Program Director - Aeromedical Services, UT Lifestar

Job Detail

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• Job Title: Program Director - Aeromedical Services, UT Lifestar
• Department: Aeromedical Services-General
• Full/Part Time: Full
• Req Number: UHS-31191

Position Summary:

Oversees functioning aspects of LIFESTAR, including clinical operations, communication center operations, the Regional Medical Communication Center, regional operations, and regional development (with assistance from supervisors and Medical Director). Collaborates with Med-Trans Corporation in the management of the aviation, maintenance, and safety components of the LIFESTAR program.

Leadership Responsibilities

Job Knowledge: Responds to administrative and technical questions demonstrating a level of expertise.

• Demonstrates ability to resolve complex issues. Considered an expert in a particular air medical transport subject matters and shares that knowledge with others in the health system.

• Seeks to educate and improve self or others to raise performance levels and/or quality of care.

• Recognizes and utilizes special skills of employees.

• Supports and contributes to ongoing performance improvement activities. Seeks out information and applies knowledge to specific actions in his/her own work area and in cross function areas.

• Remains current in the latest technologies, products, or trends in the air medical transport field.

• Participates in local, state, and national professional organizations/societies relevant to responsibilities.

Leadership: Demonstrates the behaviors that organizational leaders need in order to drive performance. Provides strategic and operational guidance to a division, department or unit as well as promotes a working environment that reflects the values and vision of UHS.

• Demonstrates ability to motivate employees.

• Demonstrates effectiveness in selecting employees, developing staff, and preparing employees for career advancement.

• Inspires employees by providing guidance and is a role model in maximizing one's own or others' performance to consistently deliver a high level of performance.

• Develops a culture that recognizes, rewards, and appreciates employees for achieving organizational goals and demonstrating UHS values. Acts as a role model and inspires others to respect one another by helping them to clearly understand how their behavior impacts others.

• Provides division, department or unit with the strategic and operational direction and support needed to be successful. Looks for external events, which may have an impact on the organization, alerts management, and makes suggestions to plan for and act in anticipation of these events.

• Embraces, supports, and implements change initiatives.

Managerial Effectiveness: Demonstrates ability to quickly understand a situation and find the best possible solution, even when under pressure. Understands that the solution may lead to either immediate action, or to reviewing the situation with someone at a higher level of authority and knows which is the best course of action at the time.

• Effectively handles managerial situations including planning, control, problem solving, and communication. Implements and follows through on organizational and team decisions and plans.

• Organizes work volume and scheduling to produce quality product or service.

• Exercises sound decision-making. Takes appropriate risks in making decisions and demonstrates a clear understanding of the consequences involved. Follows through on decisions made, and if the best decision was not made, moves quickly to correct it.

• Communicates to all key people following a decision to be sure that high quality patient/customer care is given.

• Demonstrates an understanding of the implications that decisions have on financial objectives. Constructs and manages budgets and resources to preserve the financial viability of UHS and the UT LIFESTAR Aeromedical Services department of UHS.

Service Responsibilities

Collaborates with regional Emergency Medical Services, referring health care institutions, and regional helicopter air ambulance (HAA) programs.

• Resolves complaints or conflicts between University of Tennessee Medical Center at Knoxville, LIFESTAR, and referring institutions, and other key stakeholders.

• Represents LIFESTAR at meetings, conferences at local, state, and national level.

• Represents LIFESTAR through maintaining relationships with community and government entities.

• Represents LIFESTAR by routinely participating in Tennessee EMS Region II and Tennessee Ambulance Service Association (TASA) meetings and conferences.

Maintains relationships with UTMC Centers of Excellence

• Resolves conflicts between aeromedical services and hospital.

• Represents LIFESTAR on committees and at meetings within the institution.

Establishes/Supports a culture of service excellence throughout the Lifestar enterprise.

• Facilitates ongoing training and development in enhancing the patient's experience.

• Resolves patient and/or family complaints in a timely matter.

• Represents all UTMC departments in a positive matter to patients, families, team members and the community.

Manages Personnel

• Supervises hiring, evaluation and necessary discipline of aeromedical service personnel.

• Oversees performance of personnel continually to assure compliance with mission statement.

• Oversees team member development.

Oversees Regional Medical Communication Center Function

• Facilitates allocation/distribution of State and Federal grant funding.

• Coordinates with State and Regional EMS entities to ensure adequate disaster preparedness and resource allocation.

• Facilitate communication between EMS and hospital emergency departments.

• Collaborates with centers of excellence to provide community education.

Oversees Clinical Operations

• Ensures effective clinical care delivery through initial and on-going competency-based education and training.

• Ensure compliance with UTMC clinical and nursing initiatives.

Supervises fiscal performance of the aeromedical services.

• Prepares appropriate operational and capital budgets.

• Analyze current business environment and make projections about future demands on the service.

• Monitors programmatic expenditures to achieve budget targets.

• Approves all expenditures and seeks ways to improve efficiency of operations from a budgetary standpoint.

Supervises program operational matters.

• Oversees program operational infrastructure, including remote bases of operation.

• Seeks input and recommends purchase of operational and medical equipment.

• Oversees program compliance and collaboration with regulatory agencies including State of Tennessee Department of EMS, Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, and Health Department representatives.

Assures adherence to mission statement.

• Makes safe, medically sophisticated air transport the primary program goal.

Communication Center Operations

• Ensure timely and efficient processing of requests for urgent and emergent acceptance of patients into UTMC, emergent helicopter transport and activation of UTMC specialty response teams.

• Oversees infrastructure and policy and procedures to ensure aircraft, flight team, and patient safety through flight coordination and flight following.

• Review analytical data to ensure quality of service, in respect to patient throughput and aircraft service and positioning. Collaborates with appropriate Med-Trans partner leadership for base operations, aircraft, maintenance, and safety related services.

Position Qualification:

MSN/MBA preferred , Bachelors degree required

5 years management experience

Experience with integrated air medical transport systems.

Experience with healthcare billing, collections, and regulations.

Experience preferred with the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) certification and requirements.

Experience with multi-based HEMS program preferred.