Improvement Advisor American Indian Alaska Native Quality Improvement Program

Who is Comagine Health?

Comagine Health is a national, nonprofit, health care consulting firm. We work collaboratively with patients, providers, payers, and other stakeholders to reimagine, redesign and implement sustainable improvements in the health care system.

As a trusted, neutral party, we work in our communities to address key, complex health, and health care delivery problems. In all our engagements and initiatives, we draw upon our expertise in quality improvement, care management, health information technology, analytics, and research.

We invite our partners and communities to work with us to improve health and redesign the health care delivery system.

The SQI department encompasses a broad portfolio of contracts and grants, organized into three primary service lines (patient safety, population health, and community health) serving clients including federal and state governments. SQI includes quality improvement and public health experts who apply their skills to improve the delivery of health care across a variety of settings.

Comagine Health is looking for an Improvement Advisor to be a part of an interdisciplinary and multi-organization project team that is funded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to improve healthcare for American Indian and Alaska Natives (AIAN). The goals for this project revolve around advancing health care quality in facilities managed by the Indian Health Service (IHS). The Improvement Advisor will engage IHS hospital and area office staff to enhance capacity in quality improvement science, assist in the development of a culture of safety, share best practices and program resources, and provide performance improvement training and guidance. Candidates for this position should have strong quality improvement science skills with the hospital setting, and experience working directly with the AIAN population is required. This position also requires relationship building skills within the AIAN community and strong program team participation and engagement. Candidates should also have excellent communication skills, particularly in technical writing and live or virtual presentations. Please note: Travel to area sites in the Pacific Northwest region will be required so the candidate needs to reside in this region to be considered.

Purpose:

• An integral part of the Systemwide Quality Improvement (SQI) division at Comagine Health, the Improvement Advisor provides consulting and technical assistance to a variety of health care and community stakeholders. SQI encompasses a broad portfolio of contracts and grants, organized into three primary service lines (practice transformation, patient safety and community engagement) serving clients including federal and state governments and private institutions.
• The SQI team includes quality improvement and public health experts who apply their skills to improve the delivery of health care across a variety of settings.
• This position is responsible for collaborating with providers, practices, hospitals, long-term care facilities, home health agencies, community-based organizations and/or other stakeholders to guide them through health system transformation and improvement initiatives, to support their capacity to respond to a changing health care environment and deliver better care.
• An Improvement Advisor has an excellent understanding of quality improvement concepts, tools, and techniques and how to apply them as an independent coach or part of a team. Under oversight and with direction from SQI leadership, Improvement Advisors may lead projects in areas such as practice transformation, patient safety, and community engagement.
• This position reports to either a Senior Improvement Advisor or Director in the SQI division.

Specialized Skills and Competencies

* Comprehensive understanding of health care reform initiatives/environment.

* Intermediate proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, PowerPoint, Excel)

* Familiarity with videoconference technology (e.g. Zoom)

* Ability to organize and coordinate multiple simultaneous tasks in a team environment.

* Excellent oral and written communication skills

* Theoretical and practical knowledge of quality improvement methods and tools

* Familiarity with health care terminology

* Familiarity with health care clinical and operational workflows

* Proficiency with project management concepts (e.g. project plans)

* Familiarity and hands-on experience with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and/or Microsoft Teams (Preferred)

Typical Job Duties and Responsibilities

Guided by the organization's values the Improvement Advisor contributes to achieving Comagine Health's mission and vision through their contributions on one or more project teams. Typical duties and responsibilities include:

Consultation and Delivery of Technical Assistance

* Collaborate with internal team members as well as external partners/stakeholders to improve health care delivery systems, processes, and outcomes efficiently and effectively

* Provide coaching on data collection, interpretation, and utilization to drive performance improvement

* Design and implement quality improvement interventions based on evidence-based and best practices

* Contribute to development and maintenance of quality improvement templates, tools, and other materials.

* Provide health care consulting and technical assistance via face-to-face, telephone, video conference or other formats to a variety of stakeholders

* Document recruitment, technical assistance, and other activities in CRM and other technology solutions; maintains personal proficiency and supports peers in leveraging system capabilities for contacts, accounts, memberships, and relationships in everyday work

* Partner with team members across projects with the goal of finding synergies between and collaborating across related goals and contracts and meeting the needs of the community.

Training and Subject Matter Expertise

* Continually develop basic to intermediate subject matter expertise on relevant topic areas such as practice management, patient safety, population health, etc.

* Design and implement learning collaboratives, learning and action networks, and other broad-scale delivery of quality improvement education and training.

Stakeholder Engagement and Convening

* Conduct recruitment for QI initiatives, including outreach to providers and other organizations, creating, and managing recruitment plans and using data to target recruitment efforts.

* Convene multiple interdisciplinary stakeholders to build consensus, shared vision, and action plans that contribute to the achievement of bold aims of health care and health improvement and population health initiatives.

* Represents Comagine Health to clients and stakeholders, including associations, community partners, etc.

* Convene and facilitate meetings for training, stakeholder engagement, and coalition-building

* Coordinate with stakeholder professional associations, coalitions, community organizations and others to share information about project activity, plan joint initiatives, and leverage opportunities to share resources, best practices, and lessons learned to achieve improvement in health care delivery systems, processes, and outcomes.

Project Management

* All team members play a role in tracking project activities, including executing assigned tasks and/or phases of a project plan; monitor deployment of interventions to ensure program effectiveness, and report on progress to team lead

* As needed, under close oversight of SQI leadership, Improvement Advisors may take on additional project management responsibilities, including:

o Lead a project team and be accountable for the successful performance and meeting of contract deliverables and evaluation measures while utilizing a strategic approach and supporting the creation of well-defined program plans that balance contract deliverables and the true intent of the work to ensure that the mission and vision of Comagine Health are advanced.

• Prepare reports of project progress to share with SQI leadership and contract officers/funders.,

Travel:

30%-50%

Education:

* BA/BS in a health care, public health, or related field

o Equivalent combination of education and/or work experience in related field may be substituted.

Additional certification, education or training may be applicable based on specific contracts

Years of Experience:

4 years of experience in health care, including quality improvement in health care settings

2 years of project management experience

Travel:

30% - 50% client other contract related travel.

Salary Range:

$80,000 - $98,000

The salary range posted reflects the range that Comagine is willing to pay for this position. Salary is determined by many factors, including but not limited to geographic location of where the employee will perform their job duties in addition to their knowledge, skills, education, and relevant work experience.

We offer competitive pay and benefits. Additionally, employment with Comagine Health qualifies if you apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program.