Patient Safety and Experience Lead

Position Type:

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Closing date:

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Emergency Medical Care Inc. (EMC) is a wholly owned subsidiary of Medavie Health Services (MHS) that manages and operates ground ambulance, air medical transport and the medical communications operations in Nova Scotia through a performance-based contract with the provincial government's Emergency Health Services (EHS) Operations division and the Department of Health and Wellness. As well, EMC operates TeleHealth/811 medical communications for Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island for the Department of Health.

We access all communities in Nova Scotia in a timely and efficient manner with our fleet of more than 180 ambulances and support vehicles operating out of 60+ stations. We respond to 165,000+ calls annually across the province, which are actively managed through the EHS Operations Medical Communications Centre, the hub of all emergency (911) and non-emergency (hospital transfers) medical calls.

The EHS Operations LifeFlight program provides even greater accessibility by responding to patients on scene or through inter-facility transports by our critical care team via helicopter, fixed wing, or ground ambulance.

In addition, paramedics in Nova Scotia participate in various programs both urban and rural such as community-based paramedic programs, collaborative emergency centres, and emergency preparedness and special operations, to name a few.

There are lots of opportunities waiting for you in Nova Scotia. Apply now to learn more about our service and available positions.

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Patient Safety and Experience Lead

Reporting to the Manager, Risk and Patient Safety, the Patient Safety and Experience Lead is responsible for supporting Emergency Medical Care's (EMC) Patient Safety and Patient Experience initiatives focused on the EHS system.

The Patient Safety and Experience Lead has an overall goal of fostering a culture of person-centered care, while ensuring an organizational focus on patient safety. As a specialist in patient safety, the incumbent shall be responsible for identifying, monitoring, investigating and mitigating patient safety risks for EHS patients. The accomplishment of this will be through leading both prospective and retrospective analyses using existing methodology for incident analysis, quality reviews and failure mode and effects analyses (FMEA). Related investigations are conducted through the Issues Management (IM) program which includes conducting investigations, completing case files and supporting system-level recommendations.

The Patient Safety Experience Lead is responsible for supporting patient and family relations within the organization, as well as developing and leading the Patient and Family Partnership Council. The incumbent will play a key role in building and maintaining external relationships with patients, families and communities. The incumbent will work closely with all areas of the organization, including Clinical Services, System Performance, Operations and Medical Communications teams, as well as other personnel within the organization, as required.

As an employee of Emergency Medical Care (EMC) we are accountable to our patients and coworkers by participating in and supporting all safety related initiatives, as well as acting in a manner that fosters a culture that focuses on patient safety and a safe workplace.

Duties and Responsibilities:

The position entails, but is not limited to the following:

Patient Experience

· Act as an organizational specialist and advocate for patient experience and engagement.

· Support the organization in improving patient experience.

· Lead the development of the Patient and Family Partnership Council, ensuring alignment with the organization's strategic plan and business priorities.

Patient Relations

· Act as the organization's specialist for EHS patient relations.

· Communicate directly with patient and/or family members who require additional support after receiving care through the EHS system.

· Make contact, and act as the EMC representative for patients and/or family members who are involved in a service inquiry or related to care received within the EHS system.

· Follow-up and effectively communicate findings to patients and/or family members who are involved in a service inquiry or related to care which was reviewed through the Issues Management Program.

Collaboration

· Collaborate with EMC leaders in the development of organizational policies, guidelines and other documentation impacting patient safety.

· Develop relationships with community groups to identify unique care needs of individuals within their community.

· Act as a patient safety and experience liaison internally and externally on program and policy implementation.

· Participate in or facilitate key committees, providing support from a patient safety and experience perspective, including but not limited to: ePCR Advisory, Continuous Quality Improvement, Privacy Management Committee, Equipment Standards and Joint Occupational Health and Safety (JOHS).

· Collaborate with EHS, LifeFlight and Telehealth managers, supervisors and operations and support personnel to ensure the integration of patient safety and experience organizationally.

Prospective Risk Analysis

· Act as the organization's specialist for prospective risk analysis to ensure sustained risk management and safe practices that align with EMC's strategic plan.

· Lead the organization through Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) for projects and/or initiatives identified through the Change Management Office (CMO), or other internal stakeholders.

· Author reports submitted to project teams, sponsors and/or senior leadership based on an FMEA exercise, summarizing risks and recommendations.

· Follow-up on, and support recommendations made through an FMEA analysis. Work directly with divisional leaders to ensure the completion of recommendations identified through this process.

Patient Safety Issues Management and Incident Analysis

· Monitor and report on all occurrences and inquiries which impact patient safety. Work closely with the Risk Management Team and responsible managers to ensure Issues Management (IM) files are opened and assigned as appropriate.

· Take the lead investigator role for IM cases assigned for patient safety issues. Gather data and information as required, such as electronic patient care records, statements, pictures, dispatch audio, etc.

· Lead detailed interviews with front line staff when required related to review cases.

· Lead independent reviews, inter-divisional quality reviews, and/or structured incident analyses for patient safety investigations depending on severity of the incident, ensuring system learning from each occurrence.

· Author, monitor, distribute and ensure the completion of recommendations made post analysis of patient safety related investigations.

· Author reports based on the patient safety investigations completed.

Patient Safety Education

· Ensure the knowledge translation of system findings for patient safety related concerns to the appropriate divisions.

· Lead and deliver education through blended learning methods with front line staff both virtually, and in-person on patient safety and the patient experience.

· Collaborate with Clinical Services to present patient safety related information on Morbidity and Mortality (M&M) sessions, with a focus on educating front-line staff on both individual and system-level patient safety strategies.

· Lead the organization through Patient Safety Week, preparing both internal and external content to educate annual-based patient safety information.

QUALIFICATIONS AND REQUIREMENTS:

Education / Experience

· Undergraduate degree in a health-related discipline. An equivalent combination of education and experience acceptable to the employer may also be considered.

· Progressive leadership experience in healthcare is required.

· Experience in committee leadership is strongly preferred.

· Licensed to work or ability to gain licensure in Nova Scotia as a paramedic or other regulated health professional an asset.

· Prior experience and/or certification in patient safety or patient experience is preferred (e.g., Patient Safety Officer, Canadian Patient Safety Program, Incident Analysis and Proactive Risk Assessment (FMEA).

· Experience and/or education in quality improvement science (e.g., Lean, Six Sigma, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)) is an asset.

· Experience in customer service and client relations is considered an asset.

· Clinical experience considered an additional asset.

Knowledge & Skills

· Ability to exercise independent judgment and problem solve with discretion.

· Excellent written, oral, and presentation skills.

· Experience in conflict management, meeting facilitation, analysis, problem solving, organizational acuity, tact, diplomacy, interpersonal and time management are required.

· Computer literacy is required, including, and understanding of Microsoft office applications.

· Experience with database management and utilization is strongly preferred.

· Experience with electronic patient care records and medical communications data required.

· Knowledge of relevant legislation and a sound knowledge of EHS operations policies required.

· Knowledge of relevant privacy legislation and experience handling confidential information.

· Ability to perform risk identification and analysis.

· Knowledge of EMS management, information technology, and human resources practices an asset.

Physical Requirements:

The employee will spend various periods of sitting, standing, walking, crouching, lifting, and / or carrying light objects. The employee is required to maintain one position for possible long periods of time, such as sitting at meetings, or at a desk setting. The employee will be reading data or inputting data, report writing, operating a word processor, computer, calculator, and talking on the telephone. The employee will use and have exposure to general office equipment such as fax, photocopier, printer, and personal computer. The exposure to low to moderate noise levels.

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Our goal is to be a diverse workforce that is representative of the citizens we serve. We are committed to building an inclusive team that represents a variety of backgrounds, cultures, races, perspectives and skills. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates including women, persons of any sexual orientations and gender identities and/or expressions, Indigenous persons, African Canadians, other racialized groups, persons with disabilities. Candidates who identify as being from any of these groups are encouraged to voluntarily self-identify.