Director, Clinical Informatics (DCI)

The Director, Clinical Informatics examines and clarifies the forces that affect current and future needs relative to clinical informatics and provides Clinical Informatics leadership for the Sturdy Healthcare System. Serves as a liaison between Sturdy Health and the clinical informatics teams to communicate clinical user needs and facilitate system modifications to meet quality standards and ensure safe patient care. The DCI expresses a clear vision for future clinical IT opportunities and creates linkages between current and future activities. This person understands systems and manages complexity well. In addition, the DCI effectively works with diverse members of the organization and can identify, align and optimize resources despite real or perceived boundaries.
Education/Training:

• A Bachelor's, MSN or Master's in Informatics preferred
• Related work experience in a similar role of 6-12 years may be substituted in lieu of education

Licenses/Certification:

• Current and Active Massachusetts RN License preferred
• American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) preferred
• Nursing Informatics and/or CPHIMS preferred

Required Qualifications and Skills:

Leadership 2-3 years

Clinical 5 years

Informatics 5+ years

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Leadership

• Serves as the strategic liaison for health IT efforts representing healthcare professional and patient care team needs.
• Creates a communication strategy and cross-organizational vision for nursing/clinical informatics in concert with the overall organizational strategy.
• Understands the impact of regulatory changes and collaborates with internal and external constituents to implement appropriate clinical IT processes.
• Collaborates with the CIO to develop the nursing/clinical informatics strategies related to health IT procurement, implementation, maintenance and optimization.
• Combines knowledge of patient care, informatics concepts and change management to effectively address the information and knowledge needs of healthcare professionals and patients to promote safe, effective and efficient use of health IT in clinical settings.
• Develops clinical systems strategies in collaboration with other senior nursing/clinical, medical informatics and operational leaders.
• Acts as a change agent in the identification, development, planning, implementation and value measurement of informatics strategies to support quality patient care and professional practice.
• Designs, develops and implements appropriate service delivery in collaboration with IT leadership for the enterprise and its customers.
• Incorporates nursing research and evidence-based nursing knowledge into nursing informatics practice.
• Maintains relationships with key business partners and other senior industry leaders to leverage best practices, evaluate and promote emerging technologies, and distribute knowledge internally to inform plans and strategies.
• Works with vendors to proactively strategize on development and/or enhancement of clinical information system solutions to meet organizational business needs.
• Works with clinical and IT leaders in evaluating the effectiveness of technologies and workflows that impact clinical users.
• Collaborates with nurse leaders in planning and implementing program expansion and growth, including new business ventures, construction, and projects.
• Assesses and supports the clinical health IT needs as they relate to evolving patient care delivery models, hospital operations, human resource processes, healthcare finance and payment models impacting the continuum of care.
• Promotes advancement of clinical and business intelligence systems capable of reporting variables to evaluate patient outcomes and to support research and operational improvement across the continuum of care.
• Ensures a competent, technology-enabled knowledge workforce.

Essential Job Functions:

Quality

• Coordinates and collaborates with administrative teams, clinical leaders, information technology, financial services and quality/regulatory/risk management among others in the development of high quality and innovative clinical information systems that assist clinicians in their delivery of care.
• Responsible for ensuring quality improvement efforts are consistent with promoting informatics research, regulatory bodies and guidelines, as well as evidence-based practice that supports positive clinical outcomes.
• Ensures coordination and integration of standard of care practices across all clinical departments for quality patient care.

Patient Safety

• Supports the development and implementation of technology and infrastructure in the prevention of medical errors and adverse events.
• Advances the use of health IT to improve patient safety by designing, developing, implementing and educating on decision support tools.
• Continuously collects, analyzes and reports data in collaboration with quality on patient safety issues and outcomes.
• Collaborates in partnership with information technology leadership to leverage predictive analytics tools to identify at-risk patients and populations.

Policy & Procedure

• Understands the impact of public policy initiatives on health IT systems and bridges new care delivery models into clinical practice.
• Supports nursing leadership to implement health IT infrastructure (policies and procedures) that supports the nursing community and patient care team.
• Develops and maintains standards of care as they relate to health IT that inform evidence-based practice, quality of care, patient safety and clinician workflows.
• Ensures nursing practices and corresponding policies and procedures related to health IT follow appropriate regulations and standards.

Technology

• Collaborates with administration, medical staff and IT leaders to translate clinician requirements into coordinated specifications for new clinical solutions.
• Encourages surveillance and reporting of errors where health IT is a contributing factor.
• Defines health IT requirements for nursing and other disciplines as they relate to the strategic plan.
• Provides leadership in the area of IT disaster planning and recovery strategies consistent with principles of high reliability.
• Implements downtime readiness procedures and internal reporting regarding system response time and service level agreements for connectivity and operational effectiveness of health IT.

Other duties: Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. The position may require on-call support.

AGE AND DIVERSITY RELATED CRITERIA: Consistently treats patients, colleagues and visitors with the dignity and respect, while being sensitive to the differing needs of all age groups, backgrounds, characteristics and cultures.

ABILITY TO FULFILL JOB EXPECTATIONS: Must have the ability to the perform essential functions of the position, including required work hours, locations and physical demands, without posing a direct threat to the health and safety of themselves or other individuals in the workplace, and with or without reasonable accommodation.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS: Sit for long periods of time. Use their hands to handle, control, or feel objects, tools, or controls. Repeat the same movements. See details of objects that are less than a few feet away. Speak clearly so listeners can understand. Understand the speech of another person.

Sturdy Memorial Hospital is an equal employment opportunity employer. There is no discrimination because of race, color, creed, age, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, veteran status or disability.