Executive Director, Operations and External Networks

Job Summary

This position serves as Kaiser Foundation Hospital (-KFH-) and Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest (-HP-) Operations Leader for KP Northwest external hospital (Plan, Non-KFH, Core, Non-Core) and the Regional Telephonic Medical Center (-RTMC-). The position reports to the KPNW Chief Operating Officer. This position is a member of the market-s Care Delivery Team.

This position leads, manages, influences, coordinates and facilitates all day-to-day operational activities to ensure the partnering medical centers demonstrate alignment to and execute in fulfilling Kaiser Permanente mission to provide high quality, cost-effective services. This includes working directly and influencing complex departments and functions such as continuum-of-care, utilization and case management, RTMC, repatriations, improve average length of stay, reduce emergency department to inpatient admits, all support services, quality improvement, risk management, finance, accrediting/regulatory/licensing services, and performance improvement activities for the Medical Centers.

This position is responsible for building effective, collaborative relationships with multiple entities inside and outside of the medical center such as the Permanente Medical Group (-PMG-), labor unions, external hospitals, and coordination with other KFH Medical Center. This position implements national, regional, and local strategic initiatives assuring consistency across all care venues regardless of entity.

Essential Responsibilities

• Oversee the daily operations at external hospitals on behalf of Kaiser Permanente Northwest.
• Collaborate with regional and local market leadership, to include KFH/HP, PMG, and contracted entities to include the external hospitals, Continuum, Utilization Management team and others to develop and implement short and long-range business strategies using the optimum mix of internal and external services to create and operate a seamless integrated delivery system.
• Provide strategic leadership with diverse constituencies to conceptualize, articulate, and implement a shared vision and detailed operational plans for the service area, inclusive of the external hospital and other contracted entities, assuring high quality care and exceptional member experience at the right level of care.
• Co-Chairperson for Joint Operations Oversight Committee and any committee designated with other contracted entity leadership.
• Oversee the RTMC to serve as the connection with Regional Advice Nursing for emergent calls, coordinates transfers of patients from our clinics to Emergency Departments, and coordinates ambulance across the region in addition to managing members in non-KFH hospitals.
• Coordinate development activities with regional contracting staff. Identifies and develops relationships with potential partners that meet/exceed KP standards and guides contracting efforts to achieve the care, financial, operational objectives of KP. Monitors contracted entities performance and acts accordingly.
• Benchmark external hospital quality and member experience to KFH and industry top decile results. Uses influence to inspire improvement and proactively transfers KP knowledge and best practices to the external hospital.
• Build and maintain excellent working relationships with all contracted network providers. Seeks win-win business arrangements and creates a culture of operational efficiency and trust with diverse stakeholders.
• Promote open, effective, and ongoing communication and information sharing among KP employees, physician leadership, medical staff, Continuum Leadership, external hospital leadership, and other contracted entities.
• Promote a culture of safety across the medical center and contracted entities to ensure appropriate patient safety standards and guidelines are implemented consistently regardless of the venue of care. Ensuring standards are met to include, but not limited to: Joint Commission, National Committee on Quality Assurance, and Leapfrog.
• Collaborate with PMG to ensure KP members receive the right care in the right place at the right time by integrating day-to-day KP outpatient operations with external hospital and other contracted entity operations.
• Oversee appropriate use of emergent care provided in the external hospitals and elsewhere. Integrates and collaborates with PMG ambulatory services and other resources to ensure members are receiving the optimum level of care.
• Utilize personal influence to ensure the agreed objectives in contracts are met with accountability for execution.
• Serve on regional committees based on role, priority, and strategy.
• Build future leaders. Provides leadership in mentoring and developing direct reports and staff in a manner which emphasizes the importance of teamwork, collaboration, and the sharing of information, resources, and best practices amongst stakeholders across the organization.
• Consistently support compliance and the Principles of Responsibility (Kaiser Permanentes Code of Conduct) by maintaining privacy and confidentiality of information, protecting the assets of the organization, acting with ethics and integrity, reporting non-compliance, and adhering to applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, accreditation and license requirements (if applicable), and Kaiser Permanentes policies and procedures.
  
  

Experience

Basic Qualifications:

• Minimum five (5) years of experience in acute health care operations.
  
  

Education

• Master-s degree in health care, business administration, or related field or, in lieu of a master-s degree, a bachelor-s degree in health care, business administration, or related field plus a minimum of two (2) years of experience in hospital administration management.
  
  

License, Certification, Registration

• N/A
  
  

Additional Requirements

• Thorough knowledge of the principles and practices of hospital administration. Expert knowledge of legal, regulatory, ethical, managerial, principles and standards of care for hospitals / healthcare systems.
• Excellent understanding of health care service industry, competitive market strategies, and hospital operations.
• Experience improving and maintaining excellent relationships with physicians, nurses, and ancillary caregivers.
• Strategist to align all resources across the organization for effective implementation.
• Ability to build high-performing teams and leverage their impact across complex organizational boundaries.
• Ability to work independently with a variety of internal and external personnel at all organizational levels.
• Experience with Lean, Performance Improvement tools and techniques.
• Strong financial and analytical skills with experience analyzing medical expenses and utilization.
• Acumen for capital planning integration with the Plan Hospital.
• Ability to work in a Labor and Management Partnership environment.
• Strong leadership, communication, and project management skills.
• Strong executive presence.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications

• Active certification: Lean, Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (-CPHQ-), Project Management Office (-PMO-), Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives (-FACHE-).