Melissa Johnston
Atkinson,NH
Summary
Accomplished, results driven healthcare leader with outstanding interpersonal and communication skills. A leader with nineteen years of management experience in healthcare. Proven track record to manage multiple medical practices with a record of achieving patient satisfaction measures, attaining fiscal budget goals, managing, and growing team performance productivity. Demonstrated achievements in: Supervision & Management, Project Management, Strategic & Business Planning, Leadership & Communication, Recruitment & Team Building, Training & Development
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
Chief Operating Officer-Northern Region
Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care
12.2020 - Current
- Responsible for all finance, operations, leadership, and system integration efforts of the northern territory of BILH primary care enterprise, including primary care practices, urgent care centers and specialty practices, inclusive of nephrology, dermatology, and cardiology
- Built trusted relationships and collaborated with hospital Presidents, Chief Medical Officers and other leaders on growth strategies, provider recruitment, network development, access and outmigration, and budget sustainability
- Directly led six Regional Operational Directors while aligning with Associate Chief Medical Officer and Regional Medical Directors to achieve our strategic, financial, and operational goals
- Spearheaded the complex implementation of two Covid vaccination sites in Newburyport and Beverly, MA
- Represented and contributed as an operations leader on multiple system committees including access initiatives, strategic planning, growth, and integration
- Successfully exceeded quality and financial goals for FY21, FY22 and FY23
- Led efforts to expand after-hours call coverage for all primary care physicians to mitigate burnout
- Patterned with Beth Israel Lahey Health Performance Network to implement a Coding Documentation Improvement (CDI) program
- Successfully applied and received $500,000 grant from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to develop Clinical Assistant Program
- Developed Virtualist Program to expand care and improve patient access
- Presented business plans to capital request committee (CRC) and received approval to stand up two de-novo Urgent Care Centers that are slated to open the first quarter of FY25
- Presented growth strategies to CRC and received approval to expand 5 primary care practices in northern region, allowing growth of fifteen net new primary care providers to system.
Interim Chief Operating Officer-Northern Region
Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care
- 11.2020
- In collaboration with the Associate Chief Medical Officer, responsible for all aspects of the clinical and administrative enterprise in the northern region
- Responsibilities include but are not limited to quality, safety, patient experience, colleague engagement, budgeting and financial management
- Scope of work includes oversight of 35 geographically distributed practices comprised of 200 primary care and specialty providers
- Active member of BILHPC Incident Command during COVID-19 crisis
- Partnered with leadership team to implement a cohort model for in-person care during COVID-19 surge from March to June
- Implemented and managed a daily COVID-19 call with administrative operational leaders, as well as a weekly forum that included medical directors to establish an open line of communication ensuring updates were provided in a timely manner
- Worked closely with IT and the EPIC team to swiftly implement telemedicine across all practices in order to assure patient access to quality care during a global pandemic
- Successfully merged two primary care locations on the North Shore resulting in $400K expense reduction
- Developed multidisciplinary patient communication subgroup which included colleagues from all legacy organizations, as well as patient representation from PFAC
- The goals of the subgroup was to work through various IT and operational challenges and to create regular communications with important updates to patients via direct email
- In conjunction with the Chief Medical Officer for BILHPC, developed a multidisciplinary advanced care planning taskforce
- This task force worked to understand the current state and existing processes in place to improve the tools and resources available to primary care providers, their support staff and patients
- Developed a safety team as part of our recovery efforts, which consisted of 2 regional safety champion dyad teams
- Each dyad team consisted of one administrator and one clinician to support reopening efforts of our practices, ensuring all safety protocols were implemented.
Senior Director of Site Operations
Lahey Health Primary Care
10.2017 - 12.2019
- Responsible for the management and growth of nine primary care practices
- Scope of responsibilities included Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Laboratory, Risk Management and Safety/Infection Control
- Oversaw the implementation of quality and performance standards for all facets of the practices
- Responsible for the fiscal performance, including developing and operating within the annual budget guidelines
- Worked closely with Medical Leadership and reported directly to COO of Primary Care.
Director of Site Operations
Lahey Health Primary Care
02.2014 - 09.2017
- Managed daily business operations of five group practice locations
- Implemented and maintained quality and performance standards
- Responsible for the fiscal performance by developing and operating within the annual budget
- Achieved significant reduction in operating expenses through organizational restructuring and change management
- Selected by executive leadership team to serve as a member of the Primary Care workgroup in preparation of the implementation of Epic, new electronic health record for the system
- Reviewed Epic functionality, developed training plans, identified super users, and validated final workflows
- Served as project manager for the development and rollout of scribe program in primary care, improving productivity and work/life balance for providers
- Developed Patient Navigator Program in response to five simultaneous physician resignations in one practice
- Program included targeted mailings and deployment of three Patient Navigators to perform outreach calls to patients to assist with selecting a new physician within Lahey
- Program resulted in high retention of existing patients
- Developed leadership training program for practice managers in partnership with VP of Organizational Development.
Practice Administrator
Lahey Health Primary Care
10.2011 - 01.2014
- Developed and improved site-specific systems, procedures, and policies to improve overall efficiencies in the practices
- Worked closely with Practice Manager to maintain control over yearly operational budgets to maximize financial performance
- Responsible for interviewing physician and advanced practitioner candidates and played an active role in the recruitment process
- Additionally, served as a Super User during the implementation of Allscripts, electronic health record, which included the responsibility for oversight of more than 20 providers and three practice managers at four primary care practice locations.
Practice Manager
Lahey Health Primary Care
01.2005 - 09.2011
- Managed day-to-day operational duties associated with the successful oversight of two primary care sites
- Initiated and accomplished continuous process improvement to enhance patient experience and streamline workflows to improve efficiencies
- Fostered strong working relationships with staff, providers and leaders to achieve colleague engagement
- Accountable for training and on-boarding new staff in department policies and procedures
- Responsible for managing two primary care practices comprised of ten providers and 30 direct reports
- Successfully planned and completed relocation of Merrimac practice after suffering a flood in 2005 to Amesbury office for temporary basis without disruption to patient care.
Education
Master of Science Healthcare Administration (MHA) -
Southern New Hampshire University
01.2023
Bachelor of Arts (BA) General Studies with a Concentration in Business Administration -
Southern New Hampshire University
12.2018
Skills
- Strategic Planning
- Operations Oversight
- Planning and execution
- Compliance Management
Timeline
Chief Operating Officer-Northern Region
Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care
12.2020 - Current
Senior Director of Site Operations
Lahey Health Primary Care
10.2017 - 12.2019
Director of Site Operations
Lahey Health Primary Care
02.2014 - 09.2017
Practice Administrator
Lahey Health Primary Care
10.2011 - 01.2014
Practice Manager
Lahey Health Primary Care
01.2005 - 09.2011
Interim Chief Operating Officer-Northern Region
Beth Israel Lahey Health Primary Care
- 11.2020
Master of Science Healthcare Administration (MHA) -
Southern New Hampshire University
Bachelor of Arts (BA) General Studies with a Concentration in Business Administration -
Southern New Hampshire University
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