We are a Christian hospice offering the highest quality clinical care and the love and salvation of Jesus Christ.
Empyrean Hospice contracts with a physician to serve as Medical Director with overall responsibility for the medical component of the hospice program. The Medical Director provides oversight of physician services by complementing attending physician care, acts as a medical resource to the interdisciplinary group, assures continuity of hospice medical services, and assures appropriate measures to control patient symptoms. This role also serves as a hospice champion – promoting and representing the program to physicians, physician groups, discharge planners, other referral sources, and community health organizations, as appropriate.
Who is Empyrean Hospice?
With Empyrean Hospice, we are family. We are committed to caring for people at end of life with the same level of dedication and compassion we would choose for our own loved ones. Our core values are the foundation for our dedication to integrity and clinical excellence.
Empyrean is a national company with community heart. We provide resources and leadership to support our care teams across the country so they can focus on the quality-of-life care and clinical excellence for the patients and families we serve. Our culture fosters a focus on our care delivery with work-life balance and support for our team members through manageable caseloads and professional growth supported by a team of expert leaders.
Patient focused. Clinician led. Faith driven.
Position Overview – Medical Director:
• Represent Empyrean Hospice with the utmost professionalism and compassion
• Adhere to requirements, terms, and conditions required by Medicare Conditions of Participation, accrediting body, and federal and state statutes governing the provision of services
• Establish and continually review policies and procedures related to patient care, medical education, and emergency procedures
• Continually review, in cooperation with other leadership, criteria to monitor the quality of the education programs provided to physicians, personnel, and volunteers
• Participate in and evaluate with other leadership quality assessment performance improvement (QAPI) plans to identify medical education needs
• Act as a liaison to community physicians by providing consultation and education related to admission criteria for hospice and palliative care
• Review patient 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
• Provide 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.)
• Consult with attending physicians regarding pain and symptom management for hospice patients; Manage oversight of the patient’s medications and treatments
• In conjunction with the attending physician and interdisciplinary group, review and update the plan of care at least every 15 days, or more frequently as needed
• Document care provided in the patient’s clinical record
• Act 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 knowledge of the latest research and trends in hospice care and pain/symptom management; Develop protocols for treatment and propose the most current options for interventions
• Participate in resolution of interpersonal conflict and issues of clinical and ethical concern
• Ensure 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
• Ensure standards of ethical business and clinical practice are prioritized
Position Qualifications
• Professionalism, compassion, empathy, and a desire to help others
• 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
• 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
• Ability to work as member of interdisciplinary group and team member
• Demonstrated knowledge in communications and counseling patients and family/caregivers dealing with end-of-life issues
• Knowledge and commitment to hospice philosophy
• Demonstrates good verbal and written communication, and organization skills.
• Flexible in work hours.
• Must possess a willingness to maintain comprehensive working knowledge regarding information systems and applicable software programs.
Empyrean Hospice is an equal opportunity employer and considers all qualified applicants equally without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or veteran status.
Candidates for employment with Empyrean understand that Empyrean expressly does not want employees to use, and employee’s responsibilities and duties with Empyrean will not require or involve, any trade secrets or other confidential information secrets that employee may have obtained from former employers or any other third party. Further, Empyrean expects and facilitates disclosure of, and compliance with, any obligations with any prior employers or other third parties that may legally apply to an employee.