives and programs. Represents MedStar Health in national forums on patient safety.
• Has primary responsibility for the analysis integrity and validation of clinical safety data for internal and external reporting purposes including its roll-up from the entities the use and standardization of benchmarking data display for the Leadership Team and Board and the interpretation of clinical safety data in collaboration with the hospitals and other corporate leadership.
• Envisions and initiates new and innovative approaches to patient safety leveraging knowledge from both within and outside of MedStar. Responsible for implementing these initiatives and measuring success and outcomes.
• Leads efforts to ensure that clinical IT data systems are properly utilized to meet the safety needs of MedStar Health and external constituencies. Ensures that data required to support safety is available within and extractable from clinical IT applications and can be analyzed to support safety initiatives and goals.
• Enhances professional growth and development and enriches personal knowledge and skill through participation in educational programs and professional affiliations.
• Mentor's patient safety and other leaders in MedStar to ensure consistent application of MedStar safety and high-reliability principles common goals and communication around these principles and effective program implementation. Includes direct or indirect reports in entities where indicated.
• Leads development of Board and Leadership Team Board-level reports on safety data and is accountable for analyzing and presenting this data to and for senior MedStar executives.
• Serves as the Safety leader to partner with system-level nursing leadership on safety data and collaboratively conceives of and supports execution of system-wide safety-related projects
• Represents MedStar in external collaborative and other safety initiatives and programs and presents findings and MedStar's programs in national forums on patient safety enduring MedStar's work is recognized externally. Establishes and maintains relationships with network facilities and safety organizations.
• Scans the internal and external environment for innovative safety and quality opportunities and regulatory changes and channels them appropriately for evaluation and implementation. Collaborates with appropriate leadership to develop action plans and monitor outcomes.
• Leads systemwide safety and service improvement teams as appropriate. Participates in meetings serves on committees and represents the department and hospital/facility in community outreach efforts as appropriate. Leads the development of systemwide Board reports on safety events (QSPAC).

Minimal Qualifications
Education

• BSN degree with additional training in health administration, business, or other related field OR combination of education required. BSN preferred. 

Experience

• Minimum 15 years of experience in healthcare management or healthcare consulting in a quality or safety area and has demonstrated management progression focused on quality improvement, process improvement, and patient safety required.
• Experience with system and process redesign, human factors engineering, and the various process improvement methodologies and related activities of quality/safety improvement and risk management required.

Licenses and Certifications

• Board certified licensed RN preferred.

Knowledge Skills and Abilities

• Knowledge of integrated delivery systems ideally inclusive of academic/teaching hospital experience and the complete dynamics of the care continuum.
• A track record of success working collaboratively with hospital and safety leaders ensuring that goals and incentives are aligned with overall health system objectives.
• Presence and credibility gained through participation in regional and national forums associations and other thought leadership groups related to the advancement of clinical quality and safety.
• Must have excellent verbal and written communication skills excellent research and networking skills a proven history of driving change in an influencing role and working knowledge of various computer software applications.