Executive Director, Imaging Services

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Description

The Executive Director, Imaging Services is an executive role responsible for providing strategic vision, clinical leadership, and operational oversight for all imaging services delivered across inpatient, emergency, procedural, and ambulatory settings. This physician executive ensures the delivery of high-quality, patient centered care operating in a dyad leadership model with the senior administrative leader for imaging, sharing accountability for clinical, operational, financial, and quality performance. The leadership team works in collaboration with medical, administrative and technical teams and succeeds by leading across clinical sites and departments to achieve operational excellence and EHC’s strategic goals.

Primary duties and responsibilities:

Clinical Operations across Imaging Modalities:

• Provide physician leadership for daily clinical operations across all imaging modalities and sites of service, ensuring consistent, safe, efficient care.
• Establish and enforce standardized protocols, appropriateness criteria, reporting templates, and clinical pathways so a study ordered at one site is performed and interpreted to the same standard at every site.
• Lead improvement in report turnaround time, access and scheduling capacity, throughput, on-time starts, STAT and add-on management, and imaging contribution to length of stay and ED disposition.
• Partner with operations leaders on capacity planning, scheduling, staffing, and modality utilization to match imaging supply to demand, and optimize the radiologist coverage model across subspecialty assignment, call, after-hours reading, and workload.
• Resolve operational barriers to imaging flow, including transport, prior authorization, contrast and sedation workflows, ED and inpatient prioritization, and procedural scheduling.
• Monitor performance dashboards, identify variation across sites, and lead improvement initiatives producing sustained results.

Strategy, Growth & Academic Mission:

• Develop and execute a long-term clinical and operational strategy for imaging aligned with hospital, ambulatory, and physician division priorities, translating direction into change with defined owners, timelines, and measurable outcomes.
• Lead integration of diagnostic radiology, interventional radiology, and all imaging subspecialties into a unified enterprise program across hospitals, ambulatory sites, and practices.
• Identify and pursue growth opportunities, including new programs, modality expansion, partnerships, and geographic access, and strengthen referral networks and regional presence.
• Develop and implement innovative radiologist workforce strategies, inclusive of alternative employment models and external partnerships, to meet the patient access and growth needs of the organization.
• Improve patient and referring provider access, including scheduling ease, appointment availability, and site-of-care optimization.
• Partner with the Department Chair so clinical operations support the academic mission, including trainee education, faculty development, protected academic time, and imaging research.

Clinical Excellence, Quality & Safety:

• Guide clinical standards, protocols, and pathways grounded in evidence-based practice and appropriate use criteria.
• Owns the imaging quality program, including peer review and learning, discrepancy review, and closed-loop communication of critical results.
• Owns radiation dose optimization, contrast, MRI and sedation safety, and infection prevention across all imaging sites.
• Ensure readiness for regulatory, accreditation, and survey requirements, including Joint Commission, CMS, ACR, and state requirements.
• Monitor and report clinical outcomes, quality measures, safety events, and patient experience, partnering with quality, risk, and compliance leaders to mitigate risk.

Physician Engagement, Talent & Culture:

• Serve as a strategic partner to radiologists and physician leadership, ensure alignment between clinical and operational goals, and act as liaison between administration and clinical staff to support collaboration and transparency.
• Develop clinical operations physician leadership structures, shared governance, and modality or site leads with clear accountability, and provide coaching, development, feedback and succession planning for imaging clinical operations physician leaders.
• Partner with the Department Chair and People Team on recruitment, onboarding, and retention of radiologists and clinical operations physician leaders.
• Own physician workload sustainability and burnout mitigation, including volume expectations, interruption burden, coverage, and workflow that protects diagnostic focus.
• Partner with nursing and technologist leadership on shared workflow, training, and staffing, since imaging performance depends on the full care team.
• Build strong relationships with referring physicians and service lines, and act on their feedback on access, turnaround, and report quality.

Financial Stewardship, Technology & Resources:

• Partner with the dyad administrative leader and finance on the imaging operating budget and cost-per-exam performance.
• Champion investment in advanced imaging technology, equipment, and staffing models, and lead clinical prioritization for capital planning, including equipment replacement, modality mix, and expansion decisions.
• Partner with revenue cycle, HIM, and compliance on documentation quality, charge capture, prior authorization, and denial prevention.
• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies and digital health solutions, including artificial intelligence, advanced visualization, and teleradiology models that expand access, with clear criteria for clinical value and adoption.
• Partner with informatics and IT on the EHR, RIS, PACS, voice recognition, and image exchange so tools are usable at the point of care, and govern monitoring, validation, and equitable application of artificial intelligence in imaging.

Stakeholder Engagement & Governance:

• Serve as the primary physician liaison between hospital and ambulatory leadership, radiologists, and external partners for imaging initiatives.
• Represent the imaging service line in organizational committees, governance bodies, and strategic planning forums, and report performance, risks, and progress to senior leadership on a defined cadence.
• Additional Duties as Assigned.

Travel: 10% - 25% of the time may be required across enterprise imaging sites.

Work Type: Hybrid employee - primarily works in the office, with regular on-site presence required across imaging locations. Some remote work included.

Minimum Required Qualifications:

• Education - Medical Degree required. Graduate of an accredited school of Medicine. M.D. or D.O.
• Experience - Minimum 10 years of progressive leadership experience in a complex healthcare environment, including management of a clinical service line or regional operations, and experience in performance improvement and administrative roles.
• Licensure - Current and active licensure as an MD or DO in the State of Georgia.
• Certification - Board certification in Diagnostic Radiology or an applicable radiology subspecialty.

Knowledge, skills, and abilities (required):

• Demonstrated success in clinical operations leadership, program development, and service line integration in a complex health system.
• Strong working knowledge of imaging operations across modalities, including workflow, protocol standardization, turnaround drivers, scheduling, and coverage models.
• Deep understanding of imaging quality and safety, including peer review, appropriate use criteria, dose management, contrast and MRI safety, and accreditation standards.
• Operational and financial acumen, including budget management, capital planning, productivity, and utilization analysis, with proven ability to use data to set benchmarks and drive measurable improvement across sites.
• Proven effectiveness leading through influence in a matrixed or dyad structure, with accountability for outcomes delivered by clinicians who do not directly report to the role.
• Exceptional communication, collaboration, and change management skills, with the ability to coach and hold physician leaders accountable, and sound judgment when clinical quality, physician sustainability, access, and cost compete.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Education - Master’s degree in Healthcare Administration, Business Administration, Medical Management, or Public Health.
• Experience - Multi-hospital system or academic medical center environment. Prior accountability for enterprise or multi-site imaging operations, and experience in a formal dyad leadership model.
• Certification - Certified Physician Executive (CPE) or equivalent physician leadership credential.
• equipment, including respirators, environmental conditions may vary depending on assigned work area and work tasks.

Additional Details

Emory is an equal opportunity employer, and qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability, protected veteran status or other characteristics protected by state or federal law. Emory University does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment, including recruitment, hiring, promotions, transfers, discipline, terminations, wage and salary administration, benefits, and training. Students, faculty, and staff are assured of participation in university programs and in the use of facilities without such discrimination. Emory University complies with Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Vietnam Era Veteran's Readjustment Assistance Act, and applicable executive orders, federal and state regulations regarding nondiscrimination, equal opportunity, and affirmative action (for protected veterans and individuals with disabilities). Inquiries regarding this policy should be directed to the Emory University Department of Equity and Civil Rights Compliance, 201 Dowman Drive, Administration Building, Atlanta, GA 30322. Telephone: 404-727-9867 (V) | 404-712-2049 (TDD). Emory University is committed to ensuring equal access and providing reasonable accommodations to qualified individuals with disabilities upon request. To request this document in an alternate format or to seek a reasonable accommodation, please contact the Department of Accessibility Services at accessibility@emory.edu or call 404-727-9877 (Voice) | 404-712-2049 (TDD). We kindly ask that requests be made at least seven business days in advance to allow adequate time for coordination.