Jennifer Darden
Risk Management Professional
Alabaster,AL
Summary
Results-driven healthcare leader with over 16+ years of experience in risk management, patient safety, and quality operations. Skilled in developing strategic solutions and optimizing implementation processes to enhance healthcare operations. Collaborative leader dedicated to driving results that align with organizational goals and priorities. Committed to fostering a culture of excellence through continuous improvement.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
5
5
Certifications
Work History
National Senior Risk Director
Ascension
St Louis, Missouri
05.2022 - Current
- Engineered and deployed the Provider Associate Care Team (PACT) Program across all Ascension markets and care settings encompassing approximately 97,000 associates, 23,400 independent providers
- Managed the development and implementation of the reimagined Communicate Openly. Respond Empathetically. (CORE) Program and Basket 1 Toolkit to align with SERT reviews and safety practices to support high reliability.
- Supervise Event Reporting System operations, vendor and contract management, co-developed WPV/Behavioral event review process, ERS related NDNQI abstraction and validation process and completed event analysis on sterile processing, telemetry, equipment issues and pharmacy
- Oversight of risk responsibilities in Kansas, Oklahoma and Tennessee
- Guided the development of the risk and regulatory tracking and trending process used for reporting measures to CMS, co-created the Urgent Leader Huddle process, for immediate risk mitigation and escalation and directed the ANE risk assessment and correction action plan as part the SIA for Kansas
- Oversaw development and implementation of CARE ARM risk assessment tool and patient dismissal policy
- Supervised risk responsibilities for HANDS Program including Relias vendor relationship resulting in platform improvements and creation, in collaboration with quality and OB clinical nurse leaders from across Ascension, HANDS standard operating procedures for newly hired OB associates, the reassessment process and reporting.
- Supervised the development of the OB risk assessment dashboard to capture key performance indicators related to findings and implementation of action plans
Risk Director
Ascension
St Louis, Missouri
12.2019 - 05.2022
- Supervised and monitored operational risk management activities for Alabama and Tennessee
- Implemented and maintained comprehensive risk management strategies, policies, procedures and annual risk management plans.
- Managed in-market Event Reporting System operations and risk surveillance
- Identified and analyzed potential market threats and created risk mitigation plans, reporting to senior management, locally and nationally
- Responsible for Safety Event Review Team (SERT) and Root Cause Analysis management in Alabama and Tennessee
- Ensured, in collaboration with legal and quality, adherence to laws, regulations, and industry standards
- Conducted proactive risk assessments for telemetry in both markets resulting in a large process improvement initiative in Alabama
National Quality and Patient Safety Director (Care Excellence)
Ascension Health
St Louis, Missouri
05.2014 - 07.2019
- Oversaw Event Reporting System operations for deployments, divestitures, technical support partnership with Ascension Technologies, data reporting, training and system modifications
- Developed a standard Ascension Harm report and created a monthly distribution to local and national leaders to foster High Reliability, reporting and transparency
- Led the partnership between Ascension Care Excellence and Ascension Risk analytics teams to develop standard patient safety data methodology, ministry reports, and a shared data repository
- Developed, in collaboration with the Regional Risk Directors, the 2018 Ascension Reduction of Harm Guidelines and standardized processes and algorithms for Serious Event Review Team (SERT) reviews and RCAs
- Served as the quality professional to AHPSO and AQSC and as Ascension’s quality representative with CHAN Healthcare, The Leapfrog Group and Consolidated Catholic Health Care
- Led the adoption and implementation of the Handling All Neonatal Deliveries Safely (HANDS) program across 63 Ascension hospitals, achieving 86% implementation by the end of 2018
- Established, in partnership with select obstetricians from across Ascension, and monitored the HANDS Program as a maintenance of certification quality improvement activity by The American Board of Obstetrics & Gynecology and American Osteopathic Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
- Managed vendor relationships and contracts with Quantros, Advanced Practice Strategies - GNOSIS for OB, Gaumard, Laerdal and OB physician consultants
- Managed resource allocations, in partnership with Risk Finance, for APS GNOSIS e-learning modules and Gaumard and Laerdal birthing simulators and operations for obstetric hemorrhage carts and shoulder dystocia manikins
- Directed process improvement initiatives for the development of new care models for Hypertension in Pregnancy, Obstetrical Hemorrhage as part of CMS Partnership for Patients, and OB Sepsis to improve maternal morbidity and mortality
- Led the development and training of the electronic Ministry Intelligence Center OB Dashboard, in partnership with the VP of Healthcare Data Intelligence, to guide perinatal quality measures for Ascension
- Oversaw a clinical study across 38 Ascension sites, in collaboration with Brandeis University, aimed at understanding stillborn rate increases and opportunities to reduce disparities in pregnancy outcomes
Quality and Patient Safety Manager
St. Vincent's Health System
Birmingham, AL
06.2011 - 05.2014
- Coordinated and executed sentinel event reviews and root cause analysis of events
- Prepared and supported medical staff peer review and quality service line committees
- Managed, in collaboration with the Medical Staff President and Medical Affairs Manager, development of Physician Report Cards for Ongoing Practice Performance Evaluations and Focused evaluations as directed by the Peer Review process
- Abstracted and reported OB and outpatient Joint Commission Core Measures, AHRQ patient safety and inpatient quality indicators, and Ascension’s Priorities for Action measures and analysis, aggregation and implementation of improvement plan/processes
- Facilitated performance improvement and corrective action implementation, in collaboration with Risk Management, OBERT and OB leadership, based on trends identified through investigations and root causes analysis of compensatory, sentinel events, or serious adverse events, where appropriate
- Collaborated with Coding Manager to identify and correct issues in coding for birth trauma, neonatal mortality, brachial plexus injuries and early elective deliveries
- Improved the PC-01 early elective delivery rate from 80% to 98% through development of hard stop process in collaboration with OB Chairman
- Abstracted and reported all data measurements for the St. Vincent’s Birmingham OB Dashboard
- Utilized by the Ascension quality team and physicians from National OB Partner Leader group to develop OB national priority measures
Perinatal Project Manager
St. Vincent's Hospital
Birmingham, AL
06.2010 - 06.2011
- Directed site research study operations, IRB alignment and reporting as part of Ascension’s “Excellence in Obstetrics” demonstration grant from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Spearheaded the development of St. Vincent’s Birmingham’s Simulation Program
- Achieved 100% nursing (114 associates) and 94% physician (29 independent providers) completion in shoulder dystocia and electronic fetal monitoring e-learning modules, simulation and the shoulder dystocia bundle elements
- Acquired support from ProAssurance, in collaboration with the site principle investigator, for malpractice insurance discounts for physician practices completing the educational study components
- Led the project managers and principle investigators from the five study sites, in partnership with Clinical Excellence at Ascension, in the development of the Study Manager data repository to collect research variables and information for the grant deliverables and the Ascension Health dashboard for Perinatal Safety
- Collaborated with Health Information Management leadership to oversee and implement an initiative that resulted in a 35% improvement in the accuracy and reliability of medical record coding and data reporting for complex cases, including birth trauma, neonatal mortality, brachial plexus injury, and shoulder dystocia.
Registered Nurse
St. Vincent's Hospital
Birmingham, AL
11.1999 - 06.2010
Registered Nurse
Carraway Methodist Medical Center
Birmingham, AL
11.1998 - 11.2000
Licensed Practical Nurse
Carraway Methodist Medical Center
Birmingham, AL
02.1995 - 11.1998
Education
Master of Business Administration - Healthcare Management
Western Governors University
Salt Lake City, Utah10.2019
Bachelor of Science - Nursing
American Sentinel University
Aurora, CO05.2014
Associate of Science - Nursing
Jefferson State Community College
Birmingham, AL11.1998
Diploma - Licensed Practical Nurse
Bessemer Community College
Bessemer, AL11.1994
Skills
Cross-functional team leadership
Crisis Management & Risk Mitigation
Program strategy & development
Adaptability & Problem-solving
Strategic planning & operations
Change management
Process improvement
Data Management & Analysis
Relationship building & partnerships
Contract and vendor relationship management
Affiliations
- ASHRM Member, present
- Ascension Management Formation, 2016
- Ascension Health Perinatal Steering Committee Co-Chair 2012-2019
- TeamSTEPPS Crisis Simulation Trainer
- Excellence in Obstetrics National Study 2010-2013
Certification
Registered Nurse Licensure, State of Alabama, since 1998
Timeline
National Senior Risk Director
Ascension
05.2022 - Current
Risk Director
Ascension
12.2019 - 05.2022
National Quality and Patient Safety Director (Care Excellence)
Ascension Health
05.2014 - 07.2019
Quality and Patient Safety Manager
St. Vincent's Health System
06.2011 - 05.2014
Perinatal Project Manager
St. Vincent's Hospital
06.2010 - 06.2011
Registered Nurse
St. Vincent's Hospital
11.1999 - 06.2010
Registered Nurse
Carraway Methodist Medical Center
11.1998 - 11.2000
Licensed Practical Nurse
Carraway Methodist Medical Center
02.1995 - 11.1998
Bachelor of Science - Nursing
American Sentinel University
Associate of Science - Nursing
Jefferson State Community College
Diploma - Licensed Practical Nurse
Bessemer Community College
Master of Business Administration - Healthcare Management
Western Governors University
Publications
- Burstein, P. D., Zalenski, D. M., Edwards, J. L., Rafi, I., Santos, P., Darden, J. & Firneno, C. (2016). Changing Labor and Delivery Practice; Focus on Achieving Practice and Documentation Standardization with the Goal of Improving Neonatal Outcomes. Health Services Research. doi:10.1111/1475-6773.12589
- Harter, G., Darden, J., McMenemy, N., McEly, T., & Hendrich, A. (2015). Consent and enrollment process: Achieving high enrollment rates for obstetric research. Applied Nursing Research. doi:10.1016/j.apnr.2015.05.011
- Santos, P., Hefele, J.G., Ritter, G., Darden, J., Firneno, C. & Hendrich, A. (2018). Population-based risk factors for shoulder dystocia. JOGNN, 47, 32–42. doi.org/10.1016/j.jogn.2017.11.011
- Santos, P., Joglekar, A., Faughnan, K., Darden, J., Master, L., Hendrich, A., McCoy, C. (2018). Sustaining and spreading quality improvement: Decreasing intrapartum malpractice risk. Journal of Healthcare Risk Management. doi: 10.1002/jhrm.21329
- William Cusick, Raymond L. Cox, Palmira Santos, Jennifer G. Hefele, & Jennifer Darden. Abstract titled: Shoulder dystocia response: improving neonatal outcomes. Poster Session IV on 1/27/2017 at 4:00:00 PM at the 37th Annual SMFM Pregnancy Meeting.
Honors and Awards
American Society for Healthcare Risk Management (ASHRM) 2019 Author Excellence Award, Summa Cum Laude-American Sentinel University-2014, Certificate of Appreciation-St. Vincent’s Administration-Nov 2007, Physician/RN Merit Award-May 2004, Most Outstanding Nursing Student -Jefferson State College-1998, Magna Cum Laude-Jefferson State College-1998, Presidential Scholarship-Jefferson State College-1997