Assistant Director-Patient Access Services

JOB SUMMARY:

The Vanderbilt University Medical Center Patient Access Services (PAS) - Assistant Director - Contact Center Support will operate within the Care Connections Contact Center. The role will be responsible leading and overseeing processes, projects, and a team of personnel responsible for supporting the development and improvement of inbound and outbound patient facing staff. The role's primary focus will be to organize, plan and implement activity needed to support patient and contact center initiatives. Drive contact center excellence while providing oversight of contact center leaders, associates and activities related to patient satisfaction, budget achievement and employee retention. The Assistant Director - Contact Center Support will be expected to translate the mission, goals, and objectives into action

DEPARTMENT SUMMARY:

Patient Access Services (PAS) is committed to connecting our patients to the care they need to get well and stay well. We work in collaboration with our clinical teams to provide a seamless patient experience, from the first phone call to the day of the appointment and beyond. We continuously strive to elevate our services and reduce anxiety for patients and their families. Our commitment to our colleagues and our patients is what makes us #inspiredtoserve.

View how Vanderbilt Health employees celebrate the difference they make every day:

Discover Vanderbilt University Medical Center:

Located in Nashville, Tennessee, and operating at a global crossroads of teaching, discovery and patient care, VUMC is a community of individuals who come to work each day with the simple aim of changing the world. It is a place where your expertise will be valued, your knowledge expanded and your abilities challenged. It is a place where your diversity -- of culture, thinking, learning and leading -- is sought and celebrated. It is a place where employees know they are part of something that is bigger than themselves, take exceptional pride in their work and never settle for what was good enough yesterday. Vanderbilt's mission is to advance health and wellness through preeminent programs in patient care, education, and research.

VUMC Recent Accomplishments

Because we are committed to providing the best in patient care, education and research, we are proud of our recent accomplishments:

• US News & World Report: #1 Adult Hospital in Tennessee and metropolitan Nashville, named to the Best Hospitals Honor Roll of the top 20 adult hospitals, 10 nationally ranked adult specialty programs, with 3 specialties rated in the top 10 nationally, Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt named as one of the Best Children's Hospital in the nation, with 10 out of 10 pediatric specialties nationally ranked.
• Healthcare's Most Wired: Among the nation's 100 "most-wired" hospitals and health systems for its efforts in innovative medical technology.
• Becker's Hospital Review: named as one of the "100 Great Hospitals in America", in the roster of 100 Hospitals and Health Systems with Great Oncology Programs and to its list of the 100 Hospitals with Great Heart Programs.
• The Leapfrog Group: One of only 10 children's hospitals in the to be named at Leapfrog Top Hospital.
• American Association for the Advancement of Science: The School of Medicine has 112 elected fellows
• Magnet Recognition Program: Received our third consecutive Magnet designations.
• National Academy of Medicine: 22 members, elected by their peers in recognition of outstanding achievement
• Human Rights Campaign Healthcare Equality Index: 6 ^th year in a row that Vanderbilt University Medical Center was a Leader in LGBTQ Healthcare Equality.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

* Set clear objectives to produce measurable results in customer satisfaction and contact center operational performance

* Focus on quality process engineering and operational process transformation

* Provide actionable metrics and insights into the performance and operational health of the patient facing teams

* Expand the Quality Process to focus on systematic issues impacting performance, and include the capture of business intelligence and patient satisfaction

* Diagnose, recommend, and implement operational transformation efforts to significantly improve the patient experience and operational excellence

* Assist the Customer Relationship Managers in creating protocols, tools, and automation platforms to accelerate team development

* Create and pursue process and efficiency improvement opportunities

* Collaborate with the Director, Contact Center Care Connections to define and coordinate contact center strategies with a strong focus on patient satisfaction/retention and team member enrichment

* Create a work environment that continually promotes quality and team member effectiveness

* Consistently partner with the Selection Leader and Recruiting teams to attract and identify new talent to the department at all levels while retaining and developing high performers and high potential team members

* Continuously review and evaluate the Care Connections team's performance against annual operating and strategic goals

* Support the operating model and enhance the playbook of best practices around improving performance and delivering a higher degree of predictability and patient care

* Partner with Care Connections leadership to create metrics driven solutions to help secure and retain patients while keeping a focus not only on efficiency metrics, but also on effectiveness metrics to expand the department's reach

* Serve as Level 3 support for elevated/escalated patient calls and document patient feedback accordingly

* Promote a culture of accountability across all teams

* Ensure monitoring and execution of corrective action related to meeting SLAs and maintaining a high level of patient satisfaction.

* Analyze and distribute metric reports as needed to senior management

* Establish processes to monitor, track and document individual manager team performance, provide timely feedback and establish action plans as necessary

* Communicate and promote VUMC strategies, clinic initiatives, system enhancements, performance, and other key information to staff; conduct weekly staff meetings and huddles

* Create agenda and content for monthly performance reviews and quarterly accountability meetings to articulate the state of the business and highlight strategic areas for contact center improvement to senior leadership

People Leadership

* Attend frontline staff team meetings or huddles with some regularity to foster employee engagement and trust

* Develop and retain talent by applying the necessary training and leadership that fosters internal growth and advancement

* Engage and encourage staff in a way that promotes successful performance through ongoing mentoring and hands-on coaching; inspire and build team comradery and commitment

* Provide consistent direction to managers and frontline staff to ensure completion of duties and tasks according to departmental performance standards

* Applies proven human resources management skills in staff selection, development, and evaluation

* Creates strong culture of teamwork and customer service in working with patients, clinic providers and various business partners

Core Accountabilities

* Partner with Human Resources, Service Quality and Training, Access IT, and other departments consistently to ensure effective department operations and superior patient service; administer and enforce VUMC policies and practices

* Creates and utilizes analytics to track and assess inbound contact center performance

* Create a strong culture of teamwork and quality customer service in working with patients, clinic leaders, PAS, administrative staff, and other key stakeholders

* Ensures appropriate staffing, resource management, systems, data management and reporting, quality and accuracy of data and regulatory compliance in areas of responsibility

* Fosters effective collaboration and clear communication among the team and other personnel to achieve efficiency, successful integration of new systems and initiatives, and to facilitate the sharing of knowledge

* Participates in the establishment and implementation of new objectives, policies, systems, and quality assurance programs

* Ensures adherence to all regulations and policies regarding system security and privacy and confidentiality of patient medical and financial data

* Translates organizational and PCC strategies into a service area strategy that incorporates a collective, engaged team approach from the front-line team members

* Ensure daily operations are meeting established performance expectations. Update, manage and communicate performance dashboards, performance action plans, and ad-hoc reports as needed, to effectively represent the state-of-operations.

* Review and approve SOPs, metrics and processes for workflow improvements, risk assessment, and business process improvements

* Make recommendations on budget issues, staffing, cost containment strategies and capital needs * Participate in various aspects of interviewing and hiring as needed

* Identify promotional opportunities, initiate transfers, conduct performance appraisals, staff training and counseling; and when necessary, termination of employment

* Perform additional duties and task as assigned

* Proactively assess, communicate, and manage initiatives centered on employee engagement, rewards, and recognition.

* Lead key personnel decisions associated with team development and performance accountability plans.

* Consistently monitor patient satisfaction survey scores and comments. Develops, communicates, and manages strategies to improve patient satisfaction.

* Lead in the development of new process documentation, communication, and implementation plans to ensure appropriate change management and communications are delivered in a timely and effective manner.

* Ensures staff are trained and developed in all aspects of operations to optimize operational efficiency and effectiveness.

* Cascade communications throughout the team, proactively solicit team feedback, and own action planning and closure to the feedback provided.

* Lead the investigation and implementation of new tools/technology and processes/protocols necessary to enhance productivity, effectiveness, quality, and customer service and reduce risk and operational costs

Eligibility Requirements

* Bachelor's degree in business, healthcare administration or related area, Masters preferred

* 7+ years of customer service or related contact center experience

* 5+ years of experience of progressive people leadership, including managing large, high performing teams in a direct reporting capacity

* Previous knowledge and experience with call center technology, including workforce management, quality monitoring and telephony systems is required

* Strong leadership and staff development skills, including training, coaching and employee counseling

* Excellent verbal, written and negotiation communication skills with a focus on solution-oriented approaches

* Superior ability to manage change and align with strategic direction; highly process oriented

* Strong leadership, organization, planning and time management skills

* Highly skilled at planning, organizing, and managing the activities of others

* Proven ability to seek ways to improve and promote accuracy and enhanced quality

* Work varying shifts, including early mornings/evenings and/or weekends to support operation

* Strong business acumen

* Produce, cultivate, and present information to drive decisions and action to improve all aspects of the inbound contact center

* In-depth working knowledge of call center telephony systems and interactive voice response (IVR) required (Cisco preferred)

* Experience with both inbound and outbound call center management, knowledge in process improvement, and experience in change management is required

* Computer proficiencies: Microsoft Office (Outlook, PowerPoint, Word, Visio, Excel) Share Point, project management tools (MS Project or similar)