The Chief of Quality, Patient Safety & Outcomes serves as the executive leader responsible for advancing clinical quality, patient safety, high reliability, and outcomes management across Keck Medical Center of USC. This role operates in dyad partnership with the Chief Medical Officer to integrate quality and safety into medical staff governance, peer review, clinical performance management, and enterprise operational strategy. The Chief of Quality is accountable for developing and executing a comprehensive quality strategy aligned with KMC's mission, regulatory requirements, Vizient/top-decile aspirations, and high-reliability transformation. The role ensures rigorous oversight of regulatory compliance, infection prevention, data integrity, transfusion-free medicine standards, and enterprise incident management systems. The Chief of Quality operates as the senior executive accountable for translating enterprise quality strategy into hospital-level performance execution and formal governance oversight, ensuring that quality and safety performance are transparently reported, appropriately escalated, and continuously improved.
Essential Duties:
- Enterprise Quality Strategy & High Reliability: Develop and execute a multi-year quality and patient safety strategic plan aligned with KMC’s clinical, operational, and financial priorities. Lead enterprise movement toward High Reliability Healthcare principles. Establish system-wide quality priorities, metrics, and accountability frameworks. Drive measurable improvements in mortality, harm events, hospital-acquired conditions, readmissions, and patient experience. Advance public quality rankings and benchmarking performance (e.g., Vizient, Leapfrog, CMS). In formal partnership with the Chief Medical Officer, play a key leadership role within the construct of the USC Health System Chief Quality Officer framework, ensuring alignment of Keck Medical Center priorities with system-level quality strategy. Represent the needs, performance profile, and strategic priorities of the Keck Medical Center quality and safety organization to Health System leadership, advocating for appropriate infrastructure, analytic resources, and operational support. In dyad partnership with the Chief Medical Officer, ensure robust, transparent reporting and governance oversight of Keck Medical Center clinical quality, safety performance, and operational outcomes through the Hospital Governing Board and its Quality Committee.
- Dyad Partnership with the Chief Medical Officer: In formal partnership with the CMO: Integrate quality oversight into Medical Staff governance structures. Support peer review processes, FPPE/OPPE data integrity, and clinical performance management. Present quality and safety trends to MEC and Board committees. Align physician accountability with evidence-based practice standards. Co-develop corrective action plans when clinical performance variance occurs. The Chief Medical Officer retains primacy in medical staff authority; the Chief of Quality ensures objective quality data integrity, regulatory alignment, and structured improvement methodology.
- Regulatory, Accreditation & Compliance Oversight: Oversee compliance with The Joint Commission (TJC), CMS, CDPH, and other regulatory agencies. Lead survey readiness strategy and response. Ensure accuracy and timeliness of required quality reporting. Oversee infection prevention, epidemiology, and blood management regulatory compliance. Ensure regulatory oversight of transfusion-free medicine services.
- Quality Operations & Performance Improvement Infrastructure: Oversee quality management, patient safety, infection prevention, data analytics, and regulatory functions. Lead enterprise root cause analysis (RCA), FMEA, and harm reduction initiatives. Govern electronic incident reporting systems and event escalation pathways. Establish standard improvement methodology (DMAIC, PDCA, Lean/Six Sigma) across the organization. Ensure corrective actions are measurable, sustained, and validated.
- Data Strategy & Outcomes Management: Develop enterprise data strategy for clinical outcomes and safety metrics. Ensure integrity of dashboards supporting executive and Board oversight. Translate complex clinical data into actionable executive insights. Align quality metrics with value-based care programs and reimbursement structures. Partner with IT to strengthen quality data infrastructure and reporting tools.
- Transfusion-Free Medicine Oversight: Provide executive oversight of transfusion-free services. Ensure compliance with regulatory, ethical, and evidence-based standards. Monitor outcomes and performance measures related to blood management. Integrate transfusion-free protocols within broader quality governance structures.
- Culture & Leadership Influence: Promote a culture of transparency, accountability, and psychological safety around safety events. Mentor leaders in quality improvement methodologies and high reliability practices. Foster cross-disciplinary collaboration across nursing, physicians, and operational leaders. Support leaders in adopting structured improvement methods and data-driven decision making. Model professional accountability and commitment to patient safety as a leadership priority.
- Serve as enterprise steward of quality and safety. Present quality dashboards to CEO, Executive Team, MEC, and Board committees. Maintain continuous regulatory readiness. Lead system-wide harm reduction initiatives. Align operational leaders with measurable quality targets. Integrate infection prevention and blood management into enterprise oversight. Build cross-functional quality improvement collaboratives. Strengthen public quality standing and institutional reputation.
- Other duties as assigned.
Required Qualifications:
- Req Master’s degree Degree in Nursing, Healthcare Administration, Public Health, or related field.
- Req 7-10 years Leadership experience in healthcare administration or acute care setting
- Req 5-7 years Progressive leadership experience in healthcare quality and patient safety programs
- Req Experience in leading Quality, Patient Safety & Outcomes initiatives
- Req Experience integrating quality strategy with medical staff governance
- Req Experience leading and preparing organization for regulatory surveys
- Req Knowledge & Expertise in: High Reliability Healthcare principles, Regulatory and accreditation frameworks (TJC, CMS, CDPH), Risk management and peer review processes, Value-based reimbursement models, Data analytics strategy and dashboard development, Performance improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma, RCA, FMEA, DMAIC), Managed care, utilization management, discharge planning, and Physician revenue cycle and medical necessity principles.
- Req Proven track record improving measurable clinical outcomes.
- Req Thorough knowledge of the health care industry, its critical issues and major challenges.
- Req Knowledge of healthcare quality principles and regulatory compliance principles.
- Req In-depth knowledge of the principles and practices of quality improvement, patient safety, and principles of a High Reliability Healthcare organization.
- Req In-depth knowledge of audit, control and monitoring processes, and the ability to effectively implement and maintain them.
- Req Knowledge of the principles and practices of managed care related to utilization management and/or case management and/or discharge planning.
- Req Knowledge of accreditation organizations such as Joint Commission, CMS, and CDPH.
- Req Demonstrated knowledge of developing/planning information systems to support quality/disease management infrastructure.
- Req Knowledge of requirements for external quality and safety organizations, regulatory agencies and accreditation standards.
- Req Highly developed critical thinking, problem solving, and organizational skills.
- Req Facilitation, problem solving, negotiation and conflict resolution skills.
- Req Ability to foster teamwork across the health system, mentor staff and other leaders in the areas of Quality/Six Sigma/Process Improvement, FMEA, PDCA, DMAIC, Root Cause Analysis and other models of quality improvement and high reliability.
- Req Strong understanding of regulatory and accreditation requirements.
- Req Excellent leadership, communication, and analytical skills.
- Req Ability to drive organizational change and foster a culture of continuous improvement.
Preferred Qualifications:
Required Licenses/Certifications:
- Req Registered Nurse - RN (CA Board of Registered Nursing) RN (CA Board of Registered Nursing) Current unrestricted California Registered Nurse, or MD/DO or other applicable clinical 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)
- Req Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality - CPHQ (NAHQ) Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality - CPHQ (NAHQ) CPHQ certification required; if not certified must achieve certification within 6 months of hire.
The annual base salary range for this position is $246,471.00 - $406,678.00. 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.
If you are a current USC employee, please apply to this USC job posting in Workday by copying and pasting this link into your browser:
https://wd5.myworkday.com/usc/d/inst/1$9925/9925$143359.htmld