Quality Improvement Specialist

Overview

As a patient-focused organization, University of Utah Health exists to enhance the health and well-being of people through patient care, research and education. Success in this mission requires a culture of collaboration, excellence, leadership, and respect. University of Utah Health seeks staff that are committed to the values of compassion, collaboration, innovation, responsibility, integrity, quality and trust that are integral to our mission. EO/AA

This position is responsible for assisting the medical and hospital patient care staff in ensuring quality patient care and compliance with State Rules and accreditation requirements through quality improvement (QI) program design, and data collection, analysis and presentation.

Corporate Overview: The University of Utah is a Level 1 Trauma Center and is nationally ranked and recognized for our academic research, quality standards and overall patient experience. Our five hospitals and eleven clinics provide excellence in our comprehensive services, medical advancement, and overall patient outcomes.

Responsibilities

Essential Functions

• Designs QI studies, develops criteria for evaluation, and assists assigned hospital departments with appropriate data collection and data analysis.
• Reviews and interprets patient care information, discharge summaries, operation reports, and other data sources used to assess quality care issues.
• Creates reporting documents for departments to use for tracking QI activities, trends and patterns, and identifying opportunities for improvement.
• Provides education on data analysis and utilization of information to clinical QI teams.
• Attends and may facilitate department QI meetings, providing "expert" input regarding problem identification and resolution, continuous quality improvement (CQI), and other patient care and accreditation activities.
• May provide ongoing clinical support to Hospital programs by reviewing and logging charts and incident reports, and recording improvement activities and results.
• Monitors daily QC, performs weekly and monthly QC and tracks/manages completion of vendor performed periodic maintenance on all laboratory equipment.
• Oversees inventory control for supplies and reagents. Monitoring supply levels, ordering, tracking vendors, receipt and verification of incoming supplies, quality release into usable inventory and restocking work areas.
• Assists the QA manager in tracking and trending Quality Indicators, writing and executing validation plans and SOPs, deviation management, root cause analysis, carrying out CA/PA and other Quality Assurance duties as dictated by management.

Knowledge / Skills / Abilities

• Knowledge of "Quality Improvement" ideals with experience in a quality program (problem identification/investigation, root cause analysis, CA/PA).

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and attention to detail.

• Demonstrated human relation and effective communication skills.

• Ability to perform the essential functions of the job as outlined in the position description.

• Current knowledge of State and accreditation regulations.

Qualifications

Required

• Bachelor's degree in a health care field or equivalency.
• Two years of clinical or related hospital experience.

Qualifications (Preferred)

Preferred

• A current Utah License to practice nursing.

Working Conditions and Physical Demands

Employee must be able to meet the following requirements with or without an accommodation.

• This is a sedentary position that may exert up to 10 pounds and may lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects. This position involves sitting most of the time and is not exposed to adverse environmental conditions.

Physical Requirements

Listening, Manual Dexterity, Near Vision, Speaking