Director, Quality Assurance

About the Role

This position oversees and continuously improves the organization’s patient quality assurance and clinical safety programs across Sage Dental’s network of dental practices in all operating states. Reporting to the Vice President, Compliance and Legal Operations, the Director partners closely with clinical leadership, operations, compliance, risk management, and practice teams to ensure consistent delivery of safe, high-quality, evidence-based dental care. The role identifies opportunities for improvement, leads quality initiatives, and ensures practices maintain compliance with applicable federal, state, and local requirements.

Responsibilities

• Maintain the DSO's enterprise-wide patient quality assurance program and clinical quality standards.
• Conduct and oversee clinical and operational quality and safety audits, including chart reviews, documentation reviews, infection control, radiographic practices, treatment planning, and patient safety.
• Identify trends, gaps, and opportunities for improvement through analysis of clinical and operational data.
• Partner with dental directors, dentists, hygienists, practice managers, and other clinical leaders to develop corrective and preventive action plans.
• Monitor the effectiveness of corrective actions and ensure sustainable improvements.
• Collaborate with Sage Dental vendors to ensure all dental offices maintain compliance with biomedical waste, OSHA, and radiation regulations.
• Attend weekly meetings regarding new and acquired Sage offices to ensure compliance with clinical standards and regulations.
• Monitor compliance with federal, state, and local regulations and standards affecting dental operations and patient care.
• Support readiness for regulatory inspections, external audits, and accreditation activities.
• Assist with investigation and resolution of quality-of-care concerns, patient concerns, adverse events, and clinical incidents.
• Maintain appropriate documentation and reporting related to quality activities.
• Develop executive-level quality dashboards and reports highlighting trends, risks, and improvement opportunities.
• Employ meaningful KPIs related to clinical quality, patient safety, documentation, infection control, and regulatory compliance.
• Analyze quality data to identify root causes and prioritize improvement initiatives.
• Use data to evaluate the effectiveness and return on investment of quality improvement programs.
• Coordinate Clinical Compliance Meetings quarterly or as needed in coordination with the Vice President, Compliance and Legal Operations.
• Lead cross-functional quality initiatives involving Operations, Clinical, Compliance, Risk Management, IT, and other departments.
• Provide training, guidance, and coaching to regional and practice-level leaders on quality and safety standards and improvement methodologies.
• Support the development and delivery of quality-related training for clinical and operational teams.
• Serve as a subject-matter expert and resource for dental quality assurance and patient safety.
• Build strong relationships with clinical and operational leaders throughout the organization.
• Influence practice behavior and performance through education, data, collaboration, and accountability.
• Promote consistency while recognizing differences in state-specific regulatory requirements and practice environments.
• Supervise the Patient Quality Assurance team to ensure consistent and comprehensive resolution of patient-related concerns.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Dental Hygiene, Healthcare Administration, Nursing, Public Health, Quality Management, or a related field; advanced degree preferred.
• 5-8+ years of experience in healthcare quality, dental quality assurance, clinical operations, compliance, or a related field.
• Experience working within a dental practice, dental group, DSO, healthcare system, or multi-site clinical environment strongly preferred.
• Demonstrated experience developing or managing quality assurance, quality improvement, audit, or compliance programs.
• Strong understanding of dental clinical workflows, documentation standards, patient safety, and infection prevention.
• Experience analyzing quality metrics and translating data into actionable improvement plans.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional initiatives and influence stakeholders without direct authority.
• Strong written, verbal, analytical, organizational, and presentation skills.
• Ability to travel to dental practices as needed.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master's degree in Healthcare Administration, Public Health, Quality Management, or related discipline.
• Experience with DSO operations and multi-state dental regulations.
• Certification such as CPHQ, CHC, or Lean/Six Sigma.
• Experience with electronic dental/health records and quality reporting systems.
• Experience with root-cause analysis, corrective and preventive action (CAPA), and continuous improvement methodologies.