Description

Chief Clinical Officer
Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire

The Chief Clinical Officer (CCO) serves as a key member of the Executive leadership team. The CCO is accountable for operations of skilled care, telehealth, maternal-child health, pediatrics, long-term care case management, ACO care coordination, and palliative care and hospice services. Responsible for program growth, financial viability, quality performance, service excellence, and regulatory compliance of related programs. As a member of Dartmouth Health, the Chief Clinical Officer is a strategic partner to Dartmouth- Health’s Service Line Leaders in the development of care pathways to include community-based services and care at home. Champions high-reliability process design, evidence-based practice, innovation, and a culture of service excellence. Demonstrates leadership in service to the VNH mission, values, and both the VNH and Dartmouth Health strategic plans and works collaboratively with physicians, administration, colleagues, and staff to achieve related goals.

During the first 18 months, the Chief Clinical Officer will be expected to focus on the following key priorities:

Build Relationships: Build and maintain both professional and personal credibility and trusting relationships with the Executive Leadership team, Dartmouth Health Leadership, VNH clinical staff, and all other employees throughout VNH. Develop effective and collaborative relationships with the Executive Leadership team that are based on transparent, open communications.

Maintain Positive Culture and Commitment to High-Quality Care:  In collaboration with the CEO and Vice President for Quality and Compliance, develop a plan to strengthen and improve VNH’s quality performance. Continue to cultivate a collaborative, engaged, and positive organizational culture where all parties are committed to working together toward a common and aligned focus on delivering high-quality and patient-centered care.

Financial Stability: In collaboration with the Executive Leadership team, develop a plan for growth and financial stability through improved net patient services revenue. As part of the plan, conduct a service line assessment (including P&L and market demand) to understand service line profitability and performance. Determine potential areas for growth and execute upon targeted growth strategies as determined by the Executive team based upon the resulting analysis.

Clinical Workforce Planning, Retention & Recruitment: In partnership with the Executive Leadership team, develop and implement a workforce development plan to reduce turnover/vacancy rates and agency staff.

Reports To:

• The President and CEO of Visiting Nurse and Hospice for VT and NH

Direct Reports:

• Director, Home Health Services
• Director, Hospice Services
• Medical Director, Hospice Services
• Director, Maternal Child Health Services
• Director, Long-term Care Services

Position Responsibilities:

• Serves as a key member of the executive leadership team reporting to the CEO; works closely with the other members of the executive team to guide and oversee the organization’s strategic plan, immediate and future goals, and operational objectives.
• Establishes a culture, identity, and sense of team that fosters exceptional service, creative problem solving, and collaboration. Maintains a visible presence within VNH and throughout the Dartmouth Health System.
• Leads and inspires the clinical leadership team to develop programs, processes, and initiatives to provide compassionate, comprehensive, high-quality, evidence-based care, and service excellence. Assures the highest standards of healthcare delivery and outcomes, ensuring a constant patient focus.
• Builds, develops, and manages a clinical leadership team able to carry out operational strategies, and maintain and nurture a highly competent, motivated, and productive staff.
• Drives greater performance and leverages system thinking and creativity to continuously improve clinical quality metrics, employee engagement, patient care services, expense reduction, and managing staffing resources.
• Creates, implements, and monitors a patient centered care model that results in excellent patient experience outcomes.
• Partners with VNH Executive team on the path to becoming a top ranked home-based care provider for all clinical services within a multi-disciplinary/inter-professional team.
• Responsible for allocating adequate resources and implementing an effective and ongoing program to monitor, evaluate and improve the quality of care services delivered to patients. Ensures that services are provided with respect to quality, patient and stakeholder requirements, and efficiency.
• Plans, monitors and manages the clinical services budget and FTE’s to ensure achievement of operational and financial goals. Maintains thorough knowledge of home health, palliative care, hospice, private duty, and long-term care reimbursement.
• Expands access to care through establishing, refining or creating new clinical services or programs needed to meet the needs of our communities and healthcare partners. Collaborates with business development to support organizational growth. Promotes VNH and Dartmouth Health among health professionals and in the community.
• Collaborates with the Dartmouth Health Chief Nurse Executive and member Chief Nursing, Medical and Clinical Officers to advance system strategies, clinical practice and patient-centered care initiatives. Fosters clinical integration across the continuum of patient care services provided by the health system.
• Participates as an active supporter of the organization’s compliance program, including an emphasis to report, as well as complying with all federal, state and local laws as well as the organization’s compliance program. Maintains a thorough understanding of Medicare Conditions of Participation and billing rules for programs of responsibility, and VT and NH state regulations.
• Conceptual thinking – the ability to synthesize complex information from divergent sources and extract their implications to the organization. Conceptual thinkers have an astute understanding of why something is being done, ability to think abstractly about the situation and apply their insights.
• Diplomacy and tact – the ability to treat others fairly in a sensitive and effective way. Uses appropriate discretion in every situation and builds understanding with staff and colleagues.
• Communication – the ability to articulate a written message in a clear and compelling manner and verbally communicate ideas, analysis, and strategies effectively to a variety of audiences.
• Empathy – the ability to experience a situation the way another person experiences it and understand the meaning it holds for the other. Empathy builds trust and improves effectiveness in dealing with difficult situations and creating solutions many people can support.
• Teamwork – the ability to work cooperatively with others and build organizational capacity to achieve results.
• Planning – the ability to create and use systematic processes to achieve goals. Planning includes adaptability, understanding and mitigation of risks to the plan objectives and the organization.
  
  

Minimum Qualifications:

• Master’s Degree required; bachelor’s degree or master’s degree must be in nursing, physical or occupational therapy.
• 10 years of experience in leadership; management and consultative skills required.
• Background in home health, hospice and community-based services required.
• Licensed (or eligible) as a clinician in VT and NH.
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certification as Home Care and/or Hospice Administrator
  
  

How To Apply:

Please address all cover letters and correspondence to:

Mark L. Semiao, MBA
Executive Recruiter, Talent Acquisition
Dartmouth-Hitchcock
Mark.L.Semiao@hitchcock.org

Dartmouth Health and the Visiting Nurse and Hospice for Vermont and New Hampshire value diversity and are committed to equal opportunity for all persons regardless of age, color, disability, ethnicity, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, veteran status or any other status protected by law.