Ambulatory Patient Safety Leader - Central Region

Company Description

At Northwestern Medicine, every patient interaction makes a difference in cultivating a positive workplace. This patient-first approach is what sets us apart as a leader in the healthcare industry. As an integral part of our team, you'll have the opportunity to join our quest for better healthcare, no matter where you work within the Northwestern Medicine system. At Northwestern Medicine, we pride ourselves on providing competitive benefits: from tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness to 401(k) matching and lifecycle benefits, we take care of our employees. Ready to join our quest for better?

Job Description

The Patient Safety Leader reflects the mission, vision, and values of NM, adheres to the organization’s Code of Ethics and Corporate Compliance Program, and complies with all relevant policies, procedures, guidelines and all other regulatory and accreditation standards.

Assist in planning and coordinating the operations of the patient safety program in collaboration with the Patient Safety Program Manager, under the guidance of the Manager, Patient Safety.  Collaborate with Patient Safety Program Manager and Manager, Patient Safety to lead and oversee patient safety initiatives, proactive patient safety surveillance, adverse event follow-up, and monitoring of patient safety-related standards by external agencies. This position will continue the advancement of the use of patient safety strategies and high reliability to achieve key organizational goals in quality and patient safety. The Patient Safety Leader works with leadership to advance patient safety, high reliability, and a culture of safety by leading or providing guidance for patient safety improvement initiatives that align with organizational goals. 

Responsibilities:

• Develop strong working relationships and demonstrate a positive attitude in all workforce interactions.
• Provide exceptional customer service and interpersonal engagement with all stakeholders, including patients, families, and visitors, when relevant.
• Work closely with physicians, executive and operational leaders, and staff at all levels to define and achieve common goals.
• Support and lead the facilitation of tools and implementation of systems/processes that identify patient safety risks, promote a culture of safety, reduce patient harm, and improve high-reliability healthcare.
• Facilitate task force, workgroup, and/or committee meetings, including developing the committee structure, and preparing minutes, reports, dashboards, and related correspondence.
• Assist the Patient Safety Manager and Program Manager in coaching and developing staff for professional effectiveness and engagement.
• Promote patient safety, high reliability, a culture of safety, and shared improvement initiatives.
• Participate in causal analyses. Collaborate to develop action plans following causal analyses (e.g., RCA, ACA, CCA) with clinical and operational leadership. Specify actions, measures, and interventions, assist with implementation (as appropriate), and monitor safety improvements.
• Collaborate with interdisciplinary clinical teams, committees, workgroups, risk, and quality to identify, analyze, and improve patient safety issues while promoting a culture of safety and high reliability.
• Analyze internal and external quality and patient safety data to identify patterns and trends.
• Evaluate key patient safety metrics according to organizational appropriateness, clinical evidence, community needs, and regulatory requirements.
• Use clinical practice knowledge, current research, best practices, and interdisciplinary collaboration to address patient safety concerns and redesign processes.
• Share lessons learned and safety alerts across NMHC.
• Apply high-reliability principles and performance improvement tools as needed.
• Consistently meet project timelines and achieve measurable results.
• Offer expertise in patient safety improvement projects and stay updated on relevant clinical evidence, literature, and improvement science.
• Coach colleagues in patient safety concepts and skills and application of high reliability principles, including physicians, nurses, managers, pharmacists, technologists, and laypeople.
• Collaborate with Accreditation/Regulatory and Compliance to coordinate organizational responses to regulatory standards related to patient safety.
• Partner with the Patient Safety Program Manager to develop, review, and revise hospital policies and procedures that impact patient safety.
• Responsible for self-development and professional engagement, including, but not limited to, knowledge of the literature, attendance at professional meetings, preparation of manuscripts, submission of posters and presentations at professional conferences, and involvement with local and national task forces or associations as relevant.

Qualifications

Required:

• Bachelor’s degree in nursing or allied health, or master’s degree in a relevant field 
• Minimum of 2 years of workforce experience, including at least one year of recent experience in quality, patient safety, or a related field (such as human factors engineering), and at least one year in a healthcare setting. 
• Effective interpersonal communication skills, including teamwork, leadership, and team facilitation
• Strong oral, writing, and presentation skills
• Good organizational skills
• Excellent critical thinking skills
• Exceptionally strong interdisciplinary collaboration skills
• Computer (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite) and data management/analytic skills
• Knowledge of root cause analysis, failure mode effect analysis, and error investigations
• Working knowledge of performance improvement framework (e.g., DMAIC) and application of analytic tools.

Preferred:

• Master’s degree and/or other evidence of advanced commitment to profession.
• Understanding of basic statistics, working knowledge of contemporary standards and data sets related to healthcare quality and patient safety initiatives. 
• DMAIC/Lean Six Sigma Green Belt
• CPPS and/or CPHQ certification

Additional Information

Northwestern Medicine is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate in hiring or employment on the basis of age, sex, race, color, religion, national origin, gender identity, veteran status, disability, sexual orientation or any other protected status.

If we offer you a job, we will perform a background check that includes a review of any criminal convictions. A conviction does not disqualify you from employment at Northwestern Medicine. We consider this on a case-by-case basis and follow all state and federal guidelines.