Director, Medical Operations

Director, Medical Operations

UPMC Center for Emergency Medicine is looking to hire a Director, Medical Operations in Pittsburgh. This role will primarily be responsible for providing strategic and operational leadership for the clinical mission of STAT MedEvac, part of the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania (CEM) and the UPMC health system. In this role, the director oversees nearly 200 highly skilled experts in critical care transport medicine across 20 sites, ensuring the highest standards of patient care, safety, and clinical performance are in place to serve our patients, teams, and communities.

Working within one of the nation's largest and most advanced air and ground medical transport programs, the Director of Medical Operations helps guide STAT MedEvac's commitment to innovation, evidence-based practice, and collaboration across the continuum of emergency and critical care. Partnering closely with UPMC hospitals, regional EMS agencies, and healthcare systems throughout multiple states, the director ensures that every mission reflects UPMC's dedication to excellence, compassion, and advancing the science and delivery of prehospital medicine.

The STAT MedEvac Director of Medical Operations is responsible for leading the medical staff of the critical care transport team in all aspects of their performance clinical and operational to ensure the mission, goals and objectives of the STAT MedEvac critical care transport program are met. Responsible for ensuring the quality of care delivered, oversight of quality improvement, training and continuing education, personnel management, operations oversight, system standardization, policy and procedure development and review, process and policy implementation, and administration. Is a member of the STAT MedEvac Executive Management Group and reports to the President / CEO of the Center for Emergency Medicine of Western Pennsylvania, Inc., within which the STAT MedEvac program is housed. Works directly with, and under the direction of, the STAT MedEvac Medical Director and his / her Associate Medical Directors regarding all clinical aspects of care provided by the medical staff.

In this role, the director will :

• Demonstrate ongoing departmental and personal development, coaches and advises direct reports and professional staff in the formulation of their professional development plan.
• Create a structure and support a shared governance model, facilitating staff involvement in decision making.
• Develop and maintain productive working relationships internally and externally by building teams and relationships through mentoring and modeling uplifting and positive communication.
• Achieve the outcomes of the organization in relation to core measures, regulatory influences, pay for performance, staff and customer satisfaction and identify areas for ongoing growth and development.
• Collaborate with medical staff and key stakeholders to improve patient outcomes; set clinical quality priorities, recommend and implement professional improvements and initiatives and implement service line-based patient safety initiatives.
• Select and oversee Regional Medical Managers, the Quality / Education Manager and other staff assigned.
• Assure all requirements of these positions are being met.
• Direct operational activities of the flight crews and the operations of base sites.
• Provide 24 / 7 / 365 supervision and accountability for clinical care provided by STAT MedEvac.
• Direct counseling and disciplinary measures as needed to maintain the mission, goals and objectives of STAT MedEvac.
• Ensure STAT MedEvac maintains appropriate licenses and credentials to operate as a critical care transport program in all applicable states.
• Ensure adequate staffing through oversight of scheduling and the selection and orientation of new employees.
• Ensure clinical competency through on-going chart review / feedback and data analysis, continuing education delivered through a variety of methods, and annual evaluations of medical staff.
• Evaluate and suggest specific details for aircraft completion or modification.
• Monitor system performance parameters and make recommendations / adjustments to ensure maximum safety, effectiveness and efficiency of response to requests for service.
• Negotiate and manage service and clinical affiliation contracts for STAT MedEvac.
• Organize, coordinate and record all meetings of the Medical Advisory Committee. Implement, monitor and report on clinical standards or initiatives established by the Medical Advisory Committee.
• Oversee and coordinate CAMTS accreditation process; maintain CAMTS accreditation for STAT MedEvac.
• Participate in STAT MedEvac safety meetings and implement safety improvements.
• Participate in all QI / TQM meetings.
• Participate in developing and completing research projects designed to advance or evaluate critical care transport.
• Participate in the financial oversight of the STAT MedEvac program. Oversee base site and medical personnel expenditures and payroll. Prepare capital and operations budget recommendations relevant to the DO's areas of responsibility. Plan and implement base site openings, moves or closings.
• Participate / oversee special project development as designated by the Medical Director and / or the President / CEO.
• Protect the privacy of all patient information in accordance with STAT MedEvac / UPMC policies and practices, and as required by State and Federal law.
• Represent STAT MedEvac in interactions with internal (UPMC related entities) and external (non-UPMC hospitals, public safety agencies, community groups, local / state / national industry groups, etc.) customers / entities.
• Review and comply with all requests for patient care records by outside entities ensuring adherence to all Federal HIPAA guidelines and referring these requests to UPMC Corporate Legal Department as necessary.
• Select, orient and manage medical crew personnel.
• Support and participate as appropriate in STAT MedEvac marketing and educational activities for customers.
• Work in partnership with the Director of (Aviation) Operations, Chief Pilot and Director of (Aviation) Maintenance to ensure safe, effective and efficient operation of STAT MedEvac. Oversee and ensure appropriate communication and coordination between personnel under the DO's realm of supervision and the aviation staff.
• Access protected health information and other patient information only to the extent necessary to complete duties. Only share such information with individuals or entities with a need to know. Maintain documentation and reports on all patient records disseminated to appropriate individuals or entities.

Requirements :

Bachelor's degree required in management, emergency medicine, nursing or related field.

Minimum of five years of progressively responsible experience in health care including supervision and leadership.

Medical transport related certification and / or license required.

Transport specific specialty certification required within one year of hire.

Preferences :

Master's degree in management, emergency medicine, nursing or related health care field preferred.

Minimum 5 years of experience in the critical care transport field preferred.

Previous experience managing in the critical care transport industry strongly preferred.

Additional Requirements :

Excellent interpersonal skills communication, leadership, conflict resolution.

Superior organizational skills. Must possess demonstrated ability to initiate and direct multiple projects, initiate and manage contracts, and meet deadlines for assigned tasks.

Superior clinical knowledge, skill and judgment with the ability to work productively and effectively, both individually and as a member of a team, within a complex critical care transport environment.

Willingness to formulate, support and implement programs goals and objectives.

Analytical ability necessary to evaluate staff, address and improve clinical and programmatic issues and devise solutions to complex problems.

Leadership ability to develop staff, establish and maintain standards of performance.

Superior interpersonal and communication skills sufficient to effectively create relationships to support a healing environment with patients, families, staff, physicians and related personnel including senior management in both written and verbal communication.

Knowledge and experience with Microsoft Office applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).