The Director, Ambulatory Care Management and Operations, is responsible for the leadership, operational oversight, and overall performance of the Value Based Services Organization's care management team and clinical programs across a matrix organziation. This role ensures full compliance with all regulatory and program requirements while advancing initiatives that improve patient outcomes, optimize resource utilization, enhance care coordination, and support organizational growth. The Director provides leadership and direction to ensure safe, efficient, therapeutic, and ethical care management practices, fostering a collaborative environment among clinical, operational, and administrative teams. The Director has full supervisory responsibility for Ambulatory Care Management Managers and other designated staff, including recruitment, hiring, termination, performance management, mentoring, and professional development. This role collaborates with senior leaders in the development of departmental goals and strategic initiatives and oversees the implementation and continuous improvement of ambulatory care management programs. The Director ensures that care management models are supported by robust clinical content, evidence-based guidelines, and standardized processes, including assessments, care planning, patient education, and outcome measurement. Leveraging advanced clinical expertise and strong operational leadership, the Director integrates case management, utilization management, quality management, discharge planning, and post-acute coordination into a cohesive, patient-centered strategy. The role ensures medical services, across inpatient, outpatient, and post-acute settings, are delivered at the most appropriate level of care based on patient needs, while reducing care gaps, eliminating unnecessary duplication of services, and controlling costs without compromising quality. In collaboration with physicians, care managers, interdisciplinary teams, and USC Employee Health Plan partners, the Director ensures timely and effective care transitions, drives measurable improvement in key performance metrics, and supports value-based care initiatives (ACO, HMO, Employee Health Plan, Etc.). This role also serves as a subject matter expert and consultant to leadership and clinical teams, ensuring ambulatory care management strategies are aligned with organizational priorities, regulatory standards, and emerging best practices.
Departmental Specific Summary
Essential Duties
- Responsible for overall program development and implementation: -Serves as a senior leader resource in collaborating with executives to establish program objectives and develop enterprise-level ambulatory care management strategies and solutions. -Contributes to the development of business requirements for each ambulatory care management program, ensuring alignment with organizational goals and compliance with regulatory standards. -Defines, documents, and refines key processes necessary to support sustainable, high-performing programs. -Oversees the development of clinical content, including but not limited to assessments, evidence-based clinical guidelines, and patient/family education materials. -Directs the creation and delivery of orientation, training, and ongoing competency programs for departmental staff. Establishes and monitors program process measures and outcome metrics, ensuring regular evaluation of program impact and effectiveness.
- Managing the program’s services, outcomes, and resources/staff: -Provides leadership and oversight of program operations and staff performance, including recruiting, hiring, mentoring, and supporting professional development for all program positions. -Ensures that medical services across inpatient, outpatient, and post-acute settings are delivered at the most effective and appropriate level of care based on the patient’s medical needs. -Builds and sustains high-performing teams that can meet both current and future program goals and objectives. -Oversees workload distribution, productivity, and effectiveness of staff, ensuring operational and clinical goals are met. -Leads collaboration with interdisciplinary teams (IDT), facilitating forums, and supporting care managers in providing coordinated services that promote cost-effective, high-quality outcomes. -Serves as a clinical and operational consultant to ambulatory care managers, providing second-level expertise and problem-solving support for complex patient care decisions. -Oversees and ensures comprehensive documentation for patients in this program, including but not limited to network and out-of-network hospitalizations, SNF stays, observation status, discharges, CCM census, new assessments, and interventions. -Ensures departmental compliance with all applicable regulatory and accreditation standards, including health plans, NCQA, Joint Commission, federal and state requirements, and internal Health System policies.
- Responsible for clinical leadership in ambulatory care management with patient and physician engagement: -Leads and participates in care management activities to ensure that newly implemented processes, programs, and workflows are effective and sustainable. -Analyzes and evaluates care delivery processes to identify and address gaps, reduce unnecessary duplication, and maintain cost-effective, high-quality care. -Applies advanced clinical knowledge and experience in assessment, planning, implementation, and evaluation to the oversight of care management activities. -Maintains expertise in applying current clinical guideline-based criteria, including but not limited to CMS, InterQual, MCG, and health plan standards.
- Employee Management: -Ensure that management staff understand basic wage and hour laws, federal, state and local laws and regulations, Medicare, and legislation affecting employment in outpatient and nursing services -Plan, organize and supervise all clinical and support staff(s) to ensure high quality, cost effective patient care -Direct and approve staffing plans to promote the maximum use of all personnel and the reduction or addition of staff based upon patient load ratios and organizational outpatient guidelines -Ensure that continuing education programs are offered to keep staff up to date on nursing practices, universal precautions, worker/patient safety etc. -Responsible for all employee activity such as hiring, promotions, performance evaluations, salary increases, and disciplinary actions with appropriate approvals from the Executive Administrator and HR Administrator; includes all bonuses, performance reviews, employee performance management, compensation reviews, etc. -Ensure that the performance evaluation program meets organizational guidelines. -Lead regular staff meetings with Clinic Administrators or other program facilitators as necessary
- Performs all duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
- Req Bachelor’s Degree Nursing BSN
- Req 5-10 years Five plus years of clinical experience with three plus years of experience in ambulatory case management in a leadership role.
- Req Demonstrated leadership ability, team management and interpersonal skills. Ability to effectively communicate with personnel from diverse backgrounds.
- Req Ability to manage multiple projects with effective prioritization.
- Req Strong written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills.
- Req Excellent analytical, critical and abstract reasoning skills, plus excellent organization skills.
- Req Intermediate to advanced computer skills in Microsoft Office programs including Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
- Req Knowledge of CM standards, UM standards, clinical standards of care, NCQA requirements, CMS guidelines, Milliman guidelines, InterQual guidelines, and Medicaid/Medicare contracts and benefit systems is preferred.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Pref Master’s degree Nursing MSN
- Pref 3 years Three plus years experience in an HMO/IPA/Managed care setting is preferred.
- Pref Certified Case Manager - CCM (CMSA)
- Pref Certified Utilization Review Professional
Required Licenses/Certifications:
- Req Registered Nurse - RN (CA Board of Registered Nursing) Valid California Registered Nurse license.
- Req Basic Life Support (BLS) Healthcare Provider from American Heart Association
- Req Fire Life Safety Training (LA City) If no card upon hire, one must be obtained within 30 days of hire and maintained by renewal before expiration date. (Required within LA City only)
Keck Hospital of USC, a 343-bed acute care hospital, provides exceptional and innovative care for complex medical and surgical conditions across a wide range of specialties. The hospital’s world-renowned physicians deliver compassionate, customized, patient-centered care and treat the most acutely ill patients with highly innovative techniques and treatment plans. As a leading academic medical center, hundreds of clinical trials are currently taking place at Keck Hospital and its affiliated research institutions, giving patients access to novel and promising therapies that are generally not available elsewhere. Every day at Keck Hospital, physicians, nurses and staff go beyond the science of exceptional medicine to bring patients breakthroughs in the art of caring. Join this world-class team providing highly specialized care, up-to-the-minute research, and innovative clinical trials.
The annual base salary range for this position is $138,445.00 - $228,434.00. When extending an offer of employment, the University of Southern California considers factors such as (but not limited to) the scope and responsibilities of the position, the candidate’s work experience, education/training, key skills, internal peer equity, federal, state, and local laws, contractual stipulations, grant funding, as well as external market and organizational considerations.
USC is an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other characteristic protected by law or USC policy. USC observes affirmative action obligations consistent with state and federal law. USC will consider for employment all qualified applicants with criminal records in a manner consistent with applicable laws and regulations, including the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for employers and the Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance, and with due consideration for patient and student safety. Please refer to the Background Screening Policy Appendix D for specific employment screen implications for the position for which you are applying.
We provide reasonable accommodations to applicants and employees with disabilities. Applicants with questions about access or requiring a reasonable accommodation for any part of the application or hiring process should contact USC Human Resources by phone at (213) 821-8100, or by email at uschr@usc.edu. Inquiries will be treated as confidential to the extent permitted by law.
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