Chief Operating Officer for Medical Associates Clinic

Medical Associates is Seeking an Experienced Chief Operating Officer to Join Its Executive Leadership Team!

This is an onsite, in‑person position based out of Dubuque, Iowa.

Overview

The Chief Operating Officer (COO) reports to the CEO, is an integral member of the Senior Leadership Team and has leadership responsibility for operations for our large multi‑location, multi‑specialty medical group (200+ providers practicing in NW IL, SW WI and NE IA). The COO is accountable for identifying, planning, and implementing opportunities to optimize operational performance, provider alignment, patient experience, financial performance, and provider and staff engagement.

Key Responsibilities

• Actively partners with other C‑suite executives to develop and implement long‑range plans, goals, and objectives for the organization and ensures that the strategies and goals of the organization are met collaboratively.
• Takes ownership of Clinic Operational Objectives and leads Clinical Directors and their teams to achieve these objectives. This includes establishing the overall strategy, business and operation planning, efficiency, and market growth for the areas of responsibility including for all provider practices/clinical operations. Plans, facilitates, implements, evaluates action plans to deliver against defined objectives with assistance from the Clinical Director Team.
• Researches and assesses the competitive market and develops strategies and initiatives to capture potential new markets and lines for additional profitable market growth, in collaboration with the Senior Leadership Team.
• Partners with Chief Medical Officer (CMO) to ensure that clinical operations provide safe, coordinated, and high quality care to patients.
• Partners with Chief Financial Officer (CFO) to monitor and oversee the cost effectiveness of operations and ensures that all revenue and expense budgets and goals are met each year. Identifies and defines longer range capital plans.
• Partners with Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO) to develop and maintain a culture that encourages excellence and achieves outstanding results in patient, provider and staff satisfaction. Actively supports leadership development, mentoring and succession planning of emerging leaders and selection, professional development, and retention of staff. Ensures a culture of recognition and teamwork.
• Empowers employees at all levels to be innovative and action‑oriented while advancing a culture of accountability with clearly established lines of authority and decision‑making.
• Is visible to providers and facilitates smooth communication between clinicians and operating executives through operational transparency. Facilitates a culture of trust between administration, providers, and staff.
• Evaluates and improves current practice operations, policies, and processes while employing lean operational concepts. Hardwires responsive and proactive operating processes and systems to meet market pressures and growth.
• Sustains an environment of continuous quality improvement and efficiency, including the identification of concrete performance measures across clinical, service, financial, operational, management, and patient satisfaction.

Qualifications

• A Bachelor’s Degree is required. A Master’s Degree in Business Administration, Healthcare Management, or related field is highly preferred.
• A minimum of 10 years of significant leadership experience in progressively challenging leadership roles. Significant demonstrated leadership success leading management and/or director level teams and a significant scope of indirect reports in a multi‑specialty group practice or within an integrated health system.
• Strong Business Analytical Skill Set: demonstrated history of utilizing operations data to drive decision making and ensure operational processes are measured and optimized. Solid understanding of statistics and ability to interpret operational and other business data to run the business is critical. Utilizes data to develop and execute on key initiatives in partnership with providers, leaders, and staff.
• Demonstrated Strategic Business Orientation: with an understanding of the future direction of healthcare delivery and reimbursement; the ability to motivate and engage others in a common vision in response to such changes.
• Executive Leadership Influence & Collaboration: demonstrated ability to gain physician and staff support when developing, implementing, and promoting projects, ventures, and programs. A history of seeking out and developing collaborative relationships with internal and external constituencies to accomplish a common goal.
• Systems‑oriented Thinking: with the ability to analyze complex relationships and situations, think outside the box, take action, and promote entrepreneurial and innovative approaches to solve problems.
• Superb Communication Skills: excellent written, oral and presentation skills are key to this position along with facilitation, negotiation, and listening skills. The emotional intelligence to know how and when to influence, persuade, direct, challenge, and relinquish control is critical for success in executive roles such as COO. The successful COO will communicate fully and transparently and listen in a non‑defensive posture.
• Drive for Success: has a demonstrated track record of setting challenging goals for personal and team accomplishment; tenaciously works to meet or exceed those goals; measures progress and derives satisfaction from goal achievement and continuous improvement. Proactively identifies and resolves divergent priorities to ensure alignment across Medical Associates. Has a high personal drive to get things and manages multiple priorities to completion effectively.
• Leadership Courage and Capacity for Decisive Decision Making: is decisive, willing to choose challenge over comfort, even in the face of incomplete information after allowing time for discernment. Steps up to disagreements and strives to establish common ground.
• Continuous Improvement Mindset: successful history of redesigning practice management systems and aligning incentives that have helped improve the performance across clinical specialties. Knowledge and experience with Lean/Six Sigma in a physician practice setting. A proven record of acting as a change agent within an organization.
• Executive Level Financial Acumen: has strong business analysis skills and demonstrates executive level understanding of financial and business concepts consistent with MBA education or equivalent experience: financial management and business development, P&L experience managing a multi‑site medical group preferred. Financially astute and highly experienced in using, developing, and implementing benchmarks and other tools that improve operating, financial and service performance.
• Experience with IT systems including electronic health records (EHR) and financial and business analytics software/analysis tools and emerging AI capabilities. Ability to add value in making key technology related decisions impacting clinic operations. Experience with software conversion or implementation is preferred.
• Leadership Presence: personal and professional presence to provide leadership on behalf of Medical Associates internally and within the broader community.
• Demonstrated Integrity: Genuinely cares about people, communicates openly and honestly to foster trust relationships among colleagues. Walks the talk with professional leadership behaviors and relates well with people at all levels of the organization.