Alicia Kirley

• Sets the strategy for, directs and oversees approximately $30 million of federal, philanthropic, and social enterprise funding, including extensive HHS investments, that provides technical assistance and consultative services to state agencies, payers, state associations and behavioral health and primary care organizations for redesigning public health systems including oversight of performance management, strategic planning, budgets, and day to day operations.
• Works closely with VP of Practice Improvement and Consulting and Senior Director of Business and Strategy, as subject matter expert, to evaluate the public health landscape, identify trends in needs, innovations, and policy to build long range planning for diversifying funding, improving health and equity in the US by growing public health initiatives and aligning funding, impact goals and growth opportunities with organization goals and mission.
• Accountable for the strategic, financial, and operational performance of Practice Improvement portfolio and team, serving in partnership with executive leadership and business development to support quality and operational growth of the department and program office.
• Management of all key centralized operational functions of the portfolio such as HR, IT, Finance, including direct supervision of a broad team and indirect supervision through a matrix approach to functional project teams, supports staff development and collaborates with leadership of staff growth opportunities.
• Serves as primary subject matter specialist for the National Council for Mental Wellbeing, leading public health and services delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse and provide integrated and comprehensive primary care as a standard of policy and best practice.
• Serves as lead on national public health initiatives on behalf of National Council for Mental Wellbeing on a number of key priorities including integrated primary and behavioral health care, and Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic Model, leading the development of innovative and creative programmatic design and implementation in partnership with federal agencies and their grantees (CMS, HHS, CDC, HRSA, SAMHSA, BJA), state health departments, regional, county and city public health agencies, tribal health agencies and partners, national health and public health non-profits, national philanthropic organizations, health and hospital systems, local health agencies and non-profits, community behavioral health organizations, advisory boards, community coalitions, and persons with lived experience.
• Serves as principal investigator, subject matter expert and administrator of federal funded contracts and cooperative agreements including Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) funded CCBHC State Technical Assistance Center, The Center of Excellence for Integrated Health Solutions managing approximately 35 national partnerships.
• Lead the development and scaling of Project ECHO throughout portfolio initiatives aligned with National Council strategy to increase and enhance the execution for adapting training and technical assistance to meet the rapidly changing needs of the health care workforce.
• Serves as partner and advisor on programmatic and policy initiatives with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Strategy to coordinate the development of technical assistance on newly released payment policy, advises CMS of critical components and outputs of comprehensive care delivery systems and strategizes on payment reform to promote high quality care for managed care partners and enrollees.

Established and executed the operational and clinical strategies for growth of the mental health, substance use and primary care delivery services in the largest community behavioral health organizations in Western Pennsylvania, successfully designing and scaling integrated primary care and behavioral health services across a comprehensive and coordinated service array for vulnerable and high-risk individuals with co-occurring physical and behavioral health and social support needs. Progressively expanding funding streams, clinical resources and community partnerships which included growth in government funded work, philanthropic and social enterprise ventures as well as non-affiliated partnerships with state and local health officials, managed care and multiple large health systems and social support agencies to improve coordination of care across the continuum, reduce costs of high-risk care, and improve client outcomes contributing to high KPI performance.

• As a member of the executive team, provided strategic leadership and oversight for the organization’s mental health and wellness programs including financial oversight of a $30 million dollar division of primary and behavioral health care, directly managing teams of senior managers, clinical directors, and providers.
• Worked as a dyad alongside the Medical Director, to lead system-wide operational and clinical care integration as medical practice leadership, developing measurable and achievable goals and objectives for improved operational & clinical outcome measures for quality improvement, cost and risk reduction and implementation of evidence-based practices.
• Manages the impact of broad scope organizational change and develops change strategies for successful implementation of clinical and operational transformation and monitors performance results against established metrics and benchmarks and recommend improvement opportunities.
• Serves as a Clinical Information Systems lead in partnership with IT, Finance and key clinical and operational stakeholders liaising between IT teams and clinical teams to design and implement the conversion to a new integrated EHR platform.
• Key contributor to the development and design of Section 223 Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic (CCBHC) Demonstration, lead the clinical delivery systems transformation including quality measurement implementation, care delivery redesign, and integration of services.
• Developed and fostered key relationships with critical stakeholders, including Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Allegheny County Department of Human Services, Allegheny Health Network, UPMC Health Plan, and Managed Care entities to design cross-sector population health clinical pathways and KPIs to improve quality of healthcare outcomes, support sustainability through value-based contracting, and reduce healthcare costs.
• Developed long-range strategic planning to expand market share and maximize patient outcomes developing methodology to assess utilization.
• Directed $6M in federal, state, and local grant funds including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) philanthropic organizations and social enterprise entities, including multi-year Primary and Behavioral Health Care Integration grant and CCBHC Expansion grants.
• Proven performance in clinical and performance outcomes through population health program design, reduced ED and Inpatient Psychiatric Utilization of high-risk populations by 70% through the Integrated Care Model and co-developed clinical model for post-acute respite care, generating $2.5M+ in savings to area hospitals.

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer served as administrative leader, accountable for the clinical and operational activities of a HRSA funded Federally Qualified Health Center.

• Collaborates with Chief Medical Officer and Quality Manger to standardize best practices and processes throughout clinical practice to ensure compliance with regulatory agencies governing care delivery, including Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA).
• Provides operational oversight and administration of an $8M Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) funded by HRSA in accordance with organizational and designation goals, including credentialing, billing, recruitment and direct supervision of health center staff, IT, and policies and procedures development.
• Lead the design and implementation of integrated perinatal care in partnership with the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and Center, supported by physician residents to increase access to perinatal care for vulnerable populations including mental health and substance use intervention.
• Expanded the practice of integrated primary and behavioral health care, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Regional Health Initiative’s Partners in Integration Care network, to establish a network of safety-net providers with emphasis on the social determinant needs of vulnerable populations.
• Lead the clinical implementation of organizational goals, objectives, and standards of care aligned with the Patient Centered Medical Home Model and achieved NCQA’s Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) recognition in 2012.
• Instituted health center workforce teams to peer support teams supporting care programming for non-English speakers and refugees.
• Identified opportunities and implemented new workflows to reduce variation, reduce cost, improve efficiencies related to EHR platform (NextGen) and enhance end-user productivity in partnership with external EHR support vendor.
• Coordinated staff recruitment, training, and scheduling activities.
• Conducted regular meetings with staff to discuss operational issues and ensure proper communication between departments.
• Managed vendor relationships for supplies and services related to the practice.

Spearheaded organizational change and provided direct oversight of physician services for FQHC spanning 8 locations, with responsibilities including medical staff development and recruitment, physician scheduling, physician and organizational credentialing, contract development, and provider evaluations.

Selected Accomplishments:

• Implemented and continuously evaluated quality improvement strategies and standardized processes and protocols (e.g. quality of care, integration of services, reporting, etc.) which drove organizational transformation, from a once failing state to a thriving operation.
• Collaborated with Executive Director to achieve National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Patient Centered Medical Home designation throughout tenure.
• Coordinated and achieved the organization’s National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) accreditation through implementation of key standards.
• Designed and implemented internal credentialing system equivalent to HRSA standards for FTCA.
• Created productivity reporting tools for practice sites to evaluate productivity, reduce "no-shows," and capture efficient data necessary for sustainability.

• Coordinated patient flow on the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit
• Developed new policies and procedures to streamline longstanding operations, automating where possible, and improving information flow and efficiencies for the unit.
• Support the Unit Director as administrative assistant collecting data, developing reports, establishing protocols and building collaborative processes with other hospital units to ensure a supportive care continuum.

• Conducted primary and secondary research to identify relevant information for project development.
• Gathered data from various sources, including online databases, libraries, and interviews with experts.
• Prepared comprehensive reports summarizing research findings.
• Performed literature reviews to ensure accuracy of results.
• Organized and analyzed qualitative and quantitative data using statistical software packages such as SPSS or STATA.
• Developed survey instruments to measure participant responses in experiments.
• Assisted in the design and implementation of experimental protocols.
• Verified accuracy of data by conducting quality assurance checks on collected materials.
• Maintained a database of all research activities conducted during the course of each project.
• Reviewed manuscripts submitted for publication by faculty members prior to submission.