Job Summary

Reporting to the Director of Patient Safety, the Patient Safety Specialist participates in the promotion of a safety-supportive culture and consistent application of practice-based medicine and the implementation of the UCSF Patient Safety Plan. Actively identifies and anticipates patient safety opportunities, and determines risk for exposure of harm/potential harm. Coordinates, investigates, analyzes, and responds to quality/patient safety issues, events, and significant care issues or trends. Conducts surveillance, analysis, and data reporting for patient safety, while complying with regulatory/accreditation requirements. Serves as a subject matter expert on internal and external patient safety matters. Collaborates with UCSF Health leadership and operational partners, Adult and Perioperative Medical Directors for Quality and Safety, risk management, incident reporting content managers, and other groups as appropriate and supports/ oversees Patient Safety Committee efforts. Supports educational programs in patient safety, implements organization and regulatory safety initiatives using performance improvement and quality tools. Helps to spread “lessons learned” from adverse events, as well as successful initiatives, to other units and departments in order to avoid future exposure of harm, fosters a clinical environment of service excellence. Coordinates various efforts to improve patient safety throughout the organization by identifying problem areas, assessment, and escalation to leadership, oversight of projects related to compliance with the Joint Commission National Patient Safety Goals and other regulatory agencies. Supports the Patient Safety leadership team by participating and facilitating Root Cause Analysis, FMEA, Culture of Patient Safety Survey, and other prospective and retrospective event review activities. Maintains close collaborative relationships with nursing and physician leadership teams in the development, implementation, and monitoring of corrective action plans to assure timely and efficient review and follow-up on patient safety events. Monitors data on patient safety-related issues to interpret trends and to measure and assess the health of the patient safety program.

License/Certification

• Licensed Clinician in the State of California
• Certified: Professional in Patient Safety (CPPS), Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) and Lean/Six Sigma

Department Description

The Department of Quality & Safety consists of Adult Quality & Safety, Benioff Children’s Hospitals (BCH) Quality & Safety, Hospital Epidemiology & Infection Prevention, Analytics & Clinical Effectiveness, and Clinical Documentation Integrity. The teams are made of multidisciplinary professionals with diverse backgrounds. The role of the Department is the support UCSF Health to deliver safe, equitable, and high-quality care to the communities we serve.

Patient Safety is a division within the Quality and Patient Safety Department. The focus of the Patient Safety division is preventing, mitigating, or reducing harm from medical errors and system defects. Activities include risk surveillance and analysis of potential or actual medical errors and hazardous conditions, and process improvement to prevent future adverse events.

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent in a healthcare-related profession including nursing, public health, healthcare administration, or other relevant fields.
• Strong skills in data analysis, project management, facilitating group work, and working in a hospital environment with systems improvement.
• Thorough knowledge of clinical improvement issues and patient safety methodologies, tools, regulatory requirements, and policies.
• Strong project management skills and the ability to effectively manage time, organize competing priorities, address complex issues as they arise, and see projects through to completion on schedule.
• Strong interpersonal skills for collaborating effectively with a broad range of clinical and technical staff, representatives of external regulatory agencies, and mentoring staff.
• Proven ability to effectively convey complex clinical, technical, and educational information both verbally and in writing, and to produce high-quality reports, documentation, and presentations.
• Strong knowledge of various clinical and business software packages and of the specialized applications and data management programs used in patient safety and quality improvement systems.
• Experience with a variety of methods and skills for adverse event monitoring and remediation including root cause analysis, and failure mode effect analysis
• This position requires flexibility to orient and work at all UCSF Medical Center locations. This individual will have the ability to work remotely and on-site (hybrid) at our Medical Center, located at Parnassus Heights, San Francisco.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with electronic health records, including CPOE, decision support, and clinical documentation
• Experience in a large multi-facility health system/ academic institution
• Experience in Perioperative Services / Operating Room
• Master’s degree or equivalent in a healthcare-related profession including nursing, public health, healthcare administration, or other relevant fields.

About UCSF

At UCSF Health, our mission of innovative patient care, advanced technology and pioneering research is redefining what’s possible for the patients we serve – a promise we share with the professionals who make up our team.

Consistently ranked among the top 10 hospitals nationwide by U.S. News & World Report – UCSF Health is committed to providing the most rewarding work experience while delivering the best care available anywhere. In an environment that allows for continuous learning and opportunities for professional growth, UCSF Health offers the ideal atmosphere in which to best use your skills and talents.

Pride Values

UCSF is a diverse community made of people with many skills and talents. We seek candidates whose work experience or community service has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to professionalism, respect, integrity, diversity and excellence – also known as our PRIDE values.

In addition to our PRIDE values, UCSF is committed to equity – both in how we deliver care as well as our workforce. We are committed to building a broadly diverse community, nurturing a culture that is welcoming and supportive, and engaging diverse ideas for the provision of culturally competent education, discovery, and patient care. Additional information about UCSF is available at diversity.ucsf.edu

Join us to find a rewarding career contributing to improving healthcare worldwide.

Equal Employment Opportunity

The University of California San Francisco is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, age, protected veteran or disabled status, or genetic information.