Optum Health - Chief Operating Officer, West Region

For those who want to invent the future of health care, here's your opportunity. We're going beyond basic care to health programs integrated across the entire continuum of care. Join us to start Caring. Connecting. Growing together.

As Chief Operating Officer, West Region, you will be responsible fordriving operational excellence, innovation, patient experience and quality by aligning strategies with organizational goals, streamlining processes, fostering compliance, leading and managing key talent and ensuring compliance. Focused on efficiency and outcomes, the COO delivers impactful solutions that balance financial performance with exceptional care delivery and sustainable growth. 

Must live in NV, CO, AZ, NM, UT or ID

Primary Responsibilities:

• Day-to-day operational and clinical management for each state/business within the region; in partnership with regional Medical Directors, Clinical Operational leads and Back Office Operational leads, responsible for integrated initiatives to enhance clinical outcomes and patient care and ultimately deliver on goals for the operational levers of the P&L (VBC or FFS) and SG&A

• Together with West Region CEO and West Region CMO, champions care model, patient experience and culture transformation in addition to executing on core clinical levers day-to-day

• Lead operations strategy for the region through daily interaction with regional team (CEO, CMO, Clin Ops and Risk-based Ops teams) as well as the national operations teams (Practice Operations, ECS, Optum Insight, etc.)

• Contribute to the operations strategy for Optum Health as liaison to national operations functions (i.e., Practice Operations, ECS and IT leadership) and in partnership with other regional COOs and teams; identify improvement and efficiency opportunities, share best practices and field feedback and implement national performance improvement and standardization efforts at the regional level.

• Work with local operations team leaders to tap the strength of local relationships and intelligence including local transaction directors (M&A), local contractors/negotiators (Provider, Network, Payer for local contracts), those with local broker relationships and local grassroots marketers (execution)

• Develops and oversees performance monitoring of both national and local operations in Claims, Customer Service, Clinical Operations, Payment Integrity, Technology and other infrastructure teams that are in support of the West Region business

• Oversees local execution of the clinic wraparound functions including lab, pharmacy, referrals, patient access/scheduling, training and overall patient experience; provides input on needs/best practices to national teams in those areas plus revenue cycle management, real estate and Supply Chain

Key Capabilities:

Business Leader

• Connect macro strategies and goals to execution plans, including initiatives to streamline processes and implement new technologies 

• Develop and monitor national best practice KPIs across risk-based operations and clinical operations 

• Ensure departments follow budgets, identify cost-savings and maintain financial compliance  

• Connect clinical ops and quality as triad to West Region CEO and West Region CMO 

People Leader

• Accountable for culture and retention of regional operations team including performance management, succession planning and staffing
• Align operations organization around appropriate goals and management processes 

External Leader

• Assess the value of vendor services, monitor performance and manage the resolution of complex issues that arise 
• Drive and influence enterprise efforts to enhance patient experience and efficiency, such as clinic efficiency models, provider productivity measurement, redesigning customer service workflows, improving digital tools and reducing wait times for care 

Skills and Knowledge:

• Thorough operational and clinical understanding of healthcare delivery systems 

• Solid knowledge of reimbursement models across the continuum from fee-for-service to full risk 

• In-depth understanding of cost, clinical quality, patient and provider satisfaction levers and their interaction 

• Solid financial and operational background in physician practice management 

• Solid visionary leadership skills and ability to execute that vision including strategic thinking, business transformation, change leadership, organization design and effectiveness, product and service mix and incentive alignment 

• Demonstrated entrepreneurial openness and ability to explore new possibilities and to approach issues differently; intellectually agile 

• Demonstrated ability to recognize, prioritize and evaluate market trends and specific growth opportunities, together with commercial acumen to negotiate favorable outcomes 

• Demonstrated business acumen; able to assess financial implications of decisions and actions; able to understand how strategies and tactics work in the marketplace and impact Optum Health 

• Analytical thinker with demonstrated ability to perform root cause analysis, prepare and implement action plans and lead improvement initiatives 

• Deep understanding of medical/clinical leader and staff needs, mindsets, motivations and dissatisfiers, together with ability to factor these into growth and operating plans in a corporate environment 

• Solid influencing skills; ability to quickly build credibility and gain the confidence of individuals at all levels 

• Proven ability to work collaboratively with colleagues, physicians and teammates to create a results-driven, team-oriented environment as well as with third parties; viewed as leader in the health system community 

• Ambitious and proactive; able to identify meaningful goals and capture the imagination of others to achieve them; able to add value to discussions or projects that impact Optum and Optum Health's position in the industry; able to bring out the best thinking and attitudes; able to recognize unique contributions of individuals and teamwork 

• Solid desire to lead, develop and mentor other teammates - ability to grow and challenge leaders 

You'll be rewarded and recognized for your performance in an environment that will challenge you and give you clear direction on what it takes to succeed in your role as well as provide development for other roles you may be interested in. 

Required Qualifications:

• 15+ years of progressive management experience in healthcare leadership, with a balanced focus on business and clinical operations and patient satisfaction 

• 10+ years of operational experience within a complex matrix environment, demonstrating flexibility and an ability to optimize outcomes across stakeholders 

• 5+ years of experience working with employed operations and affiliated network management 

• Large scope P&L accountability - in the range of $1.5B of FFS revenue, plus $10B - $15B of risk revenue - in an environment of leveraging scale for the next phase of growth 

• Experience across both managed care and fee for service-based models; extensive experience of risk bearing entities 

• Ability to travel up to 25-50% of the time 

• Live in NV, CO, AZ, NM, UT or ID
  
  

Preferred Qualifications:

• 10+ years of clinical practice experience 

• 10+ years of operational leadership experience 

Pay is based on several factors including but not limited to local labor markets, education, work experience, certifications, etc. In addition to your salary, we offer benefits such as, a comprehensive benefits package, incentive and recognition programs, equity stock purchase and 401k contribution (all benefits are subject to eligibility requirements). No matter where or when you begin a career with us, you'll find a far-reaching choice of benefits and incentives. The salary for this role will range from $225,000 to $375,000 annually based on full-time employment. We comply with all minimum wage laws as applicable.

At UnitedHealth Group, our mission is to help people live healthier lives and make the health system work better for everyone. We believe everyone-of every race, gender, sexuality, age, location and income-deserves the opportunity to live their healthiest life. Today, however, there are still far too many barriers to good health which are disproportionately experienced by people of color, historically marginalized groups and those with lower incomes. We are committed to mitigating our impact on the environment and enabling and delivering equitable care that addresses health disparities and improves health outcomes - an enterprise priority reflected in our mission.  

OptumCare is an Equal Employment Opportunity employer under applicable law and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, national origin, religion, age, color, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by local, state, or federal laws, rules, or regulations. 

OptumCare is a drug-free workplace. Candidates are required to pass a drug test before beginning employment.