Vanessa A. Martinez, DNP, MHA, RN, CPHQ
Senior Director Quality and Safety Improvement Clinical Quality Consulting
Kaiser Foundation Hospital and Health Plan
Regional Clinical Quality Programs and Data Analytics
TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer
Patient Care Improvement System Advisor
Quality Professional Fellow
WCSI Caritas Coach®
KP CCEP Faculty
Dr. Vanessa A. Martinez is an accomplished healthcare leader with more than 29 years of leadership and critical care nursing experience. Currently, she works as the Senior Director of Quality & Safety Improvement at Kaiser Permanente. Dr. Martinez heads transformative Virtual Nursing Care programs, including the award-winning Advance Alert Monitor (AAM), aimed at improving healthcare delivery and enhancing patient outcomes. Under her leadership, the AAM program has received several prestigious awards, including the Kaiser Permanente National Lawrence Patient Safety Award, IHF Gold Winner of the Austco Excellence Award for Quality and Patient Safety, and the John Eisenberg Award for Local Innovation in Patient Safety and Quality from The Joint Commission (TJC) and National Quality Forum (NQF).
Dr. Martinez has been a Caritas Coach since 2011 and has received the Care Experience Leader award. She has demonstrated her ability to manage and motivate staff to provide exceptional patient-centered care. Dr. Martinez has successfully integrated Caring Science processes and practices to improve productivity, quality, and timely delivery of patient care. She developed standard work for each service line in Congestive Heart Failure Pathway, which reduced the length of stay from 4.8 days to 1.66 days, adopted in the East Bay. In addition to this, her team has reduced readmissions by 30% by implementing Bridge Clinic discharge follow-up appointments.
Dr. Martinez holds a Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Loyola University New Orleans and dual master’s degrees in nursing and healthcare administration. She is a recognized Certified Professional in Healthcare Quality and a Quality Professional Fellow. Her commitment to advancing nursing and healthcare quality is demonstrated by numerous accolades, including the Kaiser’s Emerging Leader Award, recognition as a Culture of Health High-Performing Manager, and multiple awards for her exemplary leadership and scholarship. Beyond her professional endeavors, she is also passionate about promoting diversity and leadership in healthcare and serves on the board of directors of Women Healthcare Executives of Northern California.
Dr. Martinez’s enthusiasm for shaping the future of healthcare delivery and improving patient outcomes is a testament to her unwavering dedication to advancing quality, safety, and innovation in virtual nursing care.