Hybrid Quality & Performance Improvement Specialist

Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health; Portage (MI); Hybrid; USD 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health in Portage, MI, is seeking a Quality Assurance Specialist to monitor and improve the quality of behavioral health services across the region, leading audits, tracking performance data, and driving improvement projects that impact the people we serve.

The role owns external audits, develops QAPIP plans, analyzes critical incidents, and coaches teams on improvement methods.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's in social work, psychology, organizational psychology, healthcare administration, statistics, or a human services field.
• Quality assurance, auditing, and/or project management experience, with a proven record of leading process improvement projects.
• Strong skills organizing, analyzing, and presenting information in verbal and written reports.
• Excellent interpersonal skills; works well in teams and independently; manages multiple projects and deadlines.
• Advanced Microsoft Office 365 skills (Word, Excel, Outlook, Visio, PowerPoint).
• Supports culturally competent, recovery-based, person-centered, and trauma-informed practices.

Responsibilities

• Identify quality initiatives that improve regional clinical performance, member outcomes, and access to services, in line with federal, state, contractual, and accreditation requirements
• Help develop the annual Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement Program (QAPIP) Plan and Evaluation; support regional implementation, including KPIs, Performance Improvement Projects, strategic imperatives, and QAPIP goal tracking across departments
• Review critical incidents to determine sentinel event status, support timely root cause analysis, assist with mortality reviews, and analyze quarterly trends for Critical Incident Reporting System submissions
• Lead and coordinate external audits (HSAG, MDHHS, CMHSP site reviews): consult throughout, prepare reports, and manage remediation
• Develop action plans with partners to address performance issues and monitor progress
• Manage the SWMBH survey process, from distribution and collection to communicating outcomes
• Analyze member experience assessments to identify trends in quality, availability, and accessibility of care; recommend, track, and evaluate systemic action steps
• Track and analyze project details; maintain internal systems for projects, audits, and reports
• Report information to external stakeholders per federal, state, and contractual requirements
• Serve as subject matter expert on quality assurance and performance improvement; coach internal and external customers on improvement methods
• Manage multiple audits and initiatives at once, with strong organization and attention to detail
• If staffed by someone with an active clinical license, may join clinical chart reviews and audits of SWMBH providers and CMHSPs

Skills

Quality assurance

Auditing

Project management

Data analysis

Verbal and written reporting

Interpersonal skills

Education

Bachelor's in social work, psychology, organizational psychology, healthcare administration, statistics, or a human services field

Tools

Microsoft Office 365

Visio

PowerPoint

Excel

Word

Outlook

Tableau

Power BI

Adobe Acrobat

Job description

Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health in Portage, MI, is seeking a Quality Assurance Specialist to monitor and improve the quality of behavioral health services across the region, leading audits, tracking performance data, and driving improvement projects that impact the people we serve.

The role owns external audits, develops QAPIP plans, analyzes critical incidents, and coaches teams on improvement methods.