The Practice Manager provides leadership and operational oversight to the support staff for Ambulatory Operations across three clinical sites: Surgery Timeshare, Anti-Coagulation and DETU. This includes supervision, training, and day-to-day management of clinic activities to ensure efficient workflows and high-quality patient care.

 

This role represents the department in clinic-related meetings focused on practice optimization, quality improvement, and process development, and is responsible for aligning clinic operations with OHSU’s standardized guidelines. The Practice Manager ensures full compliance with OHSU policies, DNV standards, and applicable state regulations.

 

In collaboration with the surgery leadership, the senior director of Ambulatory Operations, and the Medical Director, the Practice Manager helps develop clinical programs, manage the annual budget, and lead all HR-related functions, including staff development and regulatory compliance. They are responsible for smooth operations across clinic divisions and for modeling leadership that reflects OHSU’s mission of teaching, research, patient care, outreach, and public service.

 

The Practice Manager leads a broad team including PAS Specialists, PAS Resource Specialists, PAS Coordinators, Clinical Support Assistants, Office Specialists, Care Coordinators, and Medical Assistants. They oversee patient flow, staff coordination, and resource utilization to ensure optimal clinic performance.

 

The Practice Manager fosters a collaborative and inclusive work environment grounded in trust, respect, and innovation, and works closely with clinic leadership to support shared goals and effective team performance.

Key Responsibilities & Performance Standards

 

General

• Works to integrate the plans for the clinic with the overall strategic plan for the institution.
• Promotes and leverages OHSU Ambulatory goals and priorities.
• Is aware of and integrates the code of conduct, and establishes a respectful work environment.
• Serves as a role model for performance and service excellence for clinical staff in all areas.
• Actively participates in, and promotes values of service excellence.  Maintains and actively demonstrates a strong commitment to, and consistent modeling of positive workplace and code of conduct workplace behaviors.

Customer Service 

• Assures premier customer service to patients, physicians, the community and other clients.
• Ensures that all services rendered are authorized for payment and that practices comply with Revenue Cycle policies and with audit guidelines. Responsible for collaborating with Ambulatory Administration in care of under – or uninsured –patients.
• Serves as a role model for performance and service excellence for staff in all areas. Actively participates in, and promotes values and recommendations for the Customer Service Team.
• Provides ombudsman services for patients and community supporter of the clinic in obtaining timely access to service and optimal customer satisfaction.
• Provides prompt and professional communication demonstrating positive issue and complaint resolution. Leads by example in ensuring customer satisfaction, facilitating ease of access, and a spirit of cooperation across the organization.
• Actively provides and develops skills-training and scripting for dealing with difficult clients; ensures optimal service recovery; facilitates team building; and promotes proactive, innovative problem solving skills.
• Assures collaborative team building and teamwork between clerical, clinical, billing and medical staff.
• Seeks and analyzes feedback from patient and satisfaction surveys capitalizes on identified patient satisfaction strengths.
• Assists in establishing service improvements and service enhancements. Assists in quality improvement initiatives in collaboration with the Ambulatory Program Director, Medical Director and other management team members.
• Monitors critical time to service indicators including; telephone wait and hold times; time to service appointment availability; cash collections, insurance authorizations; provider referrals; and check-in and wait times. Communicates performance indicators and makes staffing and system adjustments as needed.
• Assists in ensuring supply-demand models, and oversees appointment simplification processes as well as template changes, to meet access needs of the patient.

Operations Management

• Manages the day-to-day operations of the practice. This includes developing business and clinical flows that facilitate patient satisfaction and maximize efficiency.  Keeps current on all clinical and business systems and ensures that staff is current as well.  Works closely with faculty members and division managers to maintain and improve quality of clinical operations to ensure high quality of care and maximize cost effectiveness.  Revamps/adjusts workflow in concert with system developments.  Develops intra-departmental policies and procedures.   Participates in Service Line, Operations meetings, Departmental, Organizational, and Community meetings when requested.
• Anticipates operational and functional requirements to enable program development and expansion. Evaluates new products for use in the practice.
• Responsible for maintaining internal quality management activities. Works collaboratively with the Ambulatory Quality Specialist to avert high risk, problem prone issues.  Problem solves immediate and long-range operating issues with staff.  Keeps abreast of all licensure, regulatory and safety requirements.  With guidance from the Ambulatory Program Director, ensures department and staff compliance with CMS regulations, HIPAA, OSHA, CLIA, DNV, OHSU, the Nurse Practice Act compliance, and other regulations.  Responsible for all reporting of risk related issues/problems within his/her practice.
• Acts as the first line of mediation for conflicts between clinical staff and/or patients and staff. Demonstrates collaborative problem solving skills and conflict resolution.  Provides daily “rounding” and will be accessible, available, and responsive to staff, providers and patients.  Utilizes patient satisfaction results, comment cards, and reports from the Patient Advocate to monitor patient and family feedback.  In a timely manner, will develop corrective action plans to resolve problems and monitors results.  Monitors other measures of patient access including phone statistics, access, patient waits, appointments, etc.
• Advocates for staff and patients with other departments when appropriate. Builds collaborative network and partnerships with ancillary departments and other departments across the university.
• Collaborates with inpatient clinical leadership in developing care paths and continuums that facilitate patient safety and optimize clinical outcomes.
• Maintain and revise exam room templates (per recommendation of PMG advisory group).
• Review appropriate clinic matters with the Ambulatory Program Director and Medical Director.

General Human Resources/Personnel

• Revise, support and evaluate staff roles based on the clinic care model, taking into consideration skills, scope of practice, patient and practice needs, and core competencies. Seeks input and involvement of the Nursing Manager, Medical Director and Ambulatory Program Director as appropriate.
• Recruits, hires, evaluates clinical, clerical and business staff supporting program operations. Composes and revises job descriptions as needed. Makes hiring, firing and disciplinary decisions. Completes annual evaluations for staff, and proactively follows-up on future plans for action.
• Assures payroll funding accuracy. Regularly runs payroll suspense reports completing labor distribution changes as needed in a timely manner.  Monitors personnel and non-labor expenses to ensure adherence to budget.
• Establishes work schedules and monitors work performance. Oversees staffing assignments, vacation and leave approvals, and time and attendance system.  Ensures that schedules and assignments are made and adjusted based on sick calls, special patient needs, special assignments and training.  Supervises workloads, and monitors employee productivity.  Reviews, monitors and submits timely overtime reports.
• Proactively assesses clinical, clerical, and business staffing needs and ensures a smooth process for optimal cross –coverage and cross-training.
• Ensures staff compliance with clinical competency, licensure, and scope of practice. Cultivates staff development by utilizing internal and external resources.  Ensures that staff attends mandatory competency and training sessions.  Sets standards of practice in collaboration with Nursing Manager and Assistant Director, Ambulatory Services.
• Develops and ensures implementation of orientation plans for new staff.
• Conducts regular staff meetings. Promotes patient satisfaction survey and associated action planning.  Actively promotes employee engagement.  Ensures that all providers and staff are kept current on clinic developments.
• Maintains current knowledge of all labor contracts. Collaborates with Labor Relations in resolving staff issues and interpreting the contracts.
• Assures new employees are welcome to CWH and oversees orientation/training of new staff.  Facilitates orientation of faculty, residents and students.

Financial Marketing

• Prepares annual capital and operating budgets. Collaborates with the Ambulatory Program Director to propose monthly budget variance reports in a timely fashion.  (Assists the Ambulatory Program Director in preparation and monitoring of budgets, including preparation of variance reports, new & expanded programs, overtime reports, etc.)
• Ensures proper budgeting and financial accounting of all clinical accounts.  Develops and analyzes cost data for annual budgets
• Approves all practice expenditures. Utilizes Oracle to initiate, approve, and deny purchases, monitors expenditures, develops status reports and reports variances and resolves discrepancies. 
• Works with Revenue Cycle Manager, Division Manager, OHSU and Patient Billing Services to monitor billing process to ensure maximized charges and timeliness of submission. Actively develops initiatives to increase reimbursement and collections of revenue from patient care.  Ensures that all services rendered are authorized for payment and that patient insurance coverage is regularly verified.  Ensures that cash collection practices comply with Revenue Cycle policies and with audit guidelines.  Responsible for collaborating with Ambulatory Administration in the care of under or uninsured patients.
• Works with the Revenue Cycle Manager to ensure that pricing and charge capture processes are current and in line with market expectations.  Participates in development of initiatives in order to improve patient care and referring physician’s relationships.

• Bachelor’s Degree or the equivalent with at least 5 years of relevant experience.  Must have worked within a health care setting.
• Three or more years experience working with patients.  Four or more years experience in a managerial/supervisory role.  Demonstrated organization skills.  Demonstrated problem solving skills.  Demonstrated communication, interpersonal and conflict resolution skills.  Demonstrated leadership and planning skills.
• Strong interpersonal, organizational and communication skills needed.  Ability to work on varied projects while managing day to day operations within the division.  Work positively and constructively with a diverse group of faculty and staff.  Must be extremely organized and detail oriented juggling a wide variety of responsibilities managing priorities and deadlines

Oregon Health & Science University values a diverse and culturally competent workforce. We are proud of our commitment to being an equal opportunity, affirmative action organization that does not discriminate against applicants on the basis of any protected class status, including disability status and protected veteran status. Individuals with diverse backgrounds and those who promote diversity and a culture of inclusion are encouraged to apply. To request reasonable accommodation contact the Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity Department at 503-494-5148 or aaeo@ohsu.edu.