Full Time: Yes
Make care safer and improve patient outcomes across an eight-state region while enjoying work-life balance and professional growth. HQI is seeking a behavioral health Subject Matter Expert (SME) as part of the national QIN-QIO Program, which sets the pace for performance excellence.
This is an ideal position for professionals who want to stay in touch with health care delivery while developing or strengthening consultative and thought leadership skills. You will provide expert, behavioral health specific assistance to the setting-specific technical assistance (TA) teams and the Quality Improvement Director. This includes developing behavioral health specific resources and training on topics like depression and suicide prevention, substance use disorders, and chronic pain. You also will serve as the day-to-day point of contact for stakeholders engaged in coordination and collaboration activities for behavioral health. The SME is knowledgeable about behavioral health topics and their application to all settings of care (hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinical practices).
Responsibilities include:
- Assist TA and Focused QIO Service (rapid TA) teams with intervention selection and quality action plan review as needed.
- Help Quality Improvement Consultants (QICs) troubleshoot difficult behavioral health specific barriers.
- Spread behavioral health specific knowledge and best practices across setting-specific TA teams.
- Vet QIC determinations that additional training content and/or resources are needed; identify or create as necessary.
- Contribute to determinations about complementing, coordinating or creating behavioral health specific, state-specific improvement initiatives. Conduct and coordinate activities, including those performed by self and those delegated to TA teams.
You will learn from and be supported by the Quality Improvement Director, who will count on you to keep up with stakeholder activities and best practices related to behavioral health specific interventions. Dedicated analytics and communications teams will further enrich your experience in HQI’s friendly, open and collaborative work environment. This is a remote position.
Requirements:
- Bachelor’s degree (health care administration, nursing, public health, or other related) and 7+ years of setting-specific (nursing home, hospital, practice) experience in health care QI or master’s degree and 5+ years.
- At least three years of Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) experience.
- Direct experience in the behavioral health setting for which you are applying.
- Experience with QI methods and tools and their practical application. Examples include root cause analysis techniques, process or workflow mapping, run and control charts, Plan-Do-Study-Act, Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI).
- Ability to interpret data, such as performance on quality measures, and provide guidance on identifying and prioritizing opportunities for improvement.
- Proven ability to develop training and other materials to support behavioral health specific quality improvement in response to identified provider needs. This includes skills in organizing and sequencing content, writing clearly with learning/communication objectives in mind, managing and adjudicating internal reviews, and submitting a finished product for production.
- Quality credentials required, such as Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ), Certified Patient Safety Professional (CPPS), Six Sigma belt of any color or training in Lean.
- Clinical or administrative credentials are a plus but not required. Examples include nursing, nursing home administrator or social work licensure, certification in areas like diabetes education, infection prevention, discharge planning or care management, etc.
- Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively as part of a larger team, including excellent lateral and upward communication and teamwork skills.
- Must be able to function effectively in a remote work environment, manage multiple priorities, and be comfortable using good judgment to keep work moving in the absence of complete information.
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, including the ability to make internal presentations and to contribute report content that does not require significant editing.
- Proficiency in Office 365, ability to learn new applications as required, and adept with time management.
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Limited (<15%) state/regional travel may be required within the Southeast to visit provider locations. Travel twice annually to Richmond, Virginia for all-company meetings is required.
Competitive salary and attractive benefit package. We maintain a drug free workplace and are a M/F Disabled and Vet EEO/AA Employer.
About Health Quality Innovators (HQI)
HQI is a non-profit health care quality consulting organization that has improved care delivery, patient safety and outcomes for millions of people since 1984. We work with hospitals, nursing homes, practices, public health agencies, community groups, stakeholder organizations, patients and family members that want to make sustainable change.
Our team members are energized by opportunities to reduce avoidable harms, improve population health, make health care more equitable, and align technology with care delivery. The HQI culture values creativity, teamwork, and integrity as essential elements of producing excellent work. We believe in the importance of work/life balance and actively support professional growth and our local community. HQI offers a friendly, respectful, and collaborative work environment that allows team members to bring their real selves to work every day.
HQI is a 10-time winner of the Best Places to Work designation, most recently in 2025. While we maintain a small administrative office in Richmond, Virginia, our team members are permanently home-based in more than 10 states across the country.
