Director Destination Care Operations

Here your calling will flourish. Were not just a workplace; were a community dedicated to a mission of service.

Leaders in Specialized Care:

• Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI): A world-renowned center for groundbreaking neurological research and innovative treatments.
• Norton Thoracic Institute (NTI): A national leader in advanced thoracic care with pioneering surgical techniques.
• Level I Trauma Center: One of Arizonas busiest ERs providing immediate comprehensive care for critically injured patients 24/7.

Why SJHMC

• Culture of Excellence & Well-being: We care for our people fostering professional and personal growth.
• Community & Collaboration: Be part of a network committed to global health and well-being.
• Join a Legacy Shape a Future: Over 20% of our patients travel internationally for our specialized care.

This is an invitation to join a family of dedicated professionals at the forefront of medical innovation united by the power of humankindness.

As our Director of Destination Care Operations you will serve as the strategic leader for our high-acuity patient programs driving operational excellence for patients traveling from across the U.S. and international markets for specialty care. You will oversee the end-to-end patient journey ensuring a concierge-caliber experience from the initial inquiry through to post-discharge. By partnering with clinical leadership financial stakeholders and external partners you will optimize workflows and grow referral volumes positioning our facility as a premier destination for complex medical services.

Every day you will lead a high-performing team by fostering a culture of service excellence adaptability and continuous improvement. Your focus will be on the seamless integration of intake registration and financial counseling workflows ensuring both operational efficiency and fiscal responsibility. You will conduct regular patient and family rounding to identify service gaps implement process improvements and provide hands-on leadership as the escalation point for complex time-sensitive patient matters all while maintaining rigorous data integrity and reporting standards.

To be successful in this role you will hold a Bachelors degree in Healthcare Administration Business or a related field accompanied by at least 5 years of progressive leadership experience within a complex matrixed healthcare environment. You must demonstrate a proven track record in managing destination care specialty referral or international patient service programs. We are looking for an adaptable leader with strong process improvement skills the ability to influence without direct authority and a deep commitment to delivering culturally informed high-touch care to diverse patient populations.

• Oversees the day-to-day operational performance of the destination care program ensuring consistent and high quality service delivery across all phases of the patient journey. Oversees referral intake and coordination workflows ensuring timely and accurate routing follow-up and communication with referring providers and patients.
• Ensures patients families and referring partners experience seamless concierge-caliber service from initial contact through post-discharge follow-up; conducts regular patient and family rounding to assess experience identify service gaps and recovery opportunities reinforce service standards and gather patient stories that reflect the destination care experience.
• Delivers and ensures culturally informed service communication and care coordination across diverse domestic and international patient populations. Partners with clinical leadership and clinical advisory resources to support patient care operations and ensure the clinical needs of the destination care population are addressed. Identifies and leads process improvement and workflow optimization initiatives to advance operational efficiency service quality and patient satisfaction; develops and maintains operational protocols and standards that support consistent program delivery.
• Supports the development and expansion of the destination care program including identifying opportunities to grow referral volume expand service line access and strengthen the programs market position. Supports market activation and outreach efforts in collaboration with strategy partners to advance destination care program visibility and referral growth; performs other duties as assigned to support organizational objectives.

Minimum

• Bachelors degree in Healthcare Administration Business or a related field and
• 5 or more years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare or patient services operations and
• Experiencemanaging anddevelopingteams in acomplexmatrixedhealthcareorganizationwith directaccountabilityfor programperformanceoutcomes and
• Experiencedelivering high-touch patient-centeredservices forcomplex orhigh-acuitypatientpopulationsincludingprograms suchas transplantoncologyspecialtyreferral orequivalenttertiary orquaternary caresettings

Licensure and Certifications

• Certified Case Manager (CCM) or
• Lean Six Sigma Blackbelt Certification (LSSBB) or
• Project Management Professional or
• Registered Nurse: AZ (RN:AZ)

Preferred

• Masters degree in Healthcare Administration Business Nursing or a related field is strongly preferred and
• 7 or more years of progressive leadership experience in healthcare or patient services operations and
• Clinical backgroundincluding Registered Nurse (RN) licensure or equivalent clinical operations experience and
• Experience in a dedicated destination care international patient services or specialty referral program at an academic medical center or large health system and
• Experience building or expanding programs including policy and operational protocol development and
• Experience preparing and delivering financial and operating performance reports and presentations for leadership and
• Experience with referral management patient access financial counseling registration or admissions workflows.

Knowledge Skills Abilities and Training

• Strong team leadership skills with a demonstrated ability to developcoach and hold teams accountable. Ability to travel domestically and internationally as needed.
  
• Strong organizational navigation skills; able to establish credibility and build productive peer relationships quickly across clinical operational and financial functions lead through influence without direct authority and drive results across functions.
• Demonstrated ability to deliver and oversee culturally informed service and communication across diverse domestic and international patient populations.
  
• Proven ability to build and maintain collaborative relationships with physicians executives clinical leadership referral sources patients and families. Knowledge of high-touch service standards and service recovery for complex high-acuity or high-profile patient populations.
• Strong process improvement skills; able to identify workflow gaps design operational solutions develop and maintain protocols and service standards and lead change effectively.
  
• Ability to synthesize and analyze data from multiple sources exercise sound judgment under ambiguity and make well-reasoned operational decisions in a fast-paced evolving environment.
• Strong presentation and communication skills; communicates directly transparently and proactively with leadership and across all levels of the organization conveying complex operational and program information clearly and credibly to diverse audiences including physicians executives and external partners and surfacing issues and program status early rather than waiting to be asked.
  
• Maintains current knowledge of destination care specialty referral and healthcare operations trends; applies industry insights to inform program strategy identify improvement opportunities and contribute to cross-site collaboration and national destination care initiatives.

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