Medical Director-Hospice

Lifespark is a complete senior health company headquartered in St. Louis Park, Minnesota. Since 2004, we've been helping seniors stay healthy, navigate their health care options with confidence, and live fuller, more independent lives as they age. That's where our people come in - from accounting and health technology to front-line nurses, advanced practice professionals, caregivers and everything in between, we are all invested entrepreneurs focused on helping people age magnificently.

Our Lifespark culture has created not only an award-winning workplace - earning Star Tribune Top Workplace 11 times, Minneapolis Business Journal Best Places to Work three times, and Top USA #1 in Healthcare - but a place where you have the room to be creative, make a difference, and have a purposeful, direct impact on how people age. Lifespark's full continuum of services offers a breadth of roles with the support to grow your career. To see the experience we are creating, watch our award-winning video Going South - this is the experience you will help create at Lifespark! Changing the age-old story starts with you - let's get you hired.

Wage Range: $110,000-$125,000 annually, depending on experience.

Service Area: Travel required in Minnesota

Schedule: 0.4 FTE, flexible hours

Lifespark Benefits include:

Annual Reviews/Raises{Shift differentials if applicable}
Paid Time Off - Vacation Time
Mileage reimbursement
Medical, Dental, Vision benefits for Full Time Hires
Short-Term Disability & Long-Term Disability Insurance
Life Insurances
401k + Company Match for full-time and part-time employees
Referral bonuses
Career path to other positions within our growing company!

Position Summary The Hospice Medical Director will have overall responsibility for the medical component of the hospice program. The Hospice Medical Director will provide oversight of physician services by complementing attending physician care, acting as a medical resource to the interdisciplinary group, assuring continuity of hospice medical services, and assuring appropriate measures to control patient symptoms. The Medical director will serve as a hospice champion - promoting and representing the program to physicians, physician groups, discharge planners, other referral sources, community health organizations, and potential donors, as appropriate.

Position Functions and Responsibilities

• Devoting his/her best ability to the proper management of the program
• Providing overall medical direction to the program
• Assuring that the established policies, bylaws, rules, and regulations of the organization are followed in the program
• Adhering to requirements, terms, and conditions required by Medicare Conditions of Participation, accrediting body, and federal and state statutes governing the provision of services
• Establishing and continually reviewing policies and procedures related to patient care, medical education, and emergency procedures
• Developing and continually reviewing, in cooperation with the Hospice Administrator and/or Clinical Director, criteria to monitor the quality of the education programs provided to physicians, personnel, and volunteers
• Evaluating quality assessment performance improvement (QAPI) plans and monitoring to identify medical education needs in cooperation with the Hospice Administrator and/or Clinical Director. Participates in QAPI teams and activities, as needed
• Proposing organizational programs to address the needs identified (with the assistance and input of consultants of the specialties where medical education needs were identified)
• Working with the Hospice Administrator and/or Clinical Director, after implementation of the programs, to determine the impact of said programs on the quality of care
• Serving as a hospice champion in the community
• Acting as a liaison to community physicians by providing consultation and education to colleagues and attending physicians related to admission criteria for hospice and palliative care
• Acting as medical liaison with other physicians at Lifespark Hospice
• Providing training regarding the medical aspects of caring for terminally ill patients to physicians, personnel, and volunteers
• Reviewing patients' medical eligibility for hospice services, in accordance with hospice program policies and procedures, and establishing the plan of care in conjunctions with attending physician and interdisciplinary group prior to providing care written certification of terminal illness
• Providing written certification of the terminal illness for all subsequent benefit periods
• Perform face-to-face encounters within thirty (30) days of the third and subsequent hospice benefit certification periods and attest to the encounter. (NP may complete the encounter and report findings to the hospice physician.)
• Consulting with attending physicians regarding pain and symptoms management for hospice patients
• Managing oversight of the patient's medications and treatments
• Acting as medical resource to the hospice interdisciplinary group
• Attending interdisciplinary group meetings and working in a team approach with the group
• In conjunction with the attending physician and interdisciplinary group, reviewing and updating the plan of care at least every 15 days, or more frequently as needed.
• Documenting care provided in the patient's clinical record, providing evidence of progression of the end-stage disease process
• Acting as primary physician for patients whose referring/attending physicians desire to relinquish that care and/or if the referring/attending physicians are not available for further contact
• Maintaining current knowledge of the latest research and trends in hospice care and pain/symptom management
• Reviewing and developing protocols for treatment, and proposing the most current options for interventions
• Demonstrating knowledge in communications, and counseling patients and family/caregivers dealing with end-of-life issues
• Participating in resolution of interpersonal conflict and issues of clinical and ethical concern
• Ensuring that competent physician services are routinely available on a 24-hour basis to meet the general medical needs of the hospice patient to the extent the needs are not met by the attending physician
• Assisting with evaluation of protocols and procedures with respect to quality and cost outcomes
• Other duties as assigned

Qualifications

• Licensed as a Doctor of Medicine or Osteopathy in the state without restriction or subject to any disciplinary or corrective action.
• Maintains controlled substances registration with state and federal authorities.
• Have experience in hospice or palliative care and/or training in end of life care.
• Participates in ongoing medical education activities related to the medical care of hospice and palliative care patients.
• Not excluded from participating in the Medicare program
• Customer-focused orientation: in all service activities, listens and responds to what current and potential customers want

It has been and will continue to be our policy to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants without regard to age, race, creed, color, disability, marital status, sex, gender identity, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest record, conviction record, military service, use or nonuse of lawful products off the Employer's premises during nonworking hours, or declining to attend a meeting or to participate in any communication about religious matters or political matters, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local law.

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