Lead Safety Program Specialist - BH/GH

To be part of our organization, every employee should understand and share in the YNHHS Vision, support our Mission, and live our Values. These values - integrity, patient-centered, respect, accountability, and compassion - must guide what we do, as individuals and professionals, every day.

The YNHHS Lead Safety Program Specialist works to eliminate preventable patient harm and ensure unsurpassed clinical outcomes for patients of Yale New Haven Health System (YNHHS). In collaboration with System and Delivery Network Operational and Quality and Safety Leadership, the Safety Program Manager drives YNHHS? safety strategy using evidence-based standards of care and standardization of processes to improve the reliability of systems. The Safety Program Manager works locally, in partnership with delivery network leadership, to integrate patient safety science, just culture, and continuous improvement mindset throughout the organization.

EEO/AA/Disability/Veteran

1. Acts as a subject matter expert and consultant to delivery network leadership, caregivers, and staff on safety science, improvement methods, measurement, and evaluation.

2. Partner with Executive Leaders, Risk Management, and Patient Advocates to review findings from preventable harm events, cause analyses, and associated improvement projects to advance patient safety and reduce risk.

3. Manages a portfolio of patient safety projects, programs, and activities, including the safety coach program, great catch, common, root, and apparent cause analyses, event management, morning safety reports, and the examination and trending of patient safety event reports.

4. Is present to hospital leadership and partners with clinical areas to improve patient safety.

5. Presents safety data, analyses, recommendations, and risk reduction strategies to various delivery network committees and councils to enhance the achievement of YNHHS? safety strategy while engendering delivery network participation in improvement through transparency, collaboration, and mutual learning.

6. Ensures the use of appropriate quality and safety methodologies and relevant tools to achieve rapid cycle improvement.

7. Engages all levels of leadership, caregivers, and staff in advancing patient safety through HRO behaviors and training.

8. Provides expertise in patient safety principles to support the ongoing maturation of a culture of safety and just culture.

9. Develops delivery network capacity for improvement through teaching and mentorship.

10. Manages day-to-day logistics and operational needs of the delivery network?s safety program, convening and providing overall direction to local program teams and identifying and addressing problems that may adversely affect the program's performance.

11. Leads and completes Root Cause Analyses, Case Reviews, and Failure Mode Effects and Criticality Analyses to identify delivery network and/or health system-wide systems concerns and perform action planning to mitigate risks.

12. Provides a lens of quality assurance to all RCA corrective action plans developed for the delivery network.

13. Conduct ongoing and focused analyses of patient safety events to help identify delivery network priorities, improvement opportunities, trends, and improved performance.

14. Coordinate formal communications and meetings among delivery network leadership and communicate with senior departmental leadership regarding program needs and concerns.

15. Collaborate with the Patient Safety Program Director to implement YNHHS? patient safety strategy.

16. Extracts and analyzes data from internal/external reporting and benchmarking platforms and, through data analysis, identifies isolated events from trends and identifies resources to address trends impacting patient outcomes.

17. Advise, orient, and evaluate staff performance, as applicable.

18. Offers direct functional/operational support (RCA, ACA, Event Review) to delivery network quality and safety specialists when necessary.

19. Other duties as assigned.

EDUCATION

Bachelors degree required. Masters Degree required OR a Bachelors degree and a minimum of 4 years of direct healthcare quality experience in lieu of a Masters Degree.

EXPERIENCE

With a Masters degree, a minimum of three (3) Years of experience in quality improvement and safety in an acute care hospital setting is strongly preferred. With a Bachelors degree, a minimum of four (4) years of direct healthcare quality experience. Previous experience within a large academic or multi-facility environment preferred. Proficiency in High Reliability (HRO) Methods, HPI Methodology, and other performance improvement methodologies (IHI, Lean, Six Sigma) Ability to communicate key results across organizational levels and transition between clinical audiences and C-suite. Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, and Word.

LICENSURE

Valid RN license or related healthcare professional license preferred but not required. Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS) OR Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) required with dual certification preferred.

SPECIAL SKILLS

Decision Making: Ability to make decisions guided by precedents, policies, and objectives. Problem Solving: Ability to address problems that are highly varied, complex, and often non-recurring, requiring staff input and innovative, creative, and Lean diagnostic techniques to resolve issues. Independence of Action: Ability to set goals and determine how to accomplish defined results with some guidelines. The Manager/Director provides broad guidance and overall direction. Written Communications: Ability to communicate clearly and effectively in written English with internal and external customers. Oral Communications: Ability to communicate effectively with medical center staff, patients, families, and external customers. Knowledge: Ability to demonstrate in-depth knowledge of concepts, practices, and policies and use them in complex, varied situations. Teamwork: Ability to act as a team leader for small projects or work groups, creating a collaborative and respectful team environment and improving workflows. Customer Service: Ability to provide an elevated level of customer service to patients, visitors, staff, and internal and external customers in a professional, service-oriented, respectful manner using skills in active listening and problem-solving. Ability to remain calm in stressful situations.