Heather Zuzel

Experience

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  Community Health Plan of Washington

  Jan 2008 - Jan 2010

  Director of Quality

  Responsible for developing and maintaining programs that ensure contractual compliance and organizational excellence. Responsible for analysis of policies, programs, and health care metrics. Directed the work of 10 project managers in quality and utilization.Developed and implemented a comprehensive quality improvement program, work plan, and evaluation for the health plan and department, including training staff in quality improvement concepts / techniques. Served as a consultant for quality improvement staff from 25 Community Health Centers across the state.Conducted strategic planning retreats for the Board of Directors down to individual departments, with a focus on objectives and measurement.Planned and implemented a statewide initiative that increased immunization rates from 40% to 78%.Developed and implemented clinical quality programs for preventive and chronic disease management.Ensured organizational compliance in areas of quality, utilization monitoring, and patient safety, bringing the organization from a 42% compliance rate to 90% compliance in 18 months. Show less

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  Harborview Medical Center

  Feb 2010 - Dec 2015

  Director Service Excellence (Ambulatory Clinic Business Operations and Projects)

  Responsible for leading the standardization of ambulatory clinic operations to improve workflow efficiency, ensure timely access to care, and to improve physician, patient and staff satisfaction. Responsible for the ongoing management of Business Systems and Revenue Cycle projects & initiative implementation across Harborview clinics, including surgery estimates and authorizations, radiology authorizations, referral processes and registration standards.Led the standardization of key processes in ambulatory clinics, including use of daily huddles, electronic whiteboards, customer service scripting, standard communication routines and tools, and the use of flow coordinators. Created training curriculum for these and other key tactics, and ran skills labs for clinic staff. Managed a project for improving surgery scheduling and pre-operative process to streamline communication, improve patient satisfaction and reduce canceled surgeries. Leading a team to develop new tools for pre-op processes, develop care pathways, move key work to electronic interfaces, and create standard work processes.Led a process improvement project for Patient Financial Access with a focus on streamlined process and improved staff and patient satisfaction. Included facilitation of a 3 day value stream mapping session, and management of follow up projects. Developed, implemented, and continue to lead a referral review process for charity patients, and provide ongoing support to the Associate Medical Director for Care Management Show less

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  Skagit Regional Health

  Apr 2016 - Feb 2018

  Director of Patient Access

  Responsible for developing, implementing, and managing the efficiency and effectiveness of Patient Access Services across Skagit Regional Health. Developed and implemented policies and procedures that guide or support services. Oversight of a team of 100 staff in the areas of admitting, pre-registration and registration, insurance authorization, interpreters, switchboard, and emergency department check-in. Developed an implementation plan for transition to Epic in July 2017, including redesign of workflows, data integration, and standardization of processes. Show less

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  Swedish

  Feb 2018 - Dec 2022

  Supports Emergency Services and inpatient Behavioral Health service lines with data analysis, goal setting, and ongoing reporting.Program initiatives assigned cover a broad spectrum including quality assessment and improvement; financial performance and patient experience. Administers the process of analyzing requirements, conducts data validation, and makes recommendations in the development of dashboards and reports. Assures analysis and management of the total needs of the assigned programs/projects and sustainment of prioritized quality goals for the service lines. Show less Facilitated quality improvement programs to standardize care delivery, increase reliability, promote high value care and support an effective quality management system.Facilitated the selection of annual, priority-driven improvement projects, pathways and/or other activities that focus on key operational processes and services offered.Reviewed evidence, research, available data, and coordinates risk and opportunity assessments that serve as the rationale for project selection and focus.Independently provided consultation to leaders, managers, and caregivers in establishing quality goals, identifying barriers, developing outcomes-oriented work plans, implementing changes, analyzing results, documenting measurable progress and graphically displaying information.Led the design, creation, validation, analysis, and communication of clinical quality data as it relates to organizational priorities in partnership with analytics and other relevant teams. Show less Led team of nine trainers and physician coaches who deliver education to new and established employees in Ambulatory Epic efficiencies, Cadence, Prelude, Referrals, and Insurance Fundamentals.Designed training curriculum for new workflows and system enhancements, conducted gap analyses for opportunities to enhance and refresh ongoing education, and deployed training across 700+ employees within Swedish Medical Group.Developed customized training sessions utilizing at the elbow, virtual, and recorded approaches to reach a broad audience with the goals of customer satisfaction and cost savings. Developed the training team by implementing a cross training plan and enabled team members to attain proficiencies in Epic applications. Developed dashboards, standard workflows, policies and procedures.Scored 100% on employee survey questions on supervisor effectiveness, ability to explain reasons for organizational changes, and managing stress levels in the team. Show less

  • Senior Program Manager, Acute Care

    Sept 2021 - Dec 2022

  • Senior Quality Program Manager

    Jun 2019 - Sept 2021

  • Supervisor of Application Training Analysts

    Feb 2018 - Jun 2019
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  Providence Health & Services

  Dec 2022 - now

  Clinical Program Manager

  Collaborates with regional/local key stakeholders to design, develop and deploy clinical standardization and innovation across the 7 state, 51 hospital system.Provides program guidance and leadership for activities supporting Acute Care Services in Emergency Medicine and Sepsis.Facilitates implementation plans for large-scale strategic initiatives and clinical decision pathways.Provides guidance to Analytics and Informatics in support of the creation of metric dashboards and optimized EHR workflows in support of system wide deliverables. Show less