Director of Quality Initiatives and Improvement; DQI

Overview

Our team members are the heart of what makes us better. At Hackensack Meridian Health we help our patients live better, healthier lives — and we help one another to succeed. With a culture rooted in connection and collaboration, our employees are team members. Here, competitive benefits are just the beginning. It’s also about how we support one another and how we show up for our community.

Together, we keep getting better - advancing our mission to transform healthcare and serve as a leader of positive change.

The Director of Quality Initiatives and Improvement (DQI) leads all hospital-based work to eliminate preventable harm to patients, family members, and staff and to attain unsurpassed clinical and patient-reported outcomes for assigned hospital. The DQI builds organization-wide participation in improvement through transparency, collaboration and mutual learning. Reporting to the Regional Chief Quality Officer, the DQI collaborates with leaders to achieve the HMH quality goals and eliminate preventable harm.

The DQI facilitates the redesign of patient care processes; leads root cause analyses, analyzes data to inform and guide improvement efforts, and develops organizational capacity for improvement through teaching and mentorship. The DQI directs the assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of best practices, ensuring cost effective, quality care in accordance with the hospital PI plan, while complying with the standards of regulatory and accrediting agencies.

Provides leadership in the implementation and integration of the Department of Patient Care Performance Improvement Plan, and ensures Joint Commission readiness and regulatory compliance. Oversees activities of the Patient Safety and Quality Department while aligning with the Medical Center and HMH Performance Improvement Plan to ensure compliance with all Patient Safety Indicators, Quality Care Transition Teams and Nursing Quality. Advances the integration of the science of patient safety and continuous learning throughout the organization.

A day in the life of a Director of Quality Initiatives and Improvement at Hackensack Meridian Health includes:

• Provides leadership to all safety and quality improvement activities at a hospital including committee meetings, medical staff peer review, root cause and apparent cause analyses, event management, morning safety report, follow up of ONELink event reports, and specific improvement cycles.
• Provides leadership to local HRO transformation. Engages all levels of leadership, caregivers and staff in advancing patient safety through HRO training, morning safety huddles, and joint event management with the departments of Human Experience and Risk Management.
• Develops and oversees organizational quality initiatives and the monitoring of quality priorities.
• Presents quality data results with analysis and recommendations to organizational committees and councils including Department of Patient Care to enhance achievement of quality goals.
• Oversees all quality improvement staff and their work in quality councils, teams and committees. Ensures team members achieve CPPS certification, attend conferences, and receive continuing education including presentation skills, project management, process mapping, and lean principles. Cultivates continuous learning inside and outside the network.
• Ensures compliance with federal and state regulatory and licensing requirements, including Joint Commission readiness.
• Directs root cause analyses and follow up activities. Identifies events, near misses and opportunities for quality and system improvement through event reports and data trends. Presents risk reduction strategies and follow up at Patient Safety Council to facilitate learning and scalability. Identifies metrics to track meaningful change.
• Guides continuous learning and transparency related to patient safety and quality initiatives, incorporating evidence-based practices and scalable system improvements. Engage caregivers and staff in advancing patient safety through HRO training and quality initiatives addressing small wins. Uses webinars, video conferencing and…