Director Destination Care Operations

St. Joseph Hospital & Medical Center•Phoenix, AZ

1d•$52 - $78•Onsite

About The Position

As our Director of Destination Care Operations, you will serve as the strategic leader for our high-acuity patient programs, driving operational excellence for patients traveling from across the U.S. and international markets for specialty care. You will oversee the end-to-end patient journey, ensuring a concierge-caliber experience from the initial inquiry through to post-discharge. By partnering with clinical leadership, financial stakeholders, and external partners, you will optimize workflows and grow referral volumes, positioning our facility as a premier destination for complex medical services. Every day you will lead a high-performing team by fostering a culture of service excellence, adaptability, and continuous improvement. Your focus will be on the seamless integration of intake, registration, and financial counseling workflows, ensuring both operational efficiency and fiscal responsibility. You will conduct regular patient and family rounding to identify service gaps, implement process improvements, and provide hands-on leadership as the escalation point for complex, time-sensitive patient matters, all while maintaining rigorous data integrity and reporting standards.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business, or a related field
5 or more years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare or patient services operations
Experience managing and developing teams in a complex, matrixed healthcare organization, with direct accountability for program performance outcomes
Demonstrated success leading day-to-day operations of a complex patient services program
Experience delivering high-touch, patient-centered services for complex or high-acuity patient populations, including programs such as transplant, oncology, specialty referral, or equivalent tertiary or quaternary care settings
Proven track record of integrating into and quickly driving results within established or evolving programs

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business, Nursing, or a related field is strongly preferred
7 or more years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare or patient services operations
Clinical background including Registered Nurse (RN) licensure or equivalent clinical operations experience
Experience in a dedicated destination care, international patient services, or specialty referral program at an academic medical center or large health system
Experience building or expanding programs, including policy and operational protocol development
Experience preparing and delivering financial and operating performance reports and presentations for leadership
Experience with referral management, patient access, financial counseling, registration, or admissions workflows

Responsibilities

Oversees the day-to-day operational performance of the destination care program, ensuring consistent and high quality service delivery across all phases of the patient journey.
Oversees referral intake and coordination workflows, ensuring timely and accurate routing, follow-up, and communication with referring providers and patients.
Ensures patients, families, and referring partners experience seamless, concierge-caliber service from initial contact through post-discharge follow-up; conducts regular patient and family rounding to assess experience, identify service gaps and recovery opportunities, reinforce service standards, and gather patient stories that reflect the destination care experience.
Delivers and ensures culturally informed service, communication, and care coordination across diverse domestic and international patient populations.
Partners with clinical leadership and clinical advisory resources to support patient care operations and ensure the clinical needs of the destination care population are addressed.
Identifies and leads process improvement and workflow optimization initiatives to advance operational efficiency, service quality, and patient satisfaction; develops and maintains operational protocols and standards that support consistent program delivery.
Supports the development and expansion of the destination care program, including identifying opportunities to grow referral volume, expand service line access, and strengthen the program’s market position.
Supports market activation and outreach efforts in collaboration with strategy partners to advance destination care program visibility and referral growth; performs other duties as assigned to support organizational objectives.