Director, Access Center and Specialty Services Operations

Position Summary

Saint Luke's Health System is seeking a dynamic, strategic, and results-oriented leader to serve as the Director of Access Center and Specialty Services Operations. This role is responsible for developing and executing a comprehensive access strategy that ensures a seamless, patient-centered experience across the medical group's primary care and specialty practices while also providing operational oversight for designated specialty service lines and hospital-based physician practices. The Director will provide executive oversight of the centralized Access Center, provider scheduling and template optimization for the entire Physician Group enterprise, specialty clinic operations, and physician practice operations. This leader will partner closely with physicians, advanced practice providers, clinical leaders, administrative leaders, and support departments to drive operational excellence, patient access, quality outcomes, provider engagement, growth, and financial performance. In addition to responsibility for enterprise access functions, the Director will oversee operations for specialty clinics including Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, and Ambulatory Infusion Services, as well as physician operations for hospital-based clinics including Wound Care, Medical Education Clinics, Oncology, Hepatology, and future-state oversight of Neurosciences and Gastroenterology (GI) programs. This leader will align people, processes, technology, and resources to advance the organization's strategic priorities and mission while fostering a culture of patient-centered care, accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.

Key Accountabilities

Access Strategy & Leadership

• Develop, own, and execute a comprehensive multi-year access strategy aligned with organizational growth goals, service line priorities, and system strategic initiatives.
• Serve as the senior access leader and subject matter expert for ambulatory access services, providing consultation and recommendations to executive and physician leadership.
• Establish, monitor, and improve key access metrics including appointment lead time, third-next available appointment, abandonment rates, referral conversion rates, no-show rates, patient satisfaction, and digital scheduling adoption.
• Lead enterprise efforts to improve access equity and reduce barriers to care across all patient populations.
• Partner with operational, physician, and nursing leadership to align access strategies with clinical capacity and patient demand.
• Represent ambulatory access and specialty operations within executive leadership meetings, strategic planning forums, and service line governance structures.

Access Center Operations & Optimization

• Provide strategic and operational oversight of the centralized Access Center, including scheduling, referral management, patient communications, care navigation, and related support functions.
• Establish accountability for service levels and performance standards across all access operations.
• Optimize workforce management practices, staffing models, quality monitoring programs, and performance improvement initiatives.
• Lead implementation and optimization of telephony systems, omnichannel communication capabilities, Epic scheduling functionality, and patient engagement technologies.
• Develop and maintain quality assurance processes that support exceptional service, scheduling accuracy, and patient experience.
• Foster a culture of accountability, service excellence, and continuous improvement within the Access Center team.

Template Optimization & Capacity Management

• Own the enterprise provider template management strategy, governance processes, and scheduling standards.
• Lead data-driven optimization of provider schedules to maximize access, clinical efficiency, and patient throughput.
• Chair and facilitate Scheduling and Access Governance Councils to establish standardized scheduling practices and decision-making processes.
• Partner with physicians and operational leaders to identify capacity challenges and implement solutions that improve access and productivity.
• Develop dashboards and analytics that support informed decision making regarding provider utilization, template effectiveness, and capacity management.
• Ensure effective utilization of Epic scheduling tools, referral workflows, appointment decision trees, and scheduling automation capabilities.

Specialty Clinic Operations

• Provide operational oversight and strategic direction for specialty clinic services including: Infectious Disease, Endocrinology, Infusion Clinic Services.
• Lead practice operations to achieve quality, patient experience, growth, access, workforce, and financial performance goals.
• Collaborate with physicians and clinical leaders to enhance patient care delivery models and improve operational efficiency.
• Develop and implement operational plans supporting service line growth, patient retention, and market expansion.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory, accreditation, and organizational standards.
• Oversee budget development, productivity management, staffing plans, and resource allocation for assigned specialty clinics.

Hospital-Based Physician Practice Operations

• Provide administrative and operational leadership for hospital-based physician clinics and provider practices, including: Wound Care, Medical Education Clinics, Oncology, Hepatology, Future-state Neurosciences, Future-state Gastroenterology (GI).
• Partner with physician leaders to improve quality, patient outcomes, provider satisfaction, operational performance, and financial stewardship.
• Facilitate strategic planning and growth initiatives across assigned physician practice programs.
• Ensure effective clinic operations, staffing structures, scheduling optimization, and patient flow management.
• Lead implementation of best practices across hospital-based ambulatory service areas.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, integration, and operational readiness for new physicians, APPs, and service line expansions.

Access & Specialty Service Line Growth

• Identify and implement initiatives that improve patient throughput, increase new patient acquisition, reduce wait times, and improve access to specialty services.
• Support development and launch of new programs, clinics, providers, and service lines.
• Partner with marketing, business development, and physician leaders to support growth strategies and referral development.
• Leverage analytics and market data to inform service line planning and operational decision making.
• Champion digital access solutions including online scheduling, telehealth programs, MyChart adoption, and automation technologies.

Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing team of managers, supervisors, and operational leaders.
• Foster a culture of accountability, collaboration, engagement, and continuous learning.
• Provide coaching and professional development opportunities that build organizational capability and succession readiness.
• Model Saint Luke's values and leadership principles.
• Promote Lean Daily Management practices, visual management systems, and continuous process improvement methodologies.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Establish strong partnerships with physicians, clinical leaders, service line administrators, IT, finance, human resources, and executive leadership.
• Work collaboratively with Epic and technology teams to optimize access, scheduling, reporting, and patient engagement tools.
• Develop relationships with referral partners, community providers, and external stakeholders to improve care coordination and patient access.
• Represent Saint Luke's in professional organizations, industry forums, and benchmarking collaboratives related to access, ambulatory operations, and specialty services.

Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Nursing, Healthcare Management, Public Health, or a related field required.

Experience

• Minimum of 3-5 years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare operations.
• Experience leading centralized scheduling, contact center operations, referral management, provider scheduling, and patient access initiatives preferred.
• Experience with Epic scheduling and access management tools preferred.

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities

• Knowledge of patient access operations, centralized scheduling, ambulatory services, and healthcare service delivery preferred.
• Understanding of provider scheduling templates, referral workflows, capacity management, and access performance metrics.
• Strong leadership, communication, relationship-building, and team development skills.
• Ability to analyze operational data and implement effective process improvement strategies.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate effectively with physicians, clinical leaders, and operational stakeholders.
• Commitment to quality, service excellence, patient-centered care, and continuous improvement.

Job Requirements

• Applicable Experience: 3-5 years Bachelor's Degree

Job Details

• Full Time Day (United States of America)

Saint Luke’s Health System includes 18 hospitals and campuses across the Kansas City region, home care and hospice, behavioral health care, dozens of physician practices, a life care senior living community, and more. Find out more about what Saint Luke’s offers: