Catherine Flanagan
Charleston,SC
Summary
An experienced executive leader with a focus on synthesizing customer feedback into actionable insights to drive product design and service improvement. I’m skilled in developing and managing comprehensive Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs, analyzing data from multiple channels, and transforming feedback into impactful and customer-centered business solutions. I have expertise managing vendor partnerships, negotiating contracts, and overseeing the full lifecycle of agreements, ensuring alignment with organizational needs and strategic goals. My data-driven decision-making enhances patient, customer, and clinician experiences while leading cross-functional teams in the design of digital tools, coaching programs, process improvements, education programs, and product innovations.
Overview
12
12
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Executive Director of Patient Engagement
Medical University of South Carolina
02.2020 - Current
- Develop and manage a comprehensive and data-driven Voice of the Customer (VOC) program to collect, analyze, and interpret customer feedback from diverse channels
- Synthesize feedback into actionable insights for C-suite presentations and the development of process improvement initiatives
- Oversee feedback loops with robust data sets including social channels, support tickets, experience surveys, focus groups, advisory councils, digital rounding tools, digital product surveys, virtual communities, complaints, grievances and other direct and indirect feedback mechanisms
- Plan, develop, and execute scalable improvement plans that solve complex business challenges and provide optimal experiences for patients and customers in collaboration with design, product, technical, clinical, and data teams
- Establish and maintain contract and account governance with vendors providing onsite contracted services, digital products, and virtual support
- Identify vendor partnerships that fulfill organizational needs and achieve strategic goals, propose vendor solutions to executive leadership, negotiate contracts and amendments, review terms with internal stakeholders (Legal, Finance, IT, etc.), manage vendor relationships throughout agreement lifecycles, and perform Return on Investment (ROI) assessments
- Design, maintain, and disseminate data solutions (e.g
- Tableau, Power BI, SSRS, vendor dashboards, pivot tables, natural language processing) that highlight key information, identify patterns, and provide meaningful insights
- Lead multi-disciplinary project management teams of internal stakeholders, vendors, and contractors
- Using foundational, tactical, and post-launch UX research methodologies, develop project roadmaps that resolve inefficiencies and transform services through product design, digital enhancements, training programs, and system integrations
- Leverage journey mapping, story boards, and human-centered design thinking to identify key gaps, address complex problems, enhance efficiency, and create a seamless customer experience
- Establish, define, and monitor organization-wide leader and team goals using evidence-based KPIs that measure effectiveness, align with strategic goals, and are applicable for 20,000 employees and contractors
- Oversee a comprehensive patient education program that enhances understanding of complex health conditions and treatment plans, encompassing clinical training, in-person communication strategies, digital learning solutions, and health literacy initiatives
- Ensure consistent messaging across all platforms, monitor and evaluate program effectiveness, and leverage feedback and data to continuously refine and optimize educational approaches and resources
- Lead a team of influential leaders that builds trust and empowers providers, leaders, and teams to access and understand their feedback, participate in education opportunities, develop skills, eliminate barriers, recognize successes, and facilitate change
- Design, develop, and oversee training programs that standardize value-based care best practices systemwide and enable thousands of leaders, providers, and team members to find meaning in their work
- Improve the quality of care by designing and executing systemwide and service-specific initiatives that leverage digital engagement, behavioral best practices, patient voices, and innovative solutions to foster a culture of patient- and family-centered care delivery and promote continuous process improvement
- Develop and implement a health system patient engagement strategic plan that engages stakeholders, care team members, providers, patients, and families as partners and aligns with People and Quality Pillar work
- Lead Service Pillar patient engagement functions including patient experience metrics, evidence-based best practice bundles, transparent reporting, governance and accountability, systemwide leader and team goals and KPIs, patient and family education, interactive engagement technologies, leader and care team coaching programs, regulatory compliance (e.g
- CMS, Magnet, Leapfrog, disease-specific certifications), and vendor partnerships (e.g
- Press Ganey, Elsevier, KidsHealth, GetWell Network, Beryl Institute)
Manager of Organizational Excellence
Medical University of South Carolina
02.2017 - 02.2020
- Drove operational performance by coaching and collaborating with clinicians, leaders, and care teams to develop and apply tactics that maximized team performance and achieved strategic objectives
- Led change by identifying organizational strengths and opportunities and implementing global tactics to enhance the culture and performance of patient engagement, employee engagement, quality, and safety
- Improved the engagement of our workforce, patients and families by empowering teams and leaders to understand survey results, communicate strengths and opportunities, reward and recognize successes, engage in action planning, and implement sustainable improvement plans
- Collaborated with Service and People Pillar stakeholders to design annual goal components such as organizational expectations of leaders, organizational goals, leader goals, and team goals
- Fostered a culture of patient- and family-centered care by serving as the staff liaison for the Ambulatory Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC), which partners employee stakeholders and content experts with patient and family advisors to enhance the quality, safety, and experience of care
Business Coordinator– Strategy and Business Development
Medical University of South Carolina
10.2015 - 02.2017
- Identified unmet patient, provider, and institutional needs
- Generated and implemented a range of solutions in the form of new service concepts or business strategies
- Assembled and led interprofessional collaborative teams that designed studies and solutions for issues with significant financial and operational impact to the organization through prototyping and testing new processes, technologies, policies, and products in the clinical and non-clinical enterprise
Program Coordinator II – Department of Public Health Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina
01.2013 - 10.2015
- Managed and executed research projects including development of study protocols, applications for regulatory review (e.g
- PRC, IRB), the informed consent process, and collection of survey data including blood specimens
- Conducted focus groups as well as patient, key stakeholder, and group moderator interviews
- Organized statewide town hall meetings, conducted medical practice case study evaluations, and implemented project strategies
Education
Master of Science - Health Services Administration
University of Central Florida
12.2011
Bachelor of Science - Health Services Administration, Spanish Minor
University of Central Florida
05.2009
Skills
- Strategic planning
- Project management
- Program management
- Budgeting and financial management
- Relationship building
- Vendor relations
- Negotiation
- Data interpretation
- Contract management
- Education
- Executive leadership
- Contract negotiation
- Process improvements
- People and culture
- Results orientation
Certification
- International Coaching Federation (ICF) Certification, Center for Executive Coaching, In Progress
- Certified Patient Experience Professional (CPXP), Patient Experience Institute, 04/21
- Just Culture Certification, Outcome Engenuity, 02/18
- Certified Clinical Research Coordinator, Association of Clinical Research Professionals, 09/15
- Certified Phlebotomy Technician, National Center for Competency Testing, 04/13
Publications
- Scheurer, D., Coulter, A., Harper, K., Flanagan, C., Coaching Program to Improve Employee Engagement, Culture of Safety, and Patient Experience., NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery, 6, 1, 01/25
- Small, J., Flanagan, C., Armeson, K., Perry, D., Marchell, R., Thiers, B., Alberg, AJ., Family history of cutaneous and noncutaneous malignancies in relation to the risk of keratinocyte carcinoma coupled with another type of cancer: A case-control study., Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 75, 5, 1066-1068, 2016
- Wilson, A., Small, J., Flanagan, C., Perry, D., Marchell, R., Thiers, B., Alberg, AJ., Keratinocyte Carcinoma and Risk for Another Type of Cancer: Assessment of a Dose-response Relationship., Anticancer Research, 39, 9, 5083-5087, 2019
Volunteer Experience
- Cervical Cancer Free South Carolina, Communication Committee Co-Chair, 10/14-2018
- American Cancer Society, Team Development Committee Leader, 08/07-05/10
Personal Information
Title: Executive Director of Patient Engagement
Timeline
Executive Director of Patient Engagement
Medical University of South Carolina
02.2020 - Current
Manager of Organizational Excellence
Medical University of South Carolina
02.2017 - 02.2020
Business Coordinator– Strategy and Business Development
Medical University of South Carolina
10.2015 - 02.2017
Program Coordinator II – Department of Public Health Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina
01.2013 - 10.2015
Bachelor of Science - Health Services Administration, Spanish Minor
University of Central Florida
Master of Science - Health Services Administration
University of Central Florida
Similar Profiles
Janae GeraldJanae Gerald
CANDY STRIPER at Medical University Of South Carolina Health Florence Medical CenterCANDY STRIPER at Medical University Of South Carolina Health Florence Medical Center
Emily BurroughsEmily Burroughs
Patient Access Representative at Medical University of South Carolina HospitalPatient Access Representative at Medical University of South Carolina Hospital
Ashley F ShippyAshley F Shippy
Registered Nurse at Medical University Of South CarolinaRegistered Nurse at Medical University Of South Carolina
Kristen D. GrayKristen D. Gray
Registered Nurse, Post Anesthesia Care Unit at Medical University Of South CarolinaRegistered Nurse, Post Anesthesia Care Unit at Medical University Of South Carolina
Kendall BakerKendall Baker
Front of House Manager at Red Oak CafeFront of House Manager at Red Oak Cafe