At Houston Methodist, the Contract Coord position is responsible for reviewing, drafting and negotiation support for the Contract Administration team. The Contract Coord position will review and draft non-standard contract language and coordinate the production of documents working with contract administrators. This position is responsible for contributing to and the maintenance of content, procedures and instructions for the Contract Administration reference library. The Contract Coord position serves as primary liaison with legal team. Responsibilities for this position may also include implementation and maintenance of a corporate database of all contracts, concession agreements and service level agreements owned by the company, prepararation, assembly, monitoring and loading of contracts between Houston Methodist, suppliers, distributors and others into the applicable databases review of contracts and ensure compliance with internal and external requirements, and analyzing contracts for various legal, accounting and business purposes prior to loading into the contract repository.

PATIENT AGE GROUP(S) AND POPULATION(S) SERVED
Refer to departmental "Scope of Service" and "Provision of Care" plans, as applicable, for description of primary age groups and populations served by this job for the respective HM entity.

HOUSTON METHODIST EXPERIENCE EXPECTATIONS

• Provide personalized care and service by consistently demonstrating our I CARE values:
  • INTEGRITY: We are honest and ethical in all we say and do.
  • COMPASSION: We embrace the whole person including emotional, ethical, physical, and spiritual needs.
  • ACCOUNTABILITY: We hold ourselves accountable for all our actions.
  • RESPECT: We treat every individual as a person of worth, dignity, and value.
  • EXCELLENCE: We strive to be the best at what we do and a model for others to emulate.

• Practices the Caring and Serving Model

• Delivers personalized service using HM Service Standards

• Provides for exceptional patient/customer experiences by following our Standards of Practice of always using Positive Language (AIDET, Managing Up, Key Words)

• Intentionally collaborates with other healthcare professionals involved in patients/customers or employees' experiential journeys to ensure strong communication, ease of access to information, and a seamless experience

• Involves patients (customers) in shift/handoff reports by enabling their participation in their plan of care as applicable to the given job

• Actively supports the organization's vision, fulfills the mission and abides by the I CARE values

PEOPLE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Support strategic sourcing efforts and provide contract drafting guidance to staff. Support contracting activities for purchase or sale of equipment, materials, products, or services. Reviews team contract documents prior to submission to the legal team and monitors contract quality

• Communicates and coordinates between customers and various internal groups including but not limited to Legal and Risk to ensure proper compliance with contracts, resolves various contractual operational issues, and assists in maintaining good working relationship with customers

• Develop ongoing relationships and interactions with internal customers and clinicians; understand and serve the needs of the business and source goods, services and equipment accordingly

SERVICE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Support contracting team efforts to present sourcing recommendations to hospital stakeholders

• Contribute to and maintain content, procedures, and instructions for the Contract Administration reference library. Support various interdepartmental personnel in migrating contracts into the OnBase platform

• Review contracts and related documents for completeness and proper signatures. Assist with drafting, editing and redlining of contracts in the negotiation process

• Prioritize various document requests for review by management to expedite for processing

• Coordinate all document requests for review and processing by contract administrators

QUALITY/SAFETY ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Monitor, measure, and provide recommendations for supplier contracts and service level compliance. Develops plans to continually upgrade service levels

• Maintain and contribute content to contracting policies and procedures. Recommends new procedures to optimize the contract management system for Supply Chain, as well as process efficiencies for contract review and turn-around times with other departments

• Solves and mitigates contractual and legal submission issues.

FINANCE ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Review contracts and mentor team to support efforts to negotiate pricing with favorable terms and conditions, monitor liability issues, and ensure signature levels are within Houston Methodist guidelines. Support Contract Administration team to continually monitor the market and make strategic sourcing recommendations to obtain better pricing, quality, and terms when applicable

• Track lifecycle of contracts in the contract management system to support strategic supply chain work plan. Coordinates contractual insurance clauses with Risk Management to ensure compliance with organizational requirements

GROWTH/INNOVATION ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Support organizational savings and process improvement initiatives by assisting with active quality contract management and identifying operational efficiency opportunities. Identify improvement opportunities for process efficiencies related to contract management

• Actively participate in the development of on-going training by creating a best practice library with examples from reviewed contracts.

This job description is not intended to be all-inclusive; the employee will also perform other reasonably related business/job duties as assigned. Houston Methodist reserves the right to revise job duties and responsibilities as the need arises.

EDUCATION

• High School diploma or equivalent education (examples include: GED, verification of homeschool equivalency, partial or full completion of post-secondary education, etc.)

• Bachelor's Degree preferred

WORK EXPERIENCE

• Five years of experience drafting and negotiating contracts, preferably of clinical capital equipment, medical/surgical supplies and services, or other healthcare or commercial agreements.

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - REQUIRED

• N/A

LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS - PREFERRED

• CP - Certified Paralegal (NALA,NFPA)

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND ABILITIES

• Demonstrates the skills and competencies necessary to safely perform the assigned job, determined through on-going skills, competency assessments, and performance evaluations

• Sufficient proficiency in speaking, reading, and writing the English language necessary to perform the essential functions of this job, especially with regard to activities impacting patient or employee safety or security

• Ability to effectively communicate with patients, physicians, family members and co-workers in a manner consistent with a customer service focus and application of positive language principles

• Computer Skills Requires basic computer skills.Proficiency in Word, and using redlining/track changes to revise contract documents

• Knowledge of advanced contract provisions and related instruments

• Proficient in MS Office applications, including Word and Excel with ability to understand complex analytics and modeling.

SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS

WORK ATTIRE

• Uniform No
• Scrubs No
• Business professional Yes
• Other (department approved) No

ON-CALL*
*Note that employees may be required to be on-call during emergencies (ie. DIsaster, Severe Weather Events, etc) regardless of selection below.

• On Call* No

TRAVEL**
**Travel specifications may vary by department**

• May require travel within the Houston Metropolitan area Yes
• May require travel outside Houston Metropolitan area Yes

Houston Methodist (HM) is one of the nation’s leading health systems and academic medical centers.  HM consists of eight hospitals: Houston Methodist Hospital, its flagship academic hospital in the heart of the Texas Medical Center, and seven community hospitals throughout the greater Houston metropolitan area.  HM also includes an academic institute, a comprehensive residency program, a global business division, numerous physician practices and several free-standing emergency rooms and outpatient facilities.  Overall, HM employs over 25,000 employees.   Houston Methodist is supported by a wide variety of business functions that operate at the system level to help enable clinical departments to provide the best patient care and service in a spiritual environment.

 

In 2019 Houston Methodist and its physicians treat more than 6,333 international patients from more than 76 countries. Houston Methodist Global Health Care Services’ consulting and education divisions also provide advisory services and training and development to health care organizations around the world.