Operations Director

Morgan Consulting Resources, Inc. has been retained to conduct the search for the Operations Director, Patient Communication Center for UCLA Health . This is a fantastic opportunity to join one of the most comprehensive and advanced health care systems in the world. This is a hybrid role, with the expectation of three days onsite.

About the Organization:

For more than 60 years, UCLA has provided the best in health care and the latest in medical technology to the people of Los Angeles and throughout the world. Our mission is to provide state-of-the-art patient care, generate research discoveries leading to new treatments and diagnoses, and train future generations of health care professionals. Together, the UCLA Hospital System and the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA strive every day to be a leader in setting the standards of excellence. For 34 consecutive years, UCLA Health hospitals have earned a place on the U.S. News & World Report national honor roll, a distinction reserved for the relative few providing the highest-quality care across multiple medical specialties. In 2023, U.S. News ranked UCLA Health in California and in Los Angeles .

UCLA Health is comprised of:
•   Over 280 clinics across Southern California and the Central Coast
•   Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
•   UCLA Mattel Children's Hospital
•   Stewart and Linda Resnick Neuropsychiatric Hospital
•   UCLA Santa Monica Medical Center
•   UCLA West Valley Medical Center
•   David Geffen School of Medicine UCLA Tied for ranking

For more information about UCLA Health, please visit: uclahealth.org .

About the Position:

Reporting to the Senior Director of Patient Access, the Operations Director, Patient Communication Center is responsible for the performance of all contact center functions including new patient registration, clinic appointment scheduling, referral management, and insurance verification. The Director has overall administrative responsibility for the central patient access organization's (PAO) operations team, a department of over 600 FTEs, with the intent to scale and grow further over the next few years. The Operations Director will establish and maintain policies and procedures to ensure compliance and consistency that supports excellent and positive patient experiences.

We are looking for an experienced healthcare contact center operations leader to direct 600+ unionized team members, with a deep understanding of clinic scheduling workflows and a commitment to enhancing the patient's experience. The Director is accountable for all activities related to workflows, performance data, and overall management of the operations and cross-functional areas to maximize call efficiency, optimize the consumer (patient, family, referring provider) experience, and encourage strong internal provider partnerships.

Select Responsibilities :
•   Improve centralized access for patients and their families to connect to care and support the mission of UCLA Health with exceptional consumer services.
•   Effectively manage operations to ensure the needs of the organization and consumers (i.e., patients, families, referring providers) are addressed.
•   Partner with the clinic teams and providers to open access and grow key strategic service lines.
•   Verify improvements and modifications in the delivery system have been incorporated into patient access service operations and performance.
•   Coordinate with Human Resources, Labor Relations, and Workforce Management to hire talent and meet the forecasted demand.
•   Partner with EPIC and telephony resources to improve workflows and standardize access tools.
•   With the Quality Assurance Team Manager and Nurse Triage, co-develop processes for high-risk patients and red flag symptoms to ensure proper patient handling of calls with critical needs.
•   Oversee the leadership team developing the workforce management software for adequate staffing using Cisco Calabrio to forecast and comply with staffing requirements.
•   Develop and manage the new referral management team designed to optimize the patient referral process for any patient service needs.
•   Improve processes to reduce the turnaround times and lower referral work queues through first contact resolution and efficient workflows. Education & Experience:
•   Bachelor's degree required; Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, or other related field preferred.
•   Minimum five (5) years of contact center management required ; management in a unionized environment is preferred.
•   Preparation of telephonic performance and agent management performance reports.
•   Experience and comfort in delivering presentations to senior leadership.
•   Demonstrated ability to lead a team through change management initiatives that deliver high patient satisfaction via omnichannel methods (i.e., phone calls, emails, text messages, live chats).
•   Proven understanding and articulation of contact center key performance indicators.
•   Healthcare experience, including medical terminology and healthcare insurance issues, preferred.
•   Managing or partnering with centralized nurse triage services preferred. To further explore this opportunity, express interest, or share referrals, please contact Amy Jones:

Amy Jones, Senior Executive Search Consultant
Morgan Consulting Resources, Inc. Healthcare Executive Search

Position Description

Position: Operations Director, Patient Communication Center
Company: UCLA Health
Reports to: Senior Director of Patient Access
Location: Hybrid / Los Angeles, CA

Position Summary

UCLA Health runs and operates over 200 outpatient clinics located in Southern California with over 3,000,000 outpatient encounters annually. Working under the direction of the Senior Director of Patient Access, the Director has overall administrative responsibility for the central patient access organization's operations team, a department of over 600 FTEs, with the intent to scale and grow further over the next few years. This position is responsible for the performance of all contact center functions including: new patient registration, clinic appointment scheduling, referral management, and insurance verification. Supported with Quality Assurance, Training, Technology, and Analytics Managers and Teams, this role is provided with standard Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) as a measure of operational goal achievements and to make informed strategic decisions per the department's oversight committees.

The Operations Director establishes and maintains policies and procedures to ensure compliance and consistency that supports excellent and positive patient experiences. This role communicates, plans, leads, and inspires access center staff while collaborating with hospital and ambulatory operations leadership. The Director is accountable for all activities related to workflows, performance data, and overall management of the operations and cross-functional areas to maximize call efficiency, optimize the consumer (patient, family, referring provider) experience, and encourage strong internal provider partnerships.

Responsibilities

Operations:
•   Improved centralized access for patients and their families to connect to care and support the mission of UCLA Health with exceptional consumer services.
•   Effectively manage operations to ensure the needs of the organization and consumers (i.e., patients, families, referring providers) are addressed.
•   Partner with the clinic teams and providers to open access and grow key strategic service lines.
•   Verify improvements and modifications in the delivery system have been incorporated into patient access service operations and performance. HR Development:
•   Coordinate with Human Resources, Labor Relations, and Workforce Management to hire talent and meet the forecasted demand. IT and Technology Enhancements:
•   Partner with EPIC and telephony resources to improve workflows and standardize access tools.
•   With the Quality Assurance Team Manager and Nurse Triage, co-develop processes for high-risk patients and red flag symptoms to ensure proper patient handling of calls with critical needs.
•   Oversee the leadership team developing the workforce management software for adequate staffing using Cisco Calabrio to forecast and comply with staffing requirements.
•   Maintain infrastructure and planning for advanced technology and capabilities.
•   Engage IT partners for the optimal software, hardware, and telephony technology.
•   Continuously assess the effectiveness of current technology. Referral Management:
•   Develop and manage the new referral management team designed to optimize the patient referral process for any patient service needs.
•   Improve processes to reduce the turnaround times and lower referral work queues through first contact resolution and efficient workflows. Leadership and Change Management:
•   Set the example as a professional and foster creativity and innovation amongst diverse teams.
•   Collaborate with support teams using change management skills click apply for full job details