Physician Lead, Length of Stay

Physician Lead, Length Of Stay

About Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital

In July 2024, we were recognized by U.S. News & World Report with an impressive performance. Corewell Health William Beaumont University Hospital tied for the top spot in the state, ranks No. 10 nationally out of 257 hospitals in the OB/GYN category, ranked in the top 50 for nine specialties and had high performing ratings in 19 procedures and conditions. It is a major academic and referral center with Level I adult and Level II pediatric trauma designations. The advanced capabilities and clinical expertise within this center have earned it Magnet designation four consecutive times and has the distinct honor of housing Michigan's first Diagnostic Imaging Center of Excellence.

Scope of Work

The Physician Lead, Length of Stay is responsible for advancing inpatient throughput, optimizing length of stay (LOS), and improving patient flow across the assigned hospital(s). This role serves as a real-time physician leader embedded with frontline teams, partnering closely with case management, Mission Control, nursing, and physician leaders to identify, escalate, and resolve barriers to efficient care progression. The Physician Lead works in partnership with LOS Administrative Leader. This position functions as a throughput-focused Physician Lead, partnering and collaborating closely with the Chief Medical Officer of regional hospitals. The role emphasizes proactive, daily engagement in care progression activities and rapid escalation of system barriers to improve patient outcomes, access, and operational performance.

Essential Functions

Real-Time Throughput Leadership

• Serve as an embedded, on-the-ground clinical operations leader supporting inpatient teams in real time
• Participate in and as needed, facilitate multidisciplinary/progression rounds to drive timely care progression
• Provide at-the-elbow support to physicians, APPs, and care teams to accelerate decision-making and reduce delays
• Maintain situational awareness of hospital capacity, patient flow, and operational bottlenecks

Barrier Identification and Escalation (Core Accountability)

• Proactively identify clinical, operational, and social barriers to discharge and care progression.
• Aggregate and escalate high-impact barriers to system leadership (e.g., daily huddles, executive forums).
• Partner with operational and clinical leaders to rapidly remove barriers and deploy solutions.
• Establish standard work for escalation pathways and promote appropriate utilization by frontline teams.
• Actively participate in complex patient review processes to remove discharge barriers.

Care Progression & Length of Stay Management

• Lead efforts to reduce observed-to-expected (O/E) LOS and excess/opportunity days.
• Support early and proactive discharge planning, including patient and family engagement.
• Promote parallel processing and timely completion of diagnostics, consults, and procedures.
• Partner with service lines/specialties, employed and independent physicians / APPs to address LOS outliers and complex cases.

Program Development and Continuous Improvement

• Identify recurring barriers and lead or sponsor hospital or system-level improvement initiatives.
• Contribute to development of standardized workflows, escalation pathways, and best practices.
• Support data-driven prioritization of throughput initiatives.

Success in this role will be measured by improvement in key operational and clinical metrics, including:

• Length of stay (LOS), including observed-to-expected (O/E) LOS.
• Excess days / avoidable days/ opportunity days.
• Discharge time (or equivalent throughput metrics).
• Throughput-related delays (e.g., time to consult, procedure, discharge readiness).
• Readmission rates (in coordination with care teams).
• Physician engagement in care progression processes.
• Escalation effectiveness and resolution of barriers.

Qualifications

• Medical Doctor Degree (M.D.) Graduate of approved Medical College. Required
• Licensure and board certification, as required by the hospital's medical staff bylaws.
• Physician Leadership - Must have led physician initiatives that required oversight & influence on physician behavior. Required
• Care Progression & Utilization Management-Demonstrated experience in hospital operations, care progression, or utilization management. Required
• LOS Management - Familiarity with throughput metrics, LOS management, and operational improvement. Required
• Physician Advisor, Medical Director-Experience as a Physician Advisor, Medical Director, or similar leadership role. Preferred
• Working in Complex Health Systems-Experience working with multidisciplinary teams in complex health systems. Preferred
• Physician (MD) - State of Michigan Upon Hire required Or
• Osteopathic Physician (DO) - State of Michigan Upon Hire required