Clinical Operations Specialist

Applies extensive knowledge of ambulatory care clinics clinical, regulatory, and operational practices to improve access efficiency and productivity. Coordinates and monitors operations of ambulatory care clinics in conjunction with Nurse Manager and Medical Directors. Implements projects of large scope and high degrees of complexity. The Clinical Operations Specialist analyzes and determines clinical coverage needs of Parnassus, Mission Bay, and Mt. Zion Hospital Operating Rooms, the Orthopedic Institute, and all off-site Anesthesia sites, in both operating and non-operating locations. This individual then analyzes staffing availability data and develops staffing of more than 298 Anesthesiologists. This requires coordination with individuals charged with CRNA and clinical residents.

The Clinical Operations Specialist analyzes and determines clinical coverage needs of Parnassus, Mission Bay, and Mt. Zion Hospital Operating Rooms, the Orthopedic Institute, and all off-site Anesthesia sites, in both operating and non-operating locations. This individual then analyzes staffing availability data and develops staffing of more than 298 Anesthesiologists. This requires coordination with individuals charged with CRNA and clinical residents. This position must ensure appropriate coverage is provided for several specialty services, in addition to the operating rooms. Any staffing deficiencies or inappropriate coverage may pose risks to patient safety and affect the department’s operating costs. The position is responsible for identifying, analyzing and resolving staffing conflicts; moreover, the Clinical Operations Specialist is responsible for providing notice to principals (faculty, managers and staff) regarding amendments and modifications. The Clinial Operations Specialist must ensure the faculty are scheduled accordingly to their clinical requirements as established by their annual contracts. This has direct impact to the individual’s clinical incentive compensation and the Department’s operating costs.

The Clinical Operations Specialist assesses, identifies, and implements process improvements and AI or other automation opportunities for the clinical operations workflows within their scope of work. This may include, but is not limited to, new technology solutions and the creation and implementation of AI and machine learning-enabled care workflows, in partnership and close collaboration with clinical and administrative professionals within the Anesthesia Department and across other parts of the UCSF enterprise. 

The Clinical Operations Specialist will report directly to the Director of Clinical Operations with close working partnerships with the Vice Chairs of the Department of Anesthesia.

 

The Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care at UCSF provides outstanding patient care, promotes cutting-edge basic and clinical science research, and educates the next generation of health care providers while focusing on the principles of community.

The Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Care ranks as one of the largest departments in the School of Medicine with an annual budget of $145 million. The two largest components of the annual budget are Professional Fee Income and Extramural Funds, representing 90.4% or $132 million (including ZSFG professional fees and 6.9% or $10.1 million of the annual budget respectively. Currently, the department has over 298 Faculty members, 27 Staff Physicians, 205 Staff Employees, 6 Fellows, 90 Residents, 12 Non-Faculty Academics, 11 postdocs, 68 CRNAs, and 5 Nurse Practitioners at ZSFG.

In addition to the Moffitt-Long Hospital, very active units of the department exist at the Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center (inpatient and outpatient, including a very active trauma service), San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center (inpatient and outpatient), Mt. Zion Medical Center (outpatient, including 23-hour stays and the Pain Management Center), Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, the UCSF Orthopedic Institute and the Benioff Children's, Betty Irene Moore Women's and Bakar Cancer (NIH-designated Cancer Center) Hospitals in the Mission Bay neighborhood.

The Department now has essential roles in patient care outside of the operating rooms, with active participation in Ambulatory Care, Acute and Chronic Pain, and in the Preoperative Clinic. Over the department’s fifty-plus years of existence, the department has been at the heart of modern anesthesia’s explosive growth, and to this day, continues to have an enormous impact on surgical practice and the management of pain. The department’s research, education, and clinical care quickly earned and maintained reputations that are equal to or better than any institution in the world. Individual members of our faculty have had a major influence on our specialty both nationally and internationally, including NIH study sections, NIH funding, FDA, and Editorial Boards. Research activities within this department are integrated with and inform clinical practice. For many years, ours has been among the top departments for NIH research funding in anesthesia in the United States.

The Department of Anesthesia provides considerable support and structure for research in general and, for research training programs, highlighted by the innovative Pathway to Scientific Independence (PSI). This program begins at the residency level, incorporating the Research Scholars Track of the Anesthesia Residency, moving through the post-residency NIH-funded T32 training grant and faculty positions with mentored research support, and ultimately achieving extramurally funded, independent researcher status.