Clinical Operations Lead - RN Care Manager
About The Position
The Clinical Operations Lead is an advanced practice Registered Nurse responsible for coordinating patient care progression and discharge planning while exercising independent clinical and operational judgment. The role serves as a designated lead for assigned units and is accountable for driving patient throughput, reducing length of stay, and ensuring timely, safe transitions of care. Alongside direct patient care coordination, the lead owns assigned Case Management Assistant (CMA) work queues. The role provides functional oversight by prioritizing, assigning, and redistributing CMA tasks in real time according to clinical acuity, discharge urgency, and patient readiness. It monitors task completion, quality, and adherence to workflow standards; provides ongoing feedback; and contributes structured input to performance evaluations based on observed work output. The lead resolves queue barriers and aligns task priorities with clinical milestones, including authorizations, transportation, and post-acute coordination. The position collaborates with physicians, nursing, and interdisciplinary teams, leading or co-leading discussions about care progression and discharge readiness. It uses independent judgment to resolve complex patient-flow challenges and escalates system-level barriers as needed. The role also participates in structured hiring panels for Case Management staff and contributes to workflow-system and operational-process development and optimization. The position supports department plans and the organization’s mission and strategic plan. It uses performance data to improve processes and outcomes, contributes to performance-improvement activities, and maintains compliance with licensure and certification requirements. The work is primarily in a healthcare setting in a fast-paced, high-acuity hospital environment. The schedule is day shift, Monday through Friday, with alternating weekends and holidays; scheduled hours are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., 40 hours per pay period.
Requirements
- Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN).
- Registered Nurse licensure in New York through the New York State Board of Nursing.
- At least 3–5 years of acute-care clinical nursing experience.
- At least 2–3 years of Case Management or Care Coordination experience.
- Demonstrated experience in discharge planning, transitions of care, and interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Knowledge of discharge-planning standards and transitions-of-care best practices.
- Experience with electronic medical records and work-queue or task-management systems.
- Ability to exercise independent clinical and operational judgment.
- Strong critical-thinking and problem-solving skills in complex patient-flow situations.
- Ability to prioritize and manage multiple competing demands in a fast-paced environment.
- Effective communication and collaboration skills with interdisciplinary teams, including physicians and ancillary staff.
- Ability to influence workflow and drive outcomes without formal supervisory authority.
- Strong organizational skills and attention to detail.
- Ability to direct and prioritize support-staff workflow, monitor quality and timeliness, and ensure adherence to process standards.
- Ability to provide constructive feedback and contribute to performance evaluations.
- Demonstrated accountability for operational outcomes such as length of stay, discharge delays, and throughput.
- Ability to work Monday through Friday and alternating weekends and holidays.
- Ability to sit for prolonged periods, use a computer and document, stand and walk between units, and attend interdisciplinary rounds.
- Ability to occasionally lift light objects, such as charts or laptops, weighing up to 10–15 pounds.
- Visual acuity to review electronic medical records and documentation; ability to concentrate, manage multiple tasks, and rapidly reprioritize in a high-pressure environment.
Nice To Haves
- Master’s degree in nursing, healthcare administration, or a related field.
- Experience working with post-acute care networks, including skilled nursing facilities, rehabilitation, and home care.
- Prior experience in a lead role, charge role, or functional oversight capacity.
- Experience with Epic Systems.
Responsibilities
- Coordinate patient care progression and discharge planning using independent clinical and operational judgment.
- Drive patient throughput, reduce length of stay, and support timely, safe transitions of care for assigned unit(s).
- Own assigned CMA work queues and prioritize, assign, and redistribute tasks in real time based on clinical acuity, discharge urgency, and patient readiness.
- Ensure timely completion of authorizations, transportation arrangements, and post-acute coordination to support patient flow and prevent discharge delays.
- Monitor CMA task completion, work quality, and adherence to workflow standards; provide ongoing feedback and structured input into performance evaluations.
- Resolve barriers in assigned queues and align task prioritization with clinical milestones.
- Collaborate with physicians, nursing, utilization review, revenue cycle, and interdisciplinary teams on care progression, level-of-care determinations, and discharge readiness.
- Lead or co-lead discussions concerning care progression and discharge readiness.
- Resolve complex patient-flow challenges and escalate system-level barriers as needed.
- Participate in structured hiring panel processes for Case Management staff.
- Contribute to the development and optimization of workflow systems and operational processes.
- Monitor and influence geometric mean length of stay (GMLOS) and actual length of stay (LOS) against clinical benchmarks and organizational targets.
- Identify and address avoidable days and discharge delays through care coordination and workflow optimization.
- Support efficient resource use and hospital financial performance by reducing unnecessary utilization and delays.
- Promote excellent customer service and hold CMA staff accountable for customer service.
- Recognize performance-improvement opportunities, collect and assess data, and develop, implement, and evaluate performance-improvement plans.
- Participate in departmental and hospital-wide process and outcome improvement activities.
- Complete projects and assignments within expected time frames.
- Follow hospital safety protocols, infection-control requirements, HIPAA compliance, and patient confidentiality standards.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Manager
