In 2020 united in a fierce commitment to deliver the highest quality care and exceptional patient experience Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan Health came together as natural partners to build a new health system centered around the patient: Virginia Mason Franciscan Health. Our combined system builds upon the scale and expertise of our nearly 300 sites of care including 11 hospitals and nearly 5000 physicians and providers. Together we are empowered to make an even greater impact on the health and well-being of our communities.

This job is responsible for providing physician leadership in aligning anesthesia and perioperative medicine professional practice with Virginia Mason Franciscan Health’s (VMFH) strategic goals and objectives and the professional standards of the clinical disciplines.  An incumbent is accountable for clinical quality, patient safety and engagement of clinical care providers and is also expected to foster an environment in which teaching, research and quality improvement are supported.

Working in a strategic leadership partnership with an administrative dyad partner, the market leader’s responsibilities also focus on leading/facilitating anesthesia and perioperative medicine improvement opportunities, driving standardization and eliminating variability in anesthesia and perioperative medicine services/resources, maximizing effective utilization of resources and enhancing overall patient outcomes/service satisfaction.

The incumbent works in close collaboration with the VMFH hospital leadership, physicians and advanced practice professionals and other regional departments/services lines with respect to business plan development and to coordinate the integration of services across the care continuum. The incumbent will also collaborate with the CommonSpirit Health (CSH) System Vice President for Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine to ensure alignment between market needs and the national plan regarding provider employment, technology investment, quality management, and revenue cycle practices. 

Job duties require considerable knowledge of the specialized principles and practices related to health care management to evaluate and make viable recommendations for improving health care delivery system(s) and enhancing organizational effectiveness and efficiency.  Also requires knowledge of anesthesia and perioperative clinical operations and considerable management expertise relating to strategic planning, process improvement, budget administration and personnel management.

Clinical time allocation: Incumbent will work a minimum .20 FTE as a clinician and be subject to an active provider contract.

ESSENTIAL JOB FUNCTIONS:  The following section contains representative examples of job duties that might be performed in positions allocated to this job class.  Virginia Mason Franciscan Health is a dynamic organization, and the environment can be fluid.  Roles and responsibilities may be altered to accommodate changing business conditions and objectives as well as to tap into the skills and experience of its employees.  Accordingly, employees may be asked to perform duties that are outside the specific work that is listed.  It is not required that any position perform all duties listed, so long as primary responsibilities are consistent with the work as described.  Performance standards developed for incumbents allocated to this job class may also contain relevant job content information and are referenced hereto.

Leadership

• Leads by example through exemplary clinical care, adherence to organizational and departmental standards and a synthesized understanding of the clinical and business aspects of their practice; personifies VMFH’s values of Compassion, Integrity, Inclusion, Excellence and Collaboration and the behaviors outlined in the VMFH Physician and Advanced Practice Provider Compact.
• Prioritizes patient’s experience and needs with a continuous focus on quality, safety, service, and fiscal responsibility.
• Ensures appropriate support to and delivery of medical education in anesthesia and perioperative medicine.
• Ensures anesthesia and perioperative participation in committees and quality initiatives throughout VMFH.
• Ensures anesthesia and perioperative medicine participation in pertinent quality initiatives throughout VMFH.
• Ensures VMFH anesthesia and perioperative medicine is active in the national Common Spirit Health anesthesia and perioperative medicine community.
• Collaborates with leadership teams in alignment with the VMFH strategic plan to develop vision, innovative strategies and short- and long-term goals for the division.

• Works to create alignment of purpose, structure, and function across all anesthesia and perioperative medicine teams serving patients at VMFH hospitals.
• Engages in continuous study and utilization of Virginia Mason Production System; leads process improvement, champions PDSAs and supports implementation of new work standards; thoughtfully assesses team readiness and capacity for change.
• Promotes patient safety by supporting a just culture and learning environment; participates in patient safety activities including PSA review, performance of clinical care reviews and participation in patient safety workgroups.
• Engages in service recovery including review of patient complaints, outreach to patients and/or families and provision of constructive feedback to providers.
• Fosters a respectful workplace culture through demonstration of appreciation and engagement of Respect for People principles.
• Participates in and develops, as necessary, lines of communication across clinical service lines serving anesthesia and perioperative medicine patients.

Operational Accountability 

• Plans, directs and evaluates, through subordinate managers, the programs, systems, operations and resources of the assigned clinical area(s) to assure the safe and appropriate delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic patient care, achievement of clinical core measurement scores, and to ensure that all activities are conducted in a timely and cost-effective manner and in compliance with organizational values, professional standards, internal policies/standards/procedures and applicable regulatory requirements; produces and presents reports on key performance indicators and other significant benchmarking metrics.
• Directs all aspects of patient care within the clinical area(s) and ensures the application of consistent practices relating to clinical/administrative operations, customer service, human resources activities and VMFH standards; collaborates with medical staff to develop and implement new clinical systems/programs to enhance existing services and raise the standard of care for the patient population served.
• Collaborates with other leadership/staff in the common goal of standardization, integration and enhancement of the continuum of services available within designated clinical area(s); participates in the company-wide evaluation of processes and practices to determine the need for change to accommodate shifting business priorities, conditions and objectives.
• Together with subject matter experts and system and divisional leadership, creates and implements tools, programs and services in support of anesthesia and perioperative medicine excellence, including acting as a liaison for those implementations involving the information technology team.  Assists with strategic investment decisions related to anesthesia and monitoring equipment and information technology solutions to operate successful anesthesia and perioperative medicine programs.

Resource Management/Budget Administration

• In conjunction with a dyad administrative partner, determines resources needed to accomplish anesthesia and perioperative medicine performance objectives and oversees activities and resources in a manner that is fiscally responsible and in accordance with VMFH policies and standards; regularly assesses staffing levels required for safe provision of patient care; prepares, or directs the preparation of the annual operating/capital budget; identifies, aligns and optimizes resources to positively impact organizational strategies towards achievement of goals; exercises effective cost control by monitoring and adjusting expenses as needed to stay within budget; supports and develops administrative infrastructure to maximize revenue capture; approves expenditures within defined scope of responsibility
• In conjunction with a dyad administrative partner, identifies negative variances and develops action plans to document, address and effectively resolve in a timely manner; oversees the preparation of complete and accurate financial, budget, activity and productivity information, including variance reports, financial projections and other statistical reports; keeps Vice President apprised of all issues with potential for budgetary impact. 

Provider Management and Development 

• Coaches providers in their professional development; encourages participation in medical center meetings and identifies development opportunities aligned with provider and VMFH interests; promotes education, research and teaching opportunities. 
• Provides supervision of provider recruitment efforts targeted at building and maintaining a team of superb anesthesiologists and advance practice providers who are strongly aligned with the mission and values of VMFH.
• Provides feedback for anesthesiologists and advance practice providers and guides performance correction actions in support of VMFH Clinical Standards of Care and VMFH Behavioral Standards.
• Works in collaboration with administrative partners to ensure each provider meets FTE requirements on an annual basis.

• Advises and assists with engagement initiatives to enhance and improve staff and provider engagement consistent with organizational goals.

Performs related duties as required.

MINIMUM JOB QUALIFICATIONS:  The following section contains representative examples of competencies and job qualifications directly related to successful performance in the position.  The categories are broad, reflecting minimum requirements.  It is not intended to be an exhaustive list of all possible requirements nor does it include general competencies, expectations and/or skills that are universally applicable to the work, but are not critical for recruitment purposes or to overall job performance.  

Education/Work Experience Requirements

Requires MD or DO degree, with Board certification in Anesthesiology and 7 years of successful clinical practice as an anesthesiologist, including 5 years in a leadership/management capacity.

Job Knowledge/Skills:

• Knowledge of the content, intent and application of regulations, policies, standards, operations, and requirements applicable to the business function(s) under designated scope of authority.
• Knowledge of the principles, practices, regulatory requirements and VMFH policies applicable to budget administration, resource/expense control, employee supervision and performance management.  
• Knowledge of and ability to provide and manage staffing coverage in a 24/7 operation including the ability to mitigate scheduling conflicts and or provide clarification with scheduling issues.
• Ability to work collaboratively and supportively with the VMFH CMO in conjunction with the medical staff to provide guidance in the development, implementation and compliance with policies and procedures in the specialty area of anesthesia and perioperative medicine.
• Knowledge of the principles and practices of strategic business planning, program development and continuous process/performance improvement. 
• Knowledge of medical informatics, applied statistical techniques and analytical tools/processes.
• Knowledge of managed care, including capitation and contracting issues.
• Knowledge of health care reform initiatives and legal issues pertaining to health care.
• Knowledge of and the ability to develop and maintain standards for anesthesia and perioperative care.
• Knowledge of TJC standards and CMS quality measures.
• Ability to convey information effectively in verbal and written communication, and through group/business presentations and meetings.
• Ability to generate optimism in fellow team members.
• Ability to understand financial and/or operational reports, analyze data, identify improvement opportunities and implement effective responses.  Ability to draw conclusions from data.
• Ability to identify budget variances, compliance deficiencies and/or systemic weaknesses and implement timely corrective action to forestall or remedy.
• Ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships as required by the duties of the position and a philosophy of collaboration and teamwork. Ability to create change through influence. 
• Strong persuasive abilities and the ability to strengthen clinical partnerships.
• Ability to work collaboratively with physicians, nurses, and other providers in interdisciplinary teams to coordinate and continuously improve patient care. 
• A demonstrated ability in forging relations between physicians, advanced practice providers and management.
• Ability to strategize, develop and evaluate business plans, initiatives, standards, budgets, and policies/procedures.
• Ability to successfully lead, manage, oversee, develop and evaluate the work of subordinate staff and clinical credibility with physician and advanced practice provider constituencies.
• Ability to keep abreast of trends, developments and regulatory requirements impacting matters within designated scope of authority.
• Ability to use automated systems, applications, software and office equipment at an acceptable level of proficiency.
• Knowledge of mentoring principles and the ability to cultivate and provide mentoring for providers and leaders in hospital medicine.

Licensure/Certification

Washington license to practice medicine, full and unrestricted.