Vice President, Clinical & Quality Improvement

North Carolina Community Health Center Association•Raleigh, NC

About The Position

The Vice President, Clinical & Quality Improvement provides strategic leadership for quality improvement, clinical transformation, practice improvement, and value-based care initiatives across the North Carolina Community Health Center Association (NCCHCA) and its member Community Health Centers (CHCs). The role develops and advances strategies to improve clinical quality, patient outcomes and experience, access, operational performance, and value across North Carolina’s community health center network. The VP works closely with NCCHCA leadership, CHC CEOs and clinical leaders, Carolina Medical Home Network (CMHN) leadership, and internal teams to identify improvement opportunities and translate them into practical, measurable strategies. The position leads NCCHCA’s statewide quality improvement agenda while supporting CMHN’s Medicaid and Medicare value-based care initiatives, and serves as a strategic advisor, convener, coach, and subject matter expert. The VP builds a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, accountability, collaboration, and patient-centered care, ensuring quality strategies align with applicable HRSA requirements, regulations, payer requirements, and recognized quality improvement standards. The VP leads quality strategies and initiatives, supports health centers with clinical transformation and capacity building, and oversees programs, pilots, collaboratives, and learning networks. The role uses clinical, operational, and financial data to guide decisions, develop measures and reporting tools, and communicate performance information. It also maintains knowledge of relevant regulatory and payer requirements, collaborates with internal and external stakeholders, represents NCCHCA in professional forums, and supervises, mentors, and develops assigned staff. The position participates in organizational leadership and board activities and performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

Master’s degree in healthcare administration, public health, business administration, healthcare management, quality improvement, nursing, or another relevant field, or an equivalent combination of education and significant professional experience.
At least 10 years of progressively responsible experience in healthcare quality improvement, healthcare operations, clinical transformation, population health, value-based care, or a related field.
Demonstrated experience leading quality improvement or performance improvement initiatives in a healthcare environment.
Demonstrated experience working with executive-level leaders and multidisciplinary teams.
Strong knowledge of healthcare quality improvement and performance improvement methodologies.
Understanding of ambulatory care and primary care operations.
Understanding of Medicaid and Medicare value-based care programs.
Familiarity with UDS, HEDIS, payer quality measures, and healthcare performance metrics.
Strong data interpretation and analytical skills.
Excellent project management, facilitation, coaching, and presentation skills.
Ability to build relationships and influence across organizations and disciplines.
Strong strategic thinking, problem-solving, and decision-making skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple priorities and initiatives simultaneously.
Commitment to patient-centered care, health equity, quality improvement, and improved outcomes.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office, including Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and exercise sound professional judgment.
Regular, predictable attendance is required, including quarter-driven hours as business demands dictate.
Ability to handle the stress of traveling.

Nice To Haves

Experience working with community health centers, primary care organizations, health systems, clinically integrated networks, accountable care organizations, or value-based care programs.
Experience with Medicaid and/or Medicare programs.
Certification or formal training in quality improvement, process improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, IHI Improvement Advisor, or a related methodology.
Knowledge of FQHC operations and HRSA quality requirements.

Responsibilities

Develop and lead NCCHCA’s strategy for quality improvement, clinical transformation, and performance improvement, including priorities, goals, and measures.
Align quality strategies with NCCHCA’s strategic plan, member needs, HRSA requirements, state priorities, and payer expectations.
Advise the CEO and NCCHCA leadership on quality and clinical transformation issues and provide direction to staff responsible for related initiatives.
Lead strategies to improve patient outcomes, reduce variation in care, improve access, and enhance patient and staff experience.
Support health centers in implementing evidence-based practices, team-based care, practice transformation, and Patient-Centered Medical Home principles.
Promote use of the IHI Model for Improvement, PDSA cycles, Lean principles, and data-driven decision-making.
Analyze clinical, operational, and performance data to identify improvement opportunities and develop adaptable tools, resources, workflows, and best practices.
Evaluate successful improvement initiatives and support their broader implementation across the network.
Provide strategic leadership for quality improvement activities supporting CMHN Medicaid and Medicare value-based care arrangements.
Work with CMHN and participating health centers to improve quality, utilization, patient experience, and other value-based care measures.
Monitor and interpret UDS, HEDIS, payer-specific, and other relevant quality measures; collaborate with data, analytics, population health, care management, network, and finance teams.
Translate payer requirements and performance expectations into actionable strategies, connecting quality improvement with cost, utilization, shared savings, revenue, and overall value.
Serve as a resource to member health centers and provide coaching, technical assistance, education, and resources to support improvement efforts.
Facilitate quality workgroups, learning collaboratives, and peer-learning opportunities; promote the sharing of successful practices and build health center capacity to sustain improvement.
Develop and oversee statewide quality initiatives, pilots, collaboratives, and learning networks, including project goals, measures, timelines, evaluation, monitoring, and reporting.
Work with staff and health center partners to address barriers and translate successful pilots into scalable models.
Collaborate with data and analytics leadership to develop reports, dashboards, performance tools, measures, benchmarks, and evaluation processes.
Translate complex performance data into actionable information and promote data-driven decision-making throughout NCCHCA and its member network.
Maintain knowledge of HRSA Health Center Program quality requirements and ensure strategies and resources are consistent with applicable federal, state, and payer standards.
Monitor changes in quality and performance requirements and communicate their implications to leadership and members.
Support development of policies, procedures, workflows, and resources related to quality improvement and practice transformation.
Collaborate across NCCHCA and CMHN teams and build relationships with health center executives, clinical leaders, quality professionals, and other stakeholders.
Represent NCCHCA in state and national forums, committees, workgroups, and professional organizations; develop external partnerships and identify useful practices and resources.
Supervise, mentor, and develop assigned staff; establish priorities, expectations, and performance measures and foster a collaborative, inclusive, high-performing team.
Provide leadership to multidisciplinary teams working on quality improvement and transformation initiatives.
Participate in leadership and board meetings, committees, retreats, and other organizational activities; assist executive leadership with strategic initiatives.
Perform other duties as assigned.