Operations Manager - Psychiatry (Medical Center)

At Houston Methodist, the Manager Operations position is responsible for clinic management, planning, development, budgeting, and other administrative activities of the assigned department. Primary responsibilities for this position include managing support staff, supporting the management of provider schedules, improving patient access, assisting in streamlining support staff workflows, and tracking metrics for their area of responsibility. The Manager Operations position will also work closely with leadership across the organization to ensure best practices are implemented along with a thorough understanding of financial and budgeting processes and principles, which allows the Operations Manager to assess earnings and spending to find areas for improvement.

The manager position responsibilities include managing the daily work activities of the work unit/department staff, ensuring quality, productivity, functional excellence and efficiency while assisting management in accomplishing strategic and operational objectives. In addition, this position provides guidance to staff and is responsible for staffing, budget compliance, contributing to staffing decisions such as hiring and terminating employment, coaching and counseling employees on work related performance, and assisting in the development and implementation of policies and procedures to ensure a safe and effective work environment. This position also implements training, monitoring and operations initiatives that secure compliance with ethical and legal business practices and accreditation/regulatory/ government regulations.

FLSA STATUS
Exempt

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree
• Master’s degree preferred

EXPERIENCE

• Five years in a healthcare/administrative capacity with two years supervisory experience;
• For HM applicants, four years HM experience with two years of progressively responsible leadership/project management experience will be considered
• Experience in clinic management preferred

SKILLS AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations
• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security
• Ability to effectively communicate through a variety of channels with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles; engages the recipient(s) and helps them understand and retain the message
• Demonstrates the ability to interact with others in a way that gives them confidence in one’s intentions and those of the organization
• Ability to use appropriate interpersonal styles and techniques to gain acceptance of ideas or plans; modifying one’s own behavior to accommodate tasks, situations and individuals involved
• Demonstrates leadership qualities and critical thinking through self-direction initiative and effective interpersonal skills and oral/written communication skills
• Ability to identify and understand issues, problems and opportunities, comparing data from different sources to draw conclusions; using effective approaches for choosing a course of action or developing appropriate solutions; taking action that is consistent with available facts, constraints and probable consequences
• Ability to work effectively in a fast paced environment
• Demonstrates flexibility and adaptability in the workplace
• Skilled at managing multiple projects with conflicting priorities

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Performs management responsibilities of selection, scheduling, supervision, retention, and evaluation of employees in the department. Provides development and mentoring of staff. Meets or exceeds threshold goal for department turnover. Develops direct reports to perform these same functions.
• Provides fair and consistent leadership and communication to maintain a competent and engaged employee group by conducting regular department meetings to review policies and procedures and operational matters, rounding on all employees, completing performance appraisals, conducting new hire feedback sessions, coaching/corrective counseling, and providing recognition/commendations to achieve desired outcomes. Provides timely guidance and feedback to help others strengthen specific knowledge/skill areas needed to accomplish a task or solve a problem.
• Facilitates and promotes effective team dynamics and teambuilding strategies within and between departments; participates and/or leads and facilitates department process improvements as needed.
• Meets or exceeds threshold goal for department and/or system metrics on employee engagement indicators.
• Provides leadership to achieve a satisfied and competent employee work environment. Directs, delegates and oversees work efforts as appropriate to ensure the highest quality and best possible delivery of service.
• Ensures that department consistently achieves desired clinical and management outcomes, including high degree of patient and physician satisfaction. Implements change, demonstrating the ability to motivate employees and follow through.

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Plans and organizes day-to-day department operations, schedule and activities. Sets priorities and functional standards, giving direction to staff as necessary to ensure the best possible delivery of service and high customer/patient satisfaction.
• Drives department service standards and activities to impact department and/or system score for patient/customer-based satisfaction, through role modeling and fostering accountability. Serves and actively participates on various entity committees as a voice for the department.
• Optimizes clinical operations and patient flow to ensure quality of care provided to patients. Conduct regular analysis to ensure that schedules are being utilized to the fullest potential resulting in increased patient access.
• Participates in leadership meetings and committees of the Physician Organization and/or Hospital. Leads efforts to create an environment of personalized service and engages patients, staff, and physicians.
• Utilizes practice metrics to optimize practice performance which includes, but is not limited to staffing benchmarks, panel size, next third available, fill rate, no show rate, double booking strategies, wRVU by specialty.

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Ensures a safe and effective working environment; monitors and/or revises the department safety plan and/or any specific accreditation/regulatory required safety guidelines.
• Uses and optimizes information systems to enhance operations; supports entity-specific performance improvement and data management/analysis functions.
• Employs a proactive approach in the optimization of safe outcomes by monitoring and improving the department workflow, using peer-to-peer accountability, and identifying solutions via collaboration. Adopts lean principles in driving process improvements. Role models situational awareness, using teachable moments to improve safety.
• Monitors self and employee compliance with policies, procedures, and System HR Standards of Practice and performs associated actions upon non-compliance (i.e., focal point review requirements, disaster plan, in-services, influenza immunization, wage and hour, standard hours, timely termination submission, timely timecard approval, etc.).
• Establishes and enforces benchmarks consistent with MGMA industry standards and monitors effectiveness. Ensures appropriate skill sets relative to benchmarks and performance goals.
• Monitors key operational indicators including financial and quality metrics e.g. in basket utilization, clinical close rate, etc. Assesses current performance and develops action plans to achieve optimal performance.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Assists in the development of department budget and ensures that the department operates in a cost effective manner. Manages/audits department expenses within approved budget parameters, ensuring that the department meets the budgeted/flex revenue and/or expense targets on a monthly and annual basis. Develops staffing plans and schedules to meet department needs that reflect understanding of the importance of cost-effectiveness.
• Implements department strategies to achieve financial target and staffing needs, developing others to do the same, through optimizing productivity, supply/resource efficiency, minimizing incidental overtime and overtime percentage, and other areas according to department specifications.

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Identifies and implements innovative solutions for practice or workflow changes to improve department operations or other department-specific measures by leading unit projects and/or other department/system directed activities. Supports change initiatives, maintaining effectiveness when experiencing major changes in work responsibilities or environment; adjusts effectively to work within new work structures, processes, requirements or cultures.
• Proactively evaluates processes; recommends and implements action plan(s) for change; follows through to ensure effective, sustainable change. Participates in the development and implementation of new procedures and the review and revision of existing procedures.
• Identifies opportunities and takes action to build strategic relationships between one’s area and other areas, teams, departments, and units to achieve business goals.
• Seeks opportunities to identify developmental needs of self and staff and takes appropriate action. Ensures own career discussions occur with appropriate management. Completes and updates My Development plan on an on-going basis. Conducts conversations with staff on their development.
• Contributes to the development of annual goals and objectives for the clinic. Assists the staff in achieving the goals via training and appropriate resources.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS
WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform: No
• Scrubs: Yes
• Business professional: Yes
• Other (department approved): No

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. Disaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* Yes

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes

QUALIFICATIONS

EDUCATION

• Bachelor’s degree
• Master’s degree preferred

EXPERIENCE

• Five years in a healthcare/administrative capacity with two years supervisory experience;
• For HM applicants, four years HM experience with two years of progressively responsible leadership/project management experience will be considered
• Experience in clinic management preferred