Patient Safety Coordinator at Wellstar Health Systems in Austell, Georgia

Job Description:

Facility: Cobb Hospital




The Quality Improvement Team at Cobb Hospital has an exciting opportunity for a Patient Safety Coordinator




Job Summary:



Under the leadership of the Quality and Safety Director or Manager, the Patient Safety Coordinator assists with coordination and implementation of the overall high reliability education and sustainment efforts to create and foster a culture of quality and safety among WellStar facility team members, leaders, and physicians.




Core Responsibilities and Essential Functions:



__Patient Safety Program Operations (Including Safety Event Management)__
a. Implementing and providing input regarding the evaluation of patient safety and clinical quality improvement programs.
b. Assists with training, education development, and deployment of Safety-First program, including but not limited to: high reliability leadership methods; high reliability (Error Prevention) tools; Fair and Just Culture; and Peer Reliability (Safety) Coaches.
c. Reviews and updates policy and procedures.
d. Delivers patient safety education at all levels.
e. Develops strong relationships with key leaders and collaborates with System and Facility Safety & Quality Staff to build and maintain a culture of safety and learning environment.
f. Promotes a culture of safety by participating in system-level Culture of Safety Survey activities. Provides input and assists with facility action planning efforts using the culture of safety survey results.
g. Supports facility participation in the Patient Safety Organization (PSO).
h. Supports and participates in review, analysis, reduction activities, and reporting of quality measures, including but not limited to Patient Safety Indicators (PSI), Healthcare Associated Conditions (HACs), and other measures as identified by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
i. Reviews facility safety event data and identifies issues/trends for focused improvement efforts.
j. Identifies safety issues through monitoring and reporting incidents.
k. Ensures timely investigation of patient safety issues. Facilitates data collection, analysis, and presentation of patient safety trends to leaders as needed.
l. Participates in the safety event management/tracking for the facility.
m. Assists in the implementation of patient safety initiatives and harm reduction strategies.
n. Actively participates in the safety event classification process, including weekly classification activities.
o. Supports WellStars Root Cause Analysis process including, but not limited to investigation; medical record review; research of literature and industry best practices; interviews; creation of events and causal factors map; team facilitation; identification of root causes, corrective actions, measures of success; and associated monitoring, tracking, and follow-up of all components of the RCA process.
p. Supports the Apparent Cause Analysis (ACA) process and provides guidance to unit/department leaders as needed.
q. Recommends appropriate actions based on event cause analysis to the Patient Safety and Quality Team.
r. Actively participates in common cause analyses; creates and/or supports the development of patient safety related reports to department and system leadership.


__Robust Performance Improvement__
a. Practices innovative design and systems thinking to improve measures of quality and safety. Facilitates robust process improvement to support the reduction of preventable harm within the facility.
b. Assists in the development of measurement and patient safety improvement strategies.
c. Assists with the development of quality/safety reports for specific groups with Safety and Quality.
d. Supports hospital performance improvement strategies through problem assessment and education.


__Regulatory Adherence and Compliance__
a. Maintains current working knowledge related to applicable laws, regulations, statues, and best practice literature that affect the Patient Safety Program, including Georgia Medical Board, Board of Nursing, The Joint Commission (TJC), AHRQs National Quality Forum-Serious Reportable Events (NQF-SRE) and HIPAA.
b. Serves as consultant and facilitator, as appropriate, regarding patient safety initiatives including, but not limited to sentinel event alerts, National Patient Safety Goals (NPSG), system goals.
c. Ensures adherence to regulatory standards.


__Financial/Fiscal Responsibility__
a. Demonstrates responsibility in financial management, continuous quality improvement, institutional support and representation, and customer service.


Performs other duties as assigned


Complies with all Wellstar Health System policies, standards of work, and code of conduct.



Required Minimum Education:

• Bachelor's Degree in healthcare or quality related field is required
  
  

• Minimum 1 year of experience in healthcare, nursing, or clinical practice is required
  
  


• Experience in high reliability and safety design principles is preferred
  
  


• Experience in patient safety is preferred
  
  

• Organizational and interpersonal skills with the ability to work independently as well as with a team
  
  


• Time management
  
  


• Excellent written and communication skills
  
  


• High degree of professionalism, discretion, and confidentiality
  
  


• Ability to build relationships and foster communication among stakeholders in clinical and non-clinical settings
  
  


• Skilled computer skills with Microsoft Office
  
  

• Basic Life Support through the American Heart Association is preferred
  
  


• Certification in Profrossesional Healthcare Quality is preferred
  
  


• Certification in Professional Certified Patient Safety (CPPS) is preferred
  
  

• If RN or other clinical discipline, must be licensed.