Quality Assurance Specialist

TX-HHSC-DSHS-DFPS•Austin, TX

1d•$4,465 - $6,779•Onsite

About The Position

Join the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and be part of a team committed to creating a positive impact in the lives of fellow Texans. At HHSC, your contributions matter, and we support you at each stage of your life and work journey. The state supported living centers serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities who are medically fragile or who have behavioral problems. The centers provide campus-based direct services and supports at 13 centers located throughout the state. This is a career filled with purpose. Performs advanced (senior-level) quality assurance work to ensure that the service systems meet certain standards by surveilling a range of indicators thereby enabling the identification of areas needing correction and improvement to meet desired levels of performance. Implements the goals and priorities for the Quality Improvement department. Conducts audits, surveys and content-specific compliance reviews to determine the center’s level of compliance with certification requirements, standards, laws, rules, policies and procedures. Reviews policy and procedures for compliance with applicable laws, regulations and other policies and provides consultation, technical assistance and monitors compliance with standards. Prepare detailed reports of findings with recommendations. Contributes to the Center’s data surveillance system, by retrieving, tracking, validating and trending data, and assisting others with data collection, monitoring, analysis, and reporting. Coordinates activities related to internal and external reviews. Participate in the development and submission of a plan of correction (POC) for all deficiencies cited by HHSC-Regulatory and completes assigned tasks related to POCs. Presents the evidence to the surveyors upon their return visit, as assigned. Assists others with quality improvement plans. Participate in the Center’s QA/QI Council and other work groups as assigned. Mentors and trains new Quality Assurance Specialists as assigned. Works under limited supervision, with considerable latitude for the use of initiative and independent judgment. Work schedule may vary in order to complete audits, surveys, and special projects.

Requirements

Knowledge of ICF/IID Standards, interpretive guidelines and survey process.
Knowledge of state and federal standards, laws and regulations pertinent to the facility, including ICF/IDD standards and the Texas Administrative Code (TAC), HHSC rules and regulations, or the ability to develop this knowledge.
Knowledge of how to use tools such as pivot tables, scatter charts, wishbone diagrams, histograms and pareto charts to effectively communicate data.
Knowledge of basic quality improvement concepts and terminology.
Knowledge of the individual support plans including active treatment, interdisciplinary team processes, health and safety issues.
Skill in defining problems, collecting data, establishing facts, conducting root cause/contributory factor analysis.
Skill in using computers and agency/facility software including, but not limited to, Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and SharePoint.
Skill in helping others to define complex problems.
Ability to write or participate in writing policies/guidelines to ensure facility compliance with applicable standards.
Ability to train staff, including training and mentoring new Quality Assurance Specialists.
Ability to gather, assemble, and analyze data for trend analysis.
Ability to effectively facilitate work groups and meetings.
Ability to communicate effectively to provide program consultation and conduct training sessions.
Ability to manage time with latitude for independent judgment.
Ability to manage time, resources, and workload independently and efficiently.
Ability to be flexible and independent in responding to departmental needs.
Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, preferred
Experience working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities
Experience in performing compliance reviews, surveys, inspections, or audits.
Must pass a fingerprint criminal background check, pre-employment drug screen, and registry checks including the Client Abuse/Neglect Reporting System (CANRS), Nurse Aide, Medication Aide and Employee Misconduct and HHS List of Excluded Individuals/Entities (LEIE).
Males between the ages of 18 – 25 must be registered with the Selective Service.
All State Supported Living Center Employees are subject to Random Drug Testing.
All applicants must be at least 18 years of age to be considered for employment at a state-operated facility.

Responsibilities

Attends work on a regular basis and may be required to work a specific shift schedule or, at times, even a rotating schedule, extended shift and/or overtime in accordance with agency leave policy and performs other duties as assigned.
May serve in an on-call status on a rotating schedule as required to meet operational needs of the facility.
Conducts audits, surveys and content-specific compliance reviews to determine the center’s level of compliance with certification requirements, standards, laws, rules, policies and procedures.
Plans and organizes assigned work to complete reviews timely and accurately.
Reviews data and documentation entered in electronic and written systems and verifies the information for accuracy.
Conducts interviews with staff and individuals as needed.
Prepares timely oral and written reports detailing the findings and makes recommendations to optimize the effectiveness of processes, improving outcomes for individuals, improving stakeholder satisfaction, and optimizing systems.
Provides feedback to department heads for process improvement based upon their findings.
As assigned, mentors and trains new Quality Assurance Specialists and reviews their work before submission.
Reviews the work of department heads on the results of quality improvement plans.
Promotes teamwork, transparent communication, a focus on processes, innovation and improvement and engages front line staff to provide insight into processes and past decisions.
Assists department heads and their teams to implement the (Plan-Do-Study-Act) PDSA cycle by assisting them to collect and understand the data, use the data to develop a plan, helping them understand what tasks to complete and what tests to conduct under what conditions to see if the changes have an impact, assisting them in developing visualizations of the task and test results that can be shared with the team to determine which have a positive impact, and assisting in developing methods to share the data with the frontline team to demonstrate outcomes.
Monitors the outcomes of their implemented actions by meeting with them regularly and reviewing the results over time.
Provides consultation/interpretation of rules and standards for use in program planning and evaluation.
Regularly reviews policies and procedures for compliance with applicable laws, regulations and other policies.
Monitors compliance with policies and procedures for the assigned areas such as the incident management policy, the restraint policy and the quality improvement policy.
Provides technical guidance for staff within the assigned area.
Develops instructional materials and conducts staff training as assigned.
Assists with reviewing, revising and implementing policies and procedures.
Provides technical assistance, support, and training to department heads and other staff assigned to program compliance and quality improvement work in the use of QI tools, data analysis, and monitoring/auditing.
This technical assistance includes the PDSA cycle, completing a contributory factor analysis, formulating a problem statement and closure criteria when creating a corrective action plan.
Implements the 5 Whys technique to make informed decisions about root causes of problems.
Identifies improvement metrics and develops strategies to collect the data for discipline-specific improvement projects and helps departments to organize, analyze, and visually display the data.
Contributes to the Center’s data surveillance system, following standard procedure to retrieve, track, validate and trend data.
Assists others departments with data collection, monitoring, analysis, and reporting.
Ensures the collection of information in a timely and efficient manner and ensures the use of that information to identify performance issues and make decisions.
Proactively identifies potential and actual problems by reporting them to the appropriate supervisor/manager for corrective action.
Implements the goals and priorities for the Quality Improvement department including promoting a culture of quality by fostering a blame-free, inquisitive environment that fosters collaboration, creativity, and psychological safety.
Implements a model for quality improvement that includes the input of the frontline staff, residents and their families, guiding and empowering staff to solve problems, avoiding duplication and waste, using the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model for change, using data to inform and track change, developing communication strategies that build awareness and support for changes, and creating a system where all staff members have the necessary equipment, skills, and knowledge to do their jobs.
Collaborates with others to analyze and effectively display data, using tools such as pivot tables, scatter charts, wishbone diagrams, histograms and pareto charts.
Coordinates activities related to investigations and surveys by HHSC Regulatory for recertification, incidents and complaints, including collecting data and disseminating information before surveys and assisting surveyors/auditors during the survey process.
Provides all documentation requested and answers surveyor questions regarding policies/procedures.
Participate in the development and submission of a plan of correction (POC) for all deficiencies cited by HHSC Regulatory and completes assigned tasks related to POCs.
Presents the evidence to the surveyors upon their return visit, as assigned.
Participate in the Center’s QA/QI Council which sets priorities, establishes goals and monitors the progress of performance improvement activities.
Assists in creating and revising presentations to accurately reflect all monitoring conducted.
Participates in other work groups as needed to promote collaboration and operational effectiveness as assigned.
Collaborates with the State Office quality assurance specialists on assigned tasks.
Other duties as assigned include but are not limited to actively participating and/or serving in a supporting role to meet the agency’s obligations for disaster response and/or recovery or Continuity of Operations (COOP) activation.
Such participation may require an alternate shift pattern assignment and/or location.