I believe that better care begins at home. Compassionate care, uncompromising service and clinical excellence thats what our patients have come to expect from our clinicians. Kindred at Home, a division of Kindred Healthcare Inc., is the nations leading provider of comprehensive home health, hospice, and non-medical home care services.
At Kindred at Home, we deliver compassionate, high-quality care to patients in their homes or places of residence. Our providers focus on each unique patient to deliver the appropriate care and emotional support to our patients and their families. Our office staff supports our providers and our patients in real time on a daily basis to help to improve overall patient satisfaction.
As an Hospice Medical Director you are responsible for the overall direction and oversight of the care and treatment of hospice patients rendered by the hospice care team and provide oversight for Plan of Care and all changes to the Plan of Care. Implement the Plan of Care provisions to meet the patients medical needs.
Overarching Responsibility
Responsible for direction and oversight of the medical care and treatment of hospice patients rendered by the hospice care team.
Provides medical direction and guidance to the hospice program, other hospice physicians, hospice staff, and volunteers to assure the maintenance of quality care for hospice eligible patients and their families.
Serves as a liaison between the hospice program and community healthcare providers, in order to develop and ensure access to hospice care for all eligible patients within the area served by Kindred at Home Hospice.
Provides direct medical care for hospice patients, including in-person encounters as needed and as required to patients wherever they reside.
Plan of Care
Provides input and physician oversight to Plan of Care (POC) and all subsequent changes to POC in coordination with the Interdisciplinary Group Meetings (IDG) and patients attending physician.
Attends IDG meetings to review and update the POC and content of the active medical record. In conjunction with the other IDG members, determines if the current POC is meeting the patients medical needs and recommends if a different course of care is needed.
Provides ongoing assessments and input to staff regarding patients conditions and makes changes to medications and care as needed.
Consults with and maintains liaison with the personal or attending physician who is encouraged to provide the primary care to the patient. The HMD may take over as the attending physician, upon the request of the primary physician and the patient.
Responsible for evaluating the patients prognosis and the certification and recertification of the patient, if eligible, as qualifying for hospice care due to their terminal illness.
Responsible for timely completion and submission of required medical documentation for patient records.
Pharmacy Utilization
Responsible for oversight of pharmacy utilization. Reviews patient's medications and identifies if medications are appropriate and beneficial in light of the patient's prognosis, and if these have potential interactions or duplicate effects. In consultation with the patients attending physician, orders and/or recommends additions, changes, and/or discontinuation of medications as appropriate. Ensures, with other members of the IDG, that prescribed medications are administered properly.
Responsible for knowledge of and compliance with statutes, regulations, and interpretive guidelines as they apply to hospice pharmacy utilization.
Serves as a local resource for prescribing appropriate scheduled and non-scheduled medications in the event the attending is unable or unwilling to do so, or is unavailable.
Quality Assurance
Participates directly, or by appointing a designee, in Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) according to Federal Regulations and the Hospice Conditions of Participation. Responsible for contributing to the assessment of palliative care outcomes and achievement of performance results of the hospice program and services.
Supervision
Responsible for assisting the Executive Director with the administrative supervisory duties of the AHMDs. Makes recommendations regarding the hiring/contracting and termination of AHMDs.
Responsible for assisting with AHMD orientation, mentoring, and performance evaluations, in conjunction with the Executive Director.
Responsible for ensuring AHMDs provide quality care and meet statutory and regulatory compliance requirements, This is done by reviewing the appropriateness of the AHMD's direct patient care, certifications, narratives, face-to-face encounters, progress notes, billing submissions, IDG POC documentation, pharmacy utilization, and on-call response times.
Education
Assists the Executive Director and other supervisory hospice personnel in the planning, implementation and evaluation of internal and community in-services and continuing education programs. Identifies teachable moments and provides guidance and education to staff on an ad-hoc basis.
General Duties
Assist and ensure maintenance of clinical records, statistics, reports and records for purposes of evaluation and reporting of agency activities as prescribed and in compliance with local, state and federal laws and regulations.
Assists with audits by providing explanation and clarification on requested documentation by the respective auditing regulatory body.
Is responsible for ensuring continuous, around-the-clock physician coverage is provided for the hospice program. Is responsible for coordinating hospice physicians schedules to ensure this coverage.
Participates in routine HMD meetings between the PHMD, other AHMDs, and program leadership.
Participates in staff meetings, department meetings, team meetings, briefings, in-services, committees, quality management program and other related activities as directed by the Executive Director.
Promotes compliance with local, state and federal laws, Medicare regulations, and established company policies and procedures
Adheres to and participates in Companys mandatory HIPAA privacy program / practices, Business Ethics and Compliance programs / practices, and all Company policies and procedures.
Participates in special projects and performs other duties as assigned by the Executive Director
Ensures that whenever reasonable and necessary billable visits are made to patient, such visits are billed.
Doctorate degree in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine from an accredited medical school.
Current and unrestricted license to practice medicine within the state.
Current and unrestricted DEA Registration for Schedules 2 through 5 and any applicable state controlled substance prescribing registration.
Experience with Hospice and Palliative Medicine (HPM).
HPM board certification or HMD board certification (or board eligible) is preferred.