Executive Director, Mass General Brigham (MGB) Transplant Center

GENERAL SUMMARY/ OVERVIEW STATEMENT:

General Summary

The Executive Director (ED) functions as the senior administrative leader for the MGB Transplant Center across the Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) academic medical centers (AMCs), which together accounted for 276 kidney, 105 heart, 135 lung, and 75 liver transplants in FY24. In alignment and coordination with the Transplant Center Executive Committee (TCEC), this position is accountable for:

• Directly overseeing Transplant Administration at both AMCs, including administrative functions that are shared between both sites and clinical operations across each AMC and all outpatient care settings.
• Setting the vision and strategic priorities for the MGB Transplant Center, including execution on strategic and operational goals, financial stewardship, and regulatory compliance with respective agencies (CMS, UNOS, Joint Commission).
• Initiating new and sustaining growth of existing organ-based Transplant Programs, including network development, efforts to expand outreach clinics into new markets, and increasing utilization of deceased and living donor organs.
• Monitoring, supporting, coordinating, and integrating, as appropriate, the organ-based Transplant Programs.
• Overseeing the Mechanical Circulatory Support (MCS) Programs at both AMCs.
• Overseeing the MGH Center for Transplantation Sciences and Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance.

The Executive Director reports to the AMC Senior Vice President of Surgical Department Operations (a Co-Chair of the Transplant Center Executive Committee). Due to the senior level of this position, the Executive Director also regularly communicates with, prepares materials for, receives direction from, and provides counsel to the Chairs of the MGB Departments of Medicine and Surgery, the Chief Operating Officers, the Chief Medical Officers, the Chief Nurse Officers, and other senior leaders of other departments and the MGB system. The scope of this senior management role spans both MGH and BWH.

PRINCIPAL DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES:

Leadership

• In partnership with the TCEC, determines the overall vision, mission, direction, goals, and objectives of the Transplant Center. Directs the strategic planning process, establishes and achieves long range goals, and ensures the implementation of strategic business plans that are aligned with the AMC’s vision, strategic plans, and goals.
• Assesses the market’s need for transplant and transplant-related services and evaluates and advances the design of the organ-based transplant centers, consistent with the strategic business plans and the growth and market objectives of the service. Works with departmental and hospital leadership to prepare the necessary business plans and documentation and manages the implementation.
• Identifies, evaluates, and recommends new business ventures, affiliations, and partnerships consistent with the strategic business plans and the growth and market objectives of the Transplant Center and Mass General Brigham (MGB). Works with institutional leadership and the MGB Office of General Counsel to prepare the necessary business plans and documentation. Manages the renewal of any such arrangements.
• Leads the service and associated center(s) development and supports functional operations and programmatic initiatives for care model development, care delivery improvement, and cost reduction, working closely with department and division leadership. Serves as a central coordinating force for service activities.
• Monitors and reports on the status of how service practices and organ-based centers align with goals established by service leadership.
• Where appropriate, ensures that the organ-based centers are working in an integrated fashion.

• As appropriate, develops and implements policies and procedures consistent with the AMC’s policies in the area of clinical practice management. Interacts extensively with the SVP and Chairs to assess administrative and financial needs of the Transplant Center and to revise policies and procedures to meet its changing needs.
• Evaluates, initiates, and implements various Transplant Center systems and procedures, and revises as necessary to maximize efficiency.
• Works with management staff and representatives from other departments to evaluate, initiate, and implement systems and procedures and revises as necessary to improve and maximize efficiency.

• Establishes and maintains clear and precise communications with all key stakeholders of the service. Communicates openly and collaboratively with other administrators and hospital leaders.
• Ensures healthy and collaborative administrative relationships within the Transplant Center, along with the academic departments, the hospitals, and MGB.
• Maintains an in-depth knowledge of the changing health care environment and of the regional, national, and global healthcare trends related to organ donation and transplantation, including innovative therapies, preservation technologies, and regenerative medicine, and organ engineering, and a thorough understanding of the clinical reimbursement and managed care issues specific to the Transplant Center.
• Interfaces with federal/state government officials, regulatory, national and community committees and Boards on behalf of BWH, MGH, and MGB.
• Serves as the primary point of contact for New England Donor Services, in all efforts related to clinical and strategic collaboration, 24/7 issue resolution, and partnership building. Ensures effective coordination and strength of relationship.
• Acts as a champion for MGB clinical integration in general, and both plans and executes projects or initiatives to further integration within and across the MGB Transplant Center.
• Engages, as needed and/or as opportunities arise, with the BWH, MGH, and/or MGB Development office to support philanthropic initiatives.
• Administratively oversees quality, patient safety, and compliance efforts across the Transplant Center, including adherence to various regulatory agencies (i.e., UNOS, CMS, TJC, DPH, etc.) policies, procedures, and conditions of participation. Also oversees the Quality Assurance Process Improvement (QAPI) activity, including integrating quality, utilization, and risk management.
• Responsible for overseeing the management of the transplant data ecosystem (internal and external), including monthly/quarterly clinical and operational dashboards and providing data to support reporting requirements for regulatory compliance, automating data capture, and reducing the administrative burden of providing and curating data to stakeholders.
• Analyzes and prioritizes enhancements to existing database solutions and analytic reports, including redesigning data infrastructure. Designs and delivers standard and customized reports and data visualizations targeted to multiple stakeholders and audiences that monitor results against targets, performance against external benchmarks, and compliance quality and safety standards.
• Leads efforts to create business intelligence tools and data insights that create value and lead to actionable strategies for effective change, such as process improvement, cost management, and revenue maximization.
• Maintains database infrastructure within Epic, OnCall, and external data feeds, including managing a highly reliable data QA process to ensure data accuracy and completeness.
• Ensures effective management of the daily ambulatory practice operations of the transplant clinics at both AMCs Transplant Clinics, including all organ program satellite clinics.

Financial Management

• Maintains the solvency of all funds within the Transplant Center.
• Examines, analyzes, and interprets financial reports for the purpose of giving advice, preparing statements and projections, and ultimately managing resources.
• Supervises the activities of subordinates who are responsible for being familiar with and approving all expenditures, assigning cost centers, monitoring compliance with budgets, and identifying and investigating potential problem areas and proposing solutions.
• Prepares monthly Transplant Center financial performance executive reports for review with the SVP.
• Develops and monitors annual operating and capital budgets; organizes the annual budget submission process in collaboration BWH/MGH and BWPO/MGPO budget offices.
• Identifies opportunities to optimize clinical reimbursement and works with departmental leadership to execute change.
• Approves all Transplant Center capital purchases and tracks ongoing expenditures.
• Monitors all sundry and BWH/MGH funds within the Transplant Center. Oversees these activities where appropriate.
• Reconciles monthly fund statements.
• Coordinates with Accounts Payable, Payroll, and other departments as needed for resolution of errors or identification of charges.
• Develops monthly status reports of funds.
• Assigns expenditures to funds as necessary.
• As needed, develops and tracks Transplant Center-related commitments and recruitment and/or retention packages.
• Oversees and approves financial transactional activities (payroll, advanced authorizations, travel requests, EDCs, journal entries, check requests, etc.).
• As appropriate, reviews new hire letters for Transplant Center faculty and recommends for signature by the SVP.
• Conceptualizes and performs a variety of financial analyses (physician recruitment, business/program development, etc.).
• Oversees expense management issues; performs comparative analyses; develops and implements strategies for cost containment.
• Understands government reimbursement for transplant, including Medicare cost reporting and managed care specialty contracting. Ably monitors and supports ongoing contract efforts to appropriately report on cost and maximize revenue.
• Supports hospital and/or MGB efforts to improve Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) and charge capture.
• Works collaboratively with the Administrative Directors/ Leadership for the Transplant Center and Nephrology, Hepatology, Pediatrics, Cardiology, Pulmonology, Cardiac Surgery, and Thoracic Surgery, to coordinate financial issues, data, budgets, etc. as appropriate, including participating in Medicare Cost and Organ Acquisition Fund reconciliation/reporting.

Program Management

• Administrative Management

  • Maintains adequate staffing, space and facilities, coordination of purchasing, maintenance and renovation activities for relevant operational areas.

  • Oversee transplant administration – the centralized teams that support the cross-program efforts at both BWH and MGH, as well as the teams and functions that are integrated and support programs at both AMCs:

    • Administrative Coordination: Clinic support services; documentation management; administrative support.
    • Data Analysis: Database management; performance reporting; compliance assessments.
    • Financial Coordination: Patient insurance management; patient financial review, assessment, and support; financial verifications; revenue cycle management.

• Clinical Management

  • Works closely with administrative and medical staff to assist in the development, implementation and administration of policies, procedures and projects to meet the agreed upon goals and objectives for the Transplant Center.

  • Determines and recommends necessary space, equipment, supplies and support systems to ensure effective functioning of the Transplant Center.

  • Supports the advancement of the service’s quality and service experience goals.

  • Continuously assesses and improves the efficiency of systems and processes.

  • Leads multidisciplinary efforts to achieve greater organizational performance and operational efficiencies through clinical integration and joint program development across medical and surgical specialties.

  • Facilitates development, implementation, and evaluation of divisional group practice structures, including new models of care delivery and ongoing pre/post virtual care across multiple disciplines.

• Research and Facilities Management

• Oversees clinical operations and research finance for the Islet Processing SSF Laboratory, a clinical GMP facility, which supports the Islet cell isolations for the Pancreas Center and other contracted facilities as needed. Manages the implementation and monitoring of the, including both research finance and general operations.

• Administratively leads and supports the Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplantation Tolerance.

• Maintains tracking, documentation, and compliance with FDA regulations, including ongoing audits, testing, and cleaning inspections.

• Consistency of Service

  • Reviews the ongoing management of the centers’ multidisciplinary offerings, discusses and resolves any cross-service administrative problems that arise, and directs the planning of improvements in existing multidisciplinary services.

  • Where reasonable and appropriate, ensure maximal consistency of administration across the organ-based centers.

  • Supports and guides common areas of interest across services (e.g. information technology, documentation standards, etc.).

  • Provide business application ownership on behalf of the Transplant Center for the MGB Epic Phoenix module.

• Compliance & Quality

  • Ensures transplant administration adherence to various regulatory agencies (e.g., CMS, UNOS, etc.). Serves as a subject matter expert with all guidelines for Transplant and MCS programs/centers. Ensures timely, accurate and compliant reporting for these and other such regulatory agencies.

  • Ensures clinical practices are in compliance with various regulatory and accreditation agencies (e.g., DPH, TJC, etc.).

  • Provide oversight of the Transplant Center QAPI Program, integrating quality, utilization, and risk management in the delivery of transplant health care services. Oversees quality improvement activities for Transplant Center, encouraging participation of all levels of staff.

  • Interface with government, regulatory, national and community committees and boards on behalf of BWH, MGH and MGB.

  • Ensure Transplant Center compliance with national contracts, certifying bodies, and nationally accepted standards, policies, procedures, and requirements.

Outreach & Development

• Works closely with regional stakeholders, including the New England Organ Bank, to ensure effective coordination and strength of relationship.

• Oversees all Transplant Center network arrangements from idea conception, through to financial modeling, contract establishment, and ongoing review.

• Develops new business opportunities between outside providers and BWH, MGH and MGB by organizing and driving complex, multi-disciplinary and multi-institutional initiatives designed to achieve strategic and operational objectives of the Transplant Center.

  • In consultation with Transplant Center leadership, divisional leadership, and the VP of Network Development, identify and pursue opportunities and organize and drive responses to all inquiries and RFPs.

  • In conjunction with the academic departments, develop subject matter briefs, relationship proposals and other materials requiring the use of business intelligence and proprietary information of the AMCs and MGB.

  • Responsible for successful execution of initial relationships and agreements, operational transitions and hand-offs to appropriate clinical and administrative leaders and monitoring ongoing relationship management.

• Serves as the Transplant Center lead for all legal negotiations and contract development work within the clinical areas of Transplant Center, working in collaboration with the MGB Office of General Counsel, the VP of Network Development, departmental administration, and other relevant areas.

• Ensures proper liaison between the external entity and the Transplant Center, in collaboration with the participating department/division clinical and administrative staff; also ensure Transplant Center representation for all meetings with executives and principals of the outside hospitals.

• Communicates and coordinate network development activities with the physicians and hospital liaisons and ensures their participation in any effort that directly affects their particular area(s) of support.

• Works with the Marketing Office to develop and maintain an ongoing marketing plan to promote Transplant Center efforts.

• Works with the program leadership to develop and implement strategic plans (e.g. for new programs/services, network development/outreach), within the context of/consistent with Transplant Center Strategic Plan and institutional Clinical Business Development activities.

• Works closely with MGB Network Development in leveraging new and existing relationships with external provider groups and health systems to improve access and increase capacity to evaluate patients, which includes the establishment of a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) database to track progress on outreach activities and referring provider contact information.

• Evaluates and develops operational plans to launch new outreach clinics in strategic locations across the region, including scaling of existing business operations. Participates in developing partnering initiatives with other MGB affiliates and external entities related to outreach, satellite operations and transplant programs.

Human Resources Management

• Provides broad supervision to and is responsible for the conduct, operations, and results of the associated staff and non-employees.

• Coordinates with Human Resources for the interviewing, hiring, personnel transactions (hiring, salaries, promotions, job descriptions, etc.) and implementing of institutional corrective action policy.

• Creates a supportive, educational, and development-focused environment for all staff.

• Reviews workload issues and compares against UNOS benchmarks to ensure and advocate for appropriate staffing.

• Reviews, supports, and ensures salary and wage equity for Transplant Center managers and staff; ensures that all performance evaluations are performed in a compliant and timely manner.

• Ensures the support and maintenance of a diverse, inclusive, and professional environment.

• In conjunction with Human Resources leadership, serves as a resource for Transplant Center issues related to professional and non-professional staff benefits.

• Using Workday, initiates, approves and coordinates with Human Resources for approval of human resources changes (i.e. salary adjustments, salary distributions, training records, etc.).

• Prepares performance reviews on direct reports. Takes corrective and disciplinary action as necessary to maintain the highest level of staff productivity and effectiveness. Terminate employees as necessary.

Other

• Performs/coordinates/participates in special projects for the TCEC and MGB leadership as they arise.

  • MGB Clinical Performance Management

  • Bi-annual report preparation

  • Website development

  • Marketing Material Development

  • Preparation of fund-raising materials

  • Strategic planning

• Develop letters, presentations, announcements, and other communications for the SVP and members of the TCEC; all documents must be of the highest caliber of refinement and professionalism.

• Consistently meets all deadlines for deliverables or activities as established by service leadership – and thus departmental, hospital and MGB leadership.

• Serves on service, center, departmental and/or hospital committees as assigned.

• Lead or participate in special projects and perform other related tasks as requested or required.

QUALIFICATIONS:

At least 8-10 years administrative/management experience in an academic medical center setting required; leadership of a Transplant Center or center at a large academic hospital or system required.

Progressive experience in transplant administration and multi-organ programs required.

Business/strategic planning and financial management/analysis experience required.

Master’s degree in related field required; MBA, MHA, or MSA strongly preferred.

SKILLS/ ABILITIES/ COMPETENCIES REQUIRED:

• Analytical Skills

  • To create business trends and process analyses, profit and loss statements, operational reviews, and identification of system weaknesses. Demonstrated experience in operations, project management, strategy development, business and financial planning, budgeting, and financial reporting.

• Organizational Skills

  • To manage many competing timetables and responsibilities. The ability to delegate, effectively supervise, and plan for the timely and successful completion of short- and long-term objectives is essential. The responsibilities of this position require detailed, concentrated effort and constant re-establishment of priorities as well as complex and sensitive decision-making.

• Project Management Skills

  • To support on-time administration of multiple, competing priorities, in a matrixed environment. Includes strategy development, action planning, and execution and development of monitoring tools.

• Theoretical Skills

  • To conceptualize systems approaches to problem solving and interrelationships of clinical, teaching, and research activities.

• Communication Skills

  • To effectively relate to a large and diverse constituency of individuals - including senior leaders, hospital administrative staff, faculty at all levels, trainees and staff, representatives of other AMC offices, potential donors, representatives, and vendors. Must include superior skills in financial, written, and oral formats.

• Interpersonal Skills

  • To facilitate obtainment of cooperation and support from a broad range of people. Demonstrated ability to interact with all members of the organization in ways that enhance understanding, respect, cooperation, and problem solving.

• Negotiation and Contracting Skills

  • To come to settlement in situations that are complex, sensitive, and often multi-institutional.

  • To ensure the rights and responsibilities of all internal constituents are fairly and accurately represented.

• Other Abilities

  • Ability to work independently as well as collaboratively at all levels of a complex organization.

  • Ability to generate and encourage creative ideas, innovative thinking, and imaginative solutions to issues.

  • Ability to use Microsoft Office (Access, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook) and financial systems.

• Ability to maintain the highest standards of performance, quality, credibility, and integrity.

• Ability to maintain extraordinarily professional discretion in the handling of highly confidential and/or political information and data.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

• Works in an office setting.

• Attends meetings in and out of the hospital. Network responsibilities may require travel to off-campus locations.

• Is available for early and late meetings and flexible to meet frequent deadlines.

• Some evening and weekend work may be required.

SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITY:

Directly Supervises:

• Administrative Director(s)

• Clinical Director

• Nurse Directors

• Quality & Compliance Director

• Indirect

• Administrative and Clinical Support Staff (approximately 210 FTEs)

FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY: Indicate financial “scope” information, i.e.: size of budget, volume, revenue, etc.

• Accountable for hospital-based center-specific budgets and any other budgets centrally managed on behalf of Transplant Center.

• Accountable for the development of shadow operating statements that aggregate reporting of centers and the full Transplant Center.

OTHER DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES

• Works within legal, regulatory, accreditation and ethical practice standards relevant to the position and as established by BWH/Partners.

• Follows safe practices required for the position.

• Complies with appropriate BWH, MGH and MGB policies and procedures.

• Fulfills any training required by BWH, MGH and/or MGB, as appropriate.

• Brings potential matters of non-compliance to the attention of the supervisor or other appropriate hospital staff.