Senior Clinical Patient Safety Specialist - Flagstaff

Job Description

Job Description

Overview

Under the general direction of the Director of Patient Safety and Accreditation, the Senior Clinical Patient Safety Specialist Is responsible for advancing the patient safety program in it's mission to eliminate avoidable patient harm. This position evaluates, identifies, plans, and leads enterprise patient safety activities in collaboration with enterprise and entity leadership.

The incumbent will perform dally screening, initial triage, and referral of safety events reported through the Vigilanz system. The specialist investigates patient safety events through expeditious fact gathering (medical chart review and Interviews), and leads / facilitates process improvement projects utilizing evidence -based methodologies. Examples include but are not limited to Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), and Root Cause Analyses (RCA2) . The specialist provides the Patient Safety, Risk, and Quality teams with clinical expertise and creates objective and reproducible summaries of findings when investigating a safety event or process. The incumbent will partner with the Director of Patient Safety and Accreditation in the oversight of ongoing analysis to ensure sustainability of action items and reduce risk of patient harm. The Clinical Patient Safety Specialist builds and maintains strong relationships with NAH colleagues, department leaders, clinical risk and quality teams, and the patient safety organization in support of clinical excellence and patient outcomes. This position will work in a collaborative manner across NAH's ambulatory clinics and inpatient settings to support patient safety Initiatives. The incumbent is a team player who works well with minimal supervision to lead, coordinate, implement, and manage projects associated with improving patient safety as assigned. Excellent communication skills are required for work with operational leadership and frontline staff. Flexibility is required to adapt and manage shifting priorities.

Responsibilities

Operations and Investigation

• Provides ongoing evaluation of performance, facilitates prioritization of improvement activities, and shares knowledge as subject matter expert and prioritizes improvement work to align with organizational strategy.
• Performs initial screening and referral of safety events reported through the safety event reporting system and escalates urgent patient safety issues to the System Director of Patient Safety and Accreditation and / or Clinical Risk Team.
• Leads the safety event triage meeting and coordinates collaborative referral and assignation of safety event classification.
• Performs review of clinical documentation in the electronic medical record and performs other forms of fact gathering to ensure appropriate safety event referrals, follow-up, and loop closure.
• Leads / facilitates root cause analysis and FMEAs utilizing professional judgement regarding the most appropriate tool to determine system / process failures. Agile in providing and prioritizing project management by leading either pro-active or reactive activities related to Quality and Safety. Identifies opportunities for improvement in process, structure and / or outcome and determines the appropriate process improvement methodology.
• Leads data driven process improvement initiatives, employing systems thinking, knowledge of human factors, and the principles of Highly Reliable Organizations (HROs) in the creation of action plans designed to prevent recurrence of patient safety events. Develops and implements innovative strategies to improve patient safety, quality of work, quality of care, and clinical quality outcomes.
• Promotes the Patient Safety Program through presentations, colleague training, and applicable committees.
• Closes all events and assigns a harm classification in a timely manner after thoroughly reviewing investigator comments, and all associated action plans.

Safety Culture

Documentation

Compliance / Safety

Qualifications

Education

Bachelors from an accredited clinical or technical program in Allied Health (Speech / Language Pathologist, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, Pharmacist, or Respiratory Therapist) or

Bachelors of Science in Nursing - Required

Masters Degree - Preferred

Certification & Licensures

Active, unrestricted, Arizona License or valid, participating compact license as an RN, SLP, PT, Pharmacist, OT or RT - Required

RCA2 IHI Training within 1 year of hire - Required

Lean Six Sigma Greenbelt - Preferred

Certification in Patient Safety - Preferred

Lean Six Sigma or other process improvement methodology - Preferred

Experience

Minimum of 3-5 years acute care clinical experience - Required

Process improvement and / or project management - Preferred

Healthcare is a rapidly changing environment and technology is integrated into almost all aspects of patient care. Computers and other electronic devices are utilized across the organization and throughout each department. Colleagues must have an understanding of computers, and competence in using computers and basic software programs.

CALL REQUIRED : No