A quality director is the first position that I was a CEO need to identify after management commitment has been achieved. Since this job is an authoritative one, only experienced candidates with relevant hospital backgrounds in patient safety, quality, or performance improvement should be considered. The level of education should be a Master’s or higher, and clinical experience is mandatory. Registered nurses and medical doctors may be among the preferred applicants for the job.
A new employee should be a Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality (CPHQ) or Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM). Knowledge of performance improvement methods and experience of their successful utilization will be regarded as true assets.
Apart from that, a strong record of project management and collaboration is required since the position provides for the coordination of strategic and operational planning for healthcare quality activities (Al-Assaf, 2014). The strong communication skills of a new quality director are important as he or she will collaborate with organization leaders to envision and develop the organization’s quality plan.
A perfect candidate for the position of a quality director has to have extensive training in healthcare quality techniques to develop and update quality programs of the organization. Leadership skills are essential for this work as he or she will be expected to provide strategic, operational, and thought leadership to support the organization’s mission and vision, as well as facilitate quality council. Also, as a coordinator of the key quality personnel selection and the healthcare quality training plan, this person should have an excellent delegation, problem-solving, decision-making, and multitasking skills. Finally, a good quality director has to have strong analytical skills to perform strategic planning and promote healthcare quality intervention strategies.
Reference
Al-Assaf, A. (2014). Organizational quality infrastructure: How does an organization staff quality? In M. Joshi et al. (Eds.), The healthcare quality book: Vision, strategy, and tools (3rd ed., pp. 375-392). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.