Patient Safety Coordinator

University of Arkansas•Little Rock, AR

About The Position

The Patient Safety Coordinator is a self-directed UAMS patient safety team member who is responsible for identifying real and potential trends with respect to quality of care concerns through careful review of the medical record and analysis of aggregated data entered into the safety intelligence database. This role requires expertise in Microsoft systems (Excel, Word, Power Point, and SharePoint). Professional written and verbal communication skills are required. Must have excellent critical thinking skills. Advanced knowledge of EPIC and RLDatix event reporting system is required. The coordinator is responsible for presenting serious harm events to the Adverse Events Committee for review and deliberation. Must be able to work well with a diverse, multidisciplinary population. Actively participates in Root Cause Analyses campus-wide as Analyst or Scribe. The Patient Safety Coordinator must be organized and capable of effectively managing multiple projects concurrently. The Patient Safety Coordinator always preserves the confidentiality of protected patient information in compliance with HIPAA, Patient Safety Evaluation System, and Patient Safety Work Product. This individual will represent the Patient Safety department in committee meetings as appropriate and assigned.

Requirements

Clinical Healthcare Degree (BSN, RT, PT, OT, SLP)
Bachelor’s Degree in clinical field
5 years’ clinical experience; 1 year Quality, Risk, Performance Improvement, Safety, or Regulatory/Accreditation experience required.
CPHQ or CPPS within 1 year of hire
Proficiency in Microsoft Office programs (i.e., Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and SharePoint); excellent professional written and verbal communication skills required.

Nice To Haves

Master’s degree in Nursing, or other Health Care related discipline
Proficiency in Electronic medical Records (EPIC)
5 years of clinical experience to include at least one (1) year of Quality, Risk, Performance Improvement, Safety, or Regulatory/Accreditation experience
Active and as required by degree; Certified Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS); Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ); or Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM)
Demonstrated proficiency as an adult educator or public speaker
Advanced knowledge of healthcare practices, rules and regulations, COP, Medicare and Medicaid rules/Regs (CMS), HIPAA regulations and AR state and Federal laws/regulations

Responsibilities

Analyze the events entered in the RLDatix system to identify deviations in care, adverse event or near miss trends and quality of care concerns.
Engage in timely and professional communication with medical staff, nursing department, service line directors/managers, and front line staff regarding Patient Safety events.
Support Adverse Event and Sentinel Event investigations as assigned.
Support formal process of Root Cause Analyses including action item tracking and audits.
Create a written record of findings and present findings to the Adverse Events Committee.
Collaborate with the safety team to create a feedback loop for RCAs as assigned.
Provide information and support for the Adverse Events Committee, QUEST, N-QUEST committees as assigned.
Serve as a subject matter expert with regard to elements needed to meet adverse event reporting measures and metrics.
Stay current on the Rules and Regulations that govern the Patient Safety office with respect to protected healthcare information.
Upload final RCA reports to SharePoint as assigned.
Serve on taskforces, workgroups, and committees as duties determine necessary.
May be assigned additional duties as needed that are related to patient safety.
Utilize EPIC to review medical record and confirm accuracy of information entered into patient safety database regarding specific event.
Facilitate adverse event case review by communicating medical record review findings verbally and through standard consultation with patient safety medical record review team, while utilizing judgment of urgent need meeting time constraints and expectations.
Abstract patient medical record in EPIC for Root Cause Analysis and case reviews as assigned/requested.
Review and evaluate medical records determining presence of clinical quality of care concerns.
Perform other duties as needed.