Hospice Physician

Qualification Requirements

• Doctor of medicine or osteopathy degree from an accredited medical school with current license to practice in the state of Ohio and Michigan.
• Maintains hospice and palliative medicine board certification.
• Has completed the UNIPAC or will complete within first 6 months of employment.
• Must have or be eligible for membership in good standing on the medical staff accredited hospitals in the Hospice of Northwest Ohio service area.
• Must have at least three years of experience in the practice of medicine.
• Current DEA in Ohio and Michigan.
• Must be a licensed driver with an automobile in good working condition and is insured in accordance with state and agency requirements.
• Has working experience charting in an EMR system, Netsmart and EPIC are preferred systems

Essential Job Responsibilities

• Evaluates and manages patients with terminal illnesses; assesses stage of illness and prognosis and recognizes signs and symptoms of impending death.
• Writes appropriate prescriptions of opioids and adjuvant medications for pain management in end of life; makes dosage conversions between various opioids and between oral, dermal and parental routes of administration; understands methods of rapid titration for severe pain.
• Recognizes and manages symptoms often associated with end of life disease including but not limited to, dyspnea, fatigue, nausea and vomiting, diarrhea, constipation, bowel obstruction, hemorrhage, and altered mental status.
• Recognizes the need for psychological and spiritual support, as well as bereavement services.
• Provides medical care to patients through phone calls, visits and Interdisciplinary team conferences. Reviews patient/family plan of care and provides orders for medications and treatments that are consistent with the goals of care and meet the standards of hospice and palliative care.
• Actively manages problems identified on the patient's plan of care and ensures orders are written to provide standard of care t symptom management.
• Available for consultation with the interdisciplinary team members regarding patient and family care.
• Provides hospice medical care wherever the patient is living including the patient's home, extended care facility, assisted living facility, hospital or the hospice inpatient center.
• Provide palliative medical care in the hospital, Toledo Clinic Cancer Center, Sincera consult room and where the patient lives.
• Performs visits for patients who have been referred for a pre-admission to hospice consultation or for palliative care. This visit may determine eligibility for hospice care, assist with the patient and family in clarifying goals of treatment, and/or establishing appropriate medical interventions.
• For patients in the hospice inpatient center, performs a focused initial medical assessment to document the medical circumstances for inpatient services. Communicates regularly with community physicians regarding care of his/her patients in the inpatient center. Is an active member of the IDT to assist discharge planning of patients as needed.
• Documents all medical interventions and pertinent conversations with family in the medical record in order to clearly reflect changes in the patient's status and decisions made regarding goals of care and treatment. Follows up with changes to the plan of care and problem list to reflect findings and communicates changes to the rest of the interdisciplinary team.
• Serves as a liaison between Hospice of Northwest Ohio and the community physician; contacts the community physician as needed to keep him/her informed and to maintain an open line of communication about care of the patient.
• Works willingly with the physician liaison and participates in physician/ community events as scheduled. Is seen in the community as a HNWO hospice physician or Sincera physician who is a valuable resource in hospice and palliative care.
• Participates in the on-call rotation as needed and responds to calls in a timely manner by managing phone calls, visits and documentation of care provided to patients in all care settings.
• Provides ongoing education to hospice and palliative care team members in a positive, constructive manner.
• Assists with medical student/resident education and provides community education and outreach in the medical community.
• Performs teaching rounds with the University of Toledo Medical Center residents and students as needed.
• As an academic faculty member participated in appropriate lectures, committees, Vital Talk education and student education.
• With personal academic salary will complete 9 hours of resident and student didactic education or committee work before entering teaching hours on her HNO time sheet.
• For every new one hour lecture, can claim 2 hours to prepare for lecture.
• Works with other team members to assist in getting the work done and accepts the unpredictability of the daily workflow while meeting the needs of the patients and the agency. Provides back-up to the other physicians as needed.
• Embraces agency changes (e.g. technological, patient demographics, and consultative/palliative care).
• Understands and complies with all hospice regulatory standards which physicians are responsible for including admission, initial certification, recertification and discharge of hospice patients.
• Stays up to date regarding hospice and palliative care knowledge and skills.
• When eligible, seeks hospice and palliative care certification.
• Responsible for learning and utilizing technology made available by the agency to increase efficiency, communication and performance of duties.
• Participates in monthly record review as requested.
• Participates in the agency's Quality Improvement program.
• Attends staff meetings and completes all mandatory training.
• Holds in strictest confidence all patient information and discloses information and data only to persons authorized by Hospice.
• Performs other duties as assigned.