Career Center

Arkansas Children’s is a large, multi-hospital children’s health care system dedicated to improving the health of all children in Arkansas. Our four core values are Safety, Teamwork, Compassion and Excellence. Safety and Excellence frame our work and Teamwork and Compassion place people at the center of all we do.

The Quality and Safety Division at Arkansas Children’s is dynamic and successful and has accomplished significant gains in the past few years. These include reaching a record number of days between serious safety events; achieving Solutions for Patient Safety performance outcome goals; introducing the CANDOR approach to responding to harm events; deploying high reliability leadership methods, and developing a preventable harm index to include employee safety.

Arkansas Children’s is conducting a national search for a physician executive and system-level Vice President and Chief Quality and Safety Officer.

Position Description
The Chief Quality and Safety Officer (CQSO) will provide leadership for a large team of individuals focused on improving all dimensions of healthcare quality. The CQSO's primary objective will be to promote the delivery of safe, high-quality care that results in demonstrably better outcomes for children across our healthcare system.

Candidate Qualifications
Required:
• Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) with 10 years clinical experience and at least five years leadership experience managing quality, patient safety and related key initiatives in a large, complex academic medical center or similarly complex environment
• Strong analytical skills with a background in both quantitative and qualitative methods for
informing improvement work
• Deep knowledge of and experience working with organizational change management and
improvement frameworks, such as IHI Model for Improvement, Lean, Six Sigma, Design Thinking
• Experience with or willingness to learn more about Agile project management methodology
• Working knowledge of hospital practices and protocols as well as applicable regulations and guidelines
• Preferred Education: Advanced training in Quality and Safety either through degree program or other advanced training offered by institutions like IHI, Intermountain, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital or CHOP
• Preferred Experience: Demonstrated track record of success leading Quality and Safety program at a Children’s Hospital, with accountability to CMO, CEO and Board of Trustees
• Preferred Licenses/certificates/registrations: Board Certified in Pediatrics preferred

Ideal Candidate Profile:
• Demonstrated track record of success leading Quality and Safety operations at a Children’s Hospital
• Experienced in building, managing and empowering teams that have achieved consistently outstanding results
• Trusted partner and relationship builder capable of forging effective collaborations with individuals and teams at all levels of the organization
• Committed to the professional development of colleagues, mentees and self
• Confident in his/her abilities and opinions but has the self-awareness and humility to solicit input and feedback from others, especially direct reports
• Excited to work with intelligent, creative and experienced employees who challenge each other (and their boss) with new ideas and approaches to difficult problems
• Intellectually curious, open to change, and keen to experiment with new approaches to solving problems
• Possesses an evolved sense of empathy — for fellow employees, for the providers and patients whose problems we are trying to solve, for him/herself
• Possesses a growth mindset and promotes it in others, which translates into minimal fear of failure because he/she genuinely believes that hard work and perseverance will eventually lead to success
• Strong influence and interpersonal skills; ability to work with and through others to accomplish work outside span of control
• Ability to appreciate and collaborate with a wide range of internal and external stakeholders
from diverse cultural, professional, organizational and functional backgrounds

Primary Responsibilities

The CQSO will lead the Quality and Safety Team with a primary objective of delivering high- quality care that results in demonstrably better outcomes for children. The Quality and Safety Team includes a number of Arkansas Children's leaders.

Physician Quality Leaders

1. Arkansas Children's Medical Director of Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes
2. Arkansas Children's Medical Director of Infection Prevention
3. Arkansas Children's Medical Director of Simulation Education
4. UAMS Department of Pediatrics Vice Chair of Quality and Safety

Program Directors and Managers

1. Arkansas Children's Vice President of Clinical Risk Management, Quality and Safety
2. Arkansas Children's Director of Infection Prevention and Control
3. Arkansas Children's Director of the Simulation Center
4. Arkansas Children's Director of Antimicrobial Stewardship
5. Arkansas Children's Manager of Clinical Effectiveness and Outcomes
6. Arkansas Children's Manager of Process Improvement.

The CQSO will also lead educational efforts related to quality, safety and improvement science to enhance organizational knowledge and culture of QI. The CQSO will collaborate with Chief Information Officer to develop/implement strategies for use of clinical informatics tools to support clinicians in improving care delivery and outcomes for children.