What does a Medical Director do?
What does a medical director do depends on the health care organization that employs them. A medical director job description includes things like manage the daily operations of medical staff and oversee patient care within a healthcare facility or specific department. The medical director job description is a demanding one, and includes oversight of medical staff and personnel on staff, hiring employees, managing physicians, and scheduling coordination, to name a few. They may still practice medicine in their area of expertise to some degree while filling this medical director’s role. The medical director job description will also typically include hospital administration tasks like legal compliance, budgeting, reviewing medical policies, setting the facility’s policies, and performance reviews. A hospital medical director can expect to work closely with managers and department leaders within their organization, such as occupational health. A dedicated medical director has excellent communication skills and experience in clinical medicine to ensure medical quality and quality medical staff within their facility, making the medical director role an important one.
What are the job requirements of a Medical Director
Medical directors are typically board certified by the medical board as Medical Doctors (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) with administrative experience within a healthcare facility. In addition to a medical degree they may have experience in family medicine, emergency medical services, or even in one of the many hospice facilities. In preparation for a medical director’s responsibilities they may have additional degrees, such as a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA), or additional experience in different areas of medicine such as emergency medicine. In addition, medical director duties require organization and leadership skills are a must to be successful as a director in any number of kinds of healthcare facilities.
Below are four different medical director’s positions and some of the responsibilities of medical director.
Medical Director – Administrator
The medical director job description for an administrative medical director drives their health care organization forward through finding smart solutions and impacting health care trends. They support disease management teams to achieve optimum clinical outcomes through promoting evidence based clinical guidelines and leading clinical rounds with nursing teams. They consult directly with health care managers to problem solve high risk cases through review patient progress and employee performance. Administrative medical directors collaborate with health care professionals on clinical and quality initiatives aimed at improving customer expectations. The medical director responsibilities are expected to maintain mutually beneficial relationships with medical societies, hospital associations and state regulatory agencies. Administrative medical directors are ultimately responsible for the delivery of quality, affordable health care services to the public.
Medical Director – Treatment Facility
A medical director in charge of an addiction program will oversee inpatient and outpatient services. Medical directors in treatment facilities direct prevention, screening, intervention and treatment programs for substance abuse disorders and addictions. They must build and direct clinical teams who are tasked with treating patients with substance abuse addictions. They must also establish collaborative relationships with community partners and government agencies, such as the Department of Human Services. They supervise clinical staff and ensure that treatment plans are followed. They ensure that clients receive appropriate individual, group and family therapy services. They must prepare and facilitate treatment planning and meetings with key personnel. They ensure that records are kept in accordance with applicable laws.
Medical Director – Urgent Care
What a medical director does in an urgent care clinic depends on the size of the facility. In small urgent care clinics, medical directors will have more hands-on leadership and operational responsibilities. They must design, develop and maintain the clinic’s emergency care services. In large urgent care clinics, medical directors will follow established systems and procedures to support management and teams in providing care. They must ensure that the needs of clients and employees are met through measuring performances, training employees and implementing improvements. Urgent care medical directors work closely with other health care organizations to exchange referrals and outsource health care services. Because urgent care clinics deal with many occupational injuries and accidents, they must be familiar with workers’ compensation and OSHA regulations.
Medical Director – Senior Administrator
A senior medical director will primarily deal with policies, management and regulations. They provide oversight of clinical and operational management. Many senior medical directors specialize in fields such as IT, finance, informatics or facilities maintenance. Senior medical directors regularly review statistics, quantitative reports and clinical outcomes. They provide clinical guidance and support to managers through reviewing processes and case reviews. Through this process they can review the assignment process, resolve operational issues and provide timely and valuable feedback. They also supervise case reviews for training purposes. Senior administrators are expected to chair company meetings and committees.
What are the professional organization for medical directors
Most medical directors are part of their professional organization and may have been since they were in medical school. Some of these organizations may even post openings for medical directors positions. Check these out:
American Medical Directors Association (AMDA)
American Assisted Living Nurses Association: Home (AALNA)
American College of Health Care Administrators (ACHCA)
Without a doubt, medical director positions are important and what a medical director does truly depend on their specific organization. All medical director job descriptions will include performing critical operational and administrative tasks involving medical staff.
MPH staff, 2023
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