Chief Quality & Safety Officer, VCU Health System

The Chief Quality and Safety Officer has system responsibility for quality, safety, quality reporting compliance, infection prevention and performance improvement related activities. Reporting to the President, VCU Medical Center, the individual in this role will work closely with senior leaders across the enterprise to continuously improve the quality and safety of care delivered to all Health System patients.

The Chief Quality and Safety Officer (CQSO) collaborates with senior leaders and other appropriate members in establishing and executing the system’s strategic priorities around quality, safety, and performance improvement. The CQSO oversees and serves as the accountable chief champion and spokesperson for quality, safety, performance improvement system wide. With VCU Health System senior leadership, medical staff, and clinical areas, the CQSO deploys evidence-based medicine into clinical practice

.

The Chief Quality and Safety Officer is responsible for leading efforts to educate VCUHS team members and execute priorities in the principles of performance improvement, safety, and high reliability, and will promote the incorporation of these principles into care delivery processes. The CQSO will work closely with VCUHS senior leadership to create an integrated quality and safety program crossing all clinical domains within VCU Health Syste

m.

Finally, this role ensures all VCU Health System clinical safety and quality protocols, policies and procedures both comply with and are aligned with the VCU Health System’s policies and procedur

es.

Performance Expectation: Quality and Sa

fetyResponsibility to Enterpr

ise:Design, implement, evaluate, and refine the mission, vision, and strategic plans of VCUHS’ Safety and Quality Departments and Progr

ams.Ensure compliance with required reporting of quality and safety metrics to governmental and regulatory agenc

ies.Lead activities to support VCUHS’ enterprise-wide goal of being nationally recognized for providing safe care for all its patie

nts.Appropriately align and benchmark VCUHS outcomes and goals to other organizations nationa

lly.Ensure that quality and clinical safety training programs are aligned with high reliability concepts, and are created, delivered, and managed according to internal and external guideli

nes.Establish measurements for internal stakeholders and assure reporting of relevant quality and clinical safety metrics to all required external entities, including federal and st

ate.Champion and lead quality and outcomes management initiatives across VCU Health that incorporate best practices, create efficiencies, reduce variation and decrease c

ost.Guide and define methodologies for quality and clinical safety improvem

ent.Foster implementation of best practices for patient safety and qual

ity.Implement and lead evidence-based practice and programs to drive continual quality and clinical safety improvem

ent.Oversee the dissemination of meaningful clinical safety and quality reports to key stakehold

ers.Closely collaborate with Health System leadership and clinicians while ensuring a multidisciplinary and organized approach to care practi

ces.Foster an environment that supports learning and accountabil

ity.Oversee identification and analysis of serious safety events and implementation of corrective acti

ons.Utilize systems thinking, human factors, complexity science, principles of epidemiology and performance improvement to prevent and mitigate risks to patients and team memb

ers.Oversee the development and implementation of surveillance programs and databases that track hospital acquired infections (HAI) and other adverse outco

mes.Oversee the design and implementation of data-driven, cost-effective interventions to reduce HAIs and occupational exposu

res.Ensure that quality and clinical safety programs and interventions are based on sound principles of epidemiology and offer meaningful potential to improve clinical outcomes and ideally, decrease co

sts.Promote a culture that supports timely reporting of errors and near-miss events, open discussion of health care-associated failure events at all organizational levels, and the value of approaching these events as learning opportunit

ies.Maintain a clinical practice in area of specialty; 80/20 admin/clinical, respectiv

ely.Support quality education and consultation to patients, families, visitors and healthcare te

ams.

Responsibility to Direct Depart

personal ownership and accountability for quality and clinical sa

fety.Support Health System reporting of events and near misses. Facilitate timely evaluation of clinical safety events and implement planned corrective act

ions.Promote safe behavior within the VCU Health System; take caution to ensure that VCU Health System team members apply safe behaviors to their everyday

work.Establish a Health System environment in which staff are encouraged and supported to speak up for safety. Look beyond human and team behavior to consider problems with technology, policies, systems, and clinical environments as possible contributors to medical errors and adverse events. Proactively identify quality and safety problems and take effective action to address

them.

Performance Expectat

ions: Talent Strategy and Manag

ement:Establish and integrate a collaborative and accountable department to System goals and objec

tives.Develop guidelines and procedures for the management of Safety and Quality leaders to ensure the mission and vision of VCUHS is supported and enh

anced.Supervise and evaluate quality leaders in collaboration with VCUHS business le

aders.Provide oversight/input into the quality and clinical safety performance of the clinical medical directors, in conjunction with th

e CMO.Effectively manage a diverse workforce by demonstrating awareness and appreciation of cultural differ

ences.Assist staff in developing awareness/appreciation skills to address cross-cultural i

ssues.

Visibility (St

rategy)Evaluate and advise senior leadership on the potential impact of proposed programs/strategies and regulatory action on quality and clinical safety at

VCUHS.Partner with VCUHS Leaders, to conceive, shape and drive effective initiatives to improve quality and clinical

safety.Foster an environment of continuous quality improvement, innovation, and a

gility.Translate strategic and tactical business plans into effective clinical safety and quality initi

atives.Work candidly and collaboratively with VCHUS’ CEO and senior leadershi

p team.

Performance Expectation: Miscellaneous Responsi

bilitiesPerform other duties as a

ssigned.Able and willing to participate or lead special projects in support of VCUHS and the incumbent’s Dep

artment.Assist team members when r

equired.Accept alternate assignments when necessary to fulfill busines

s needs.

Employment Quali

ficationsEducation/training R

equired: Medical degree (

MD or DO)

Licensure/Certification

Required:Must be board certified in their specialty or discipline, and within one year of hire, obtain and maintain licensure to practice in the Commonwealth o

f Virginia

Licensure/Certification

Preferred:Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion certificatio

n preferred

Minimum Qu

alificationsYears and Type of Required

E

xperience: Required: 10 years of progressive leadership experience in a complex academic medical center or Council of Teaching Hospital member institution; or demonstrated quality leadership in a non-academic healthcare setting, but with a strong professional publica

tion record.Preferred: 15 years of related leadership experience to include executive level experience specific to func

tional area.

Other Knowledge, Skills, and Abili

ties RequiredExperience establishing mid- and long-term strategic and operational goals for quality and clinical safety that align with organiza

tional goals.Experience strengthening and reinforcing a culture of quality, clinical safety, and value across o

rganizations.Demonstrated and measurable track record of leading and significantly improving quality and clinical safety in a hospital/system by using efficient and lean

methodology.Experience in working with medical staff and all staff in areas of compliance, performance improvement, or cli

nical safety.Demonstrated and measurable experience in improving physician engagement and developing qualit

y leadership.Demonstrated and measurable experience in strategic planning, team building, and financial

stewardship.Strong expertise in quality data metrics and the ability to translate data to acti

onable items.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, computer proficiency, team building, relationship management, and conflict negotiation (problem-sol

ving) skills.Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of clinical effectiveness, evidence-based medicine, high reliability, and quality improvement tools an

d principles.Effective communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to collaborate and influence stakeholders at va

rious levels.Proficiency in utilizing healthcare information systems and data ana

lytics tools.A commitment to fostering a cultural of continuous improvement, patient safety, and ac

countability.

Cultural

ResponsivenessDemonstrate a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion through continuous development, modeling inclusive behaviors, and proactively

managing bias.

Other Knowledge, Skills, and Abili

ties Preferred:Peer reviewed publications and/or professional presentations relevant to quality and safety stro

ngly preferred.