Associate Chief Medical Officer

As a member of the Johns Hopkins Hospital management team, the Associate Chief Medical Officer spearheads innovative initiatives to enhance physician engagement, education, and professional conduct as they relate to patient care in the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center (JHCC). This position assists in designing and implementing operational projects, programs, and procedures to support clinical practice and professionalism within JHCC at The Johns Hopkins Hospital.

The Associate Chief Medical Officer (ACMO) reports jointly to the Co-Directors of JHCC, the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) of JHCC, and the Vice President of Medical Affairs (VPMA) of Johns Hopkins Hospital. The ACMO collaborates with these leaders, as well as with the JHCC Administrator, Director of Pediatric Nursing, Assistant Chief Medical Officer of JHCC, Vice Chair of Quality and Safety for JHCC, Vice Chair of Surgical Quality and Safety, Vice Chair of Ambulatory Services, and the Chief Informatics/Analytic Officer. The ACMO also liaises directly with the PFAC Program Administrator in managing patient complaints.

Responsibilities

• Work with Medical Directors, residency program directors, and faculty and staff throughout JHCC and Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) to advance best practices in patient-centered clinical care operations across inpatient and outpatient settings.
• Ensure a reliable, scalable infrastructure and integrated systems in support of the JHCC and JHHS missions.
• Collaborate with leadership on JHCC clinical operations issues, including communication, staffing, new services, and troubleshooting among medical, surgical, nursing, and support teams (e.g., social work, child life, transport, respiratory therapy, radiology, interpreters, home care, access services, facilities, IT, trainees).
• Assist in managing JHCC bed management, Rubenstein building room management, and Pediatric OR management.
• Oversee admissions and discharge policies in cooperation with hospital medical directors and nursing, including direct admissions.
• Support Capacity Command Center management, length-of-stay (LOS) monitoring, and optimization, including implementing strategic initiatives to improve patient flow and capacity planning.
• Lead the U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) Survey completion and improvement prioritization annually.
• Oversee transport services with Co-Directors.
• Supervise unit-based Medical Directors (ICUs, Acute Care floors, CAP, PED) and assist in defining unit-based goals and role-specific annual performance metrics.
• Provide guidance on unit management and difficult clinical situations.
• Chair the JHCC Clinical Operations monthly meeting, focusing on quality performance, clinical issues, policy development, and operations topics.
• Collaborate with JHCC Case Managers on clinical situations involving changes in patient status (e.g., discharge, transfer, admission) and referrals for patients with special needs.
• Work with Pediatrics at Home, Mount Washington Pediatric Center, and other care coordination partners.
• Promote adoption of new services, diagnostic and treatment modalities based on efficacy, cost-effectiveness, and medical necessity.
• Review charity care applications and make resource allocation decisions for patients with limited means during inpatient stays and post-acute care planning.
• Refine and implement collaborative models for inpatient and outpatient strategic integration and service redistribution across JH entities.
• Participate in routine meetings with Armstrong Institute leadership to discuss quality and safety across the health system and School of Medicine.
• Collaborate with Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital (JHACH) ACMO on EMR harmonization, quality and safety reporting tool optimization, and shared best practices.
• Develop and define the mission and vision for JHCC Quality, including metrics to assess performance toward high-quality and safe care.
• Implement standards for practice and performance measures aligned with the mission and values of the Children’s Center.
• Lead efforts to develop, implement, and monitor pathways and protocols to decrease practice variation and communicate with pediatric medical leaders at partner institutions.
• Assist with the implementation, development, and enhancement of clinical information systems and dashboards to optimize tracking of key performance indicators (KPIs).

Committee Participation

The ACMO serves on the following JHCC and JHH committees:

• JHCC Senior Leadership Team
• JHCC Kitchen Cabinet
• JHCC Leadership Council
• JHCC Clinical Quality Improvement Committee
• JHCC Management Forum
• JHCC Q&S Think Tank
• JHCC Peri-Operative Executive Committee
• Children’s Surgery Performance Improvement for Patient Safety
• JHCC Mortality Review
• JHCC Serious Safety Event Review Committee
• JHCC M&Ms (e.g., Burns, Trauma, PICU, NICU, PCICU, Heart Center)
• Department of Pediatrics (DOP) & JHCC Division Chief and Vice Chairs meetings
• JHCC CRP Weekly Meeting
• Peds Heart Center and JHCC Leadership
• Peds/Risk Process Monthly
• Patient and Family Advisory Council Steering
• S4 Monthly
• Monthly Nurse Manager Meeting for ACMO updates
• Weekly Discharge Barriers meeting
• JHCC Executive Walk Rounds
• JHCC Safety Rounds on various units
• All RCAs relevant for JHCC
• Various internal operational meetings as required
• Weekly VPMA Meeting
• Children’s Center and Dept of Peds Update with JHH leadership
• JHH Quality, Safety, and Service Committee
• JHH Quality and Safety Committee
• JHH Clinical Vice Chairs Meeting
• JHH Medical Staff Professionalism Group
• JHHS Medical Executive Leadership Committee
• JHHS Length of Stay Steering Committee
• JHHS Communication and Resolution Program (CRP) Steering Committee
• ACMO monthly meetings, chaired by VPMA
• Monthly Vice Chair meetings, chaired by VPMA

Qualifications

• Strong clinical background and reputation, with program-building accomplishments and experience in patient safety.
• Broad knowledge of quality management, risk management, utilization review, and clinical outcomes management.
• Understanding of measures of patient safety, quality, risk management, and legal issues.
• Familiarity with the Maryland hospital reimbursement system.
• Understanding of internal and external forces impacting healthcare delivery.
• Demonstrated excellence in communications and team-building skills.
• Knowledge of medical staff credentialing and privileging.
• Understanding of the relationship between civility/professionalism, workplace culture, and patient outcomes.
• Demonstrated ability to blend clinical skills with administrative knowledge to achieve results.
• Strong interpersonal communication skills to mediate and foster collaboration between medical staff and hospital leadership.
• Skill in organizing and managing complex policies and guidelines.
• Demonstrated team-building, management, and leadership qualities.
• Ability to articulate challenges and proactively drive new initiatives, eliciting commitment from stakeholders.
• Responsiveness to the concerns and needs of medical staff members.
• Broad understanding of, expertise in, and respect for the clinical mission.
• Sound and extensive experience providing care in ambulatory and inpatient settings.
• Working familiarity with hospital and professional fee finances.
• Demonstrated emotional intelligence to resolve conflict, represent JHCC institutionally, and lead respectfully.

This position requires at least 50% effort.