Physician (Home Based Primary Care Medical Director)

The Lt. Col. Luke Weathers, Jr., VAMC in Memphis, TN is recruiting for a Home Bases Primary Care (HBPC) Medical Director Physician to serve as a full-time Geriatrics and Extended Care physician. The position is accountable to the Chief of Geriatrics and Extended Care, for assuring the most effective delivery of state-of-the-art care by meeting or exceeding compliance standards.

The HBPC Program Medical Director is a physician who is responsible for the overall medical care delivered by the HBPC Team in the Memphis VA Medical Center with outpatient experience and geriatrics qualifications preferred. Physician will collaborate with the HBPC Program Director and provide medical leadership to the HBPC Program. The HBPC Medical Director will advocate for the HBPC with VHA leadership and the medical community. Serves as back-up for the other HBPC Team providers. He/she reports to the Associate Chief of Staff-Geriatrics and Extended Care.

General duties include, but are not limited to:

• Oversees and clinically supervises the program staff physicians and mid-level providers.
• Responsible for overall clinical supervision and management of patients in the HBPC Program.
• Responsible for the maintenance and improvement of medical systems to deliver quality health care for the HBPC patients, which includes performance improvement activities.
• Monitors appropriateness of care provided to patients in the HBPC Program.
• Collaborates with the HBPC Team in handling patient medical complaints, investigates unusual occurrences, and prepares responses for signature of the Director via the Chief of Staff.
• Make visits at the HBPC patients at home, when appropriate to provide care or resolve issues.
• Responsible for formulating educational programs for medical staff involved in the HBPC Program at the Memphis VA Medical Center.
• Coordinates the educational and clinical experience of medical students, residents, and fellows assigned to the HBPC Program.
• Participate in HBPC team meetings to discuss clinical and administrative issues, specific patient care problems and professional staff needs for interdisciplinary team members, offering solutions to problems and identifying areas where policy should be developed.
• Keep the HBPC team apprised of medical care advances and practice standards.
• Arrange HBPC primary care provider coverage and communicates the plan of coverage to the HBPC team.
• Join any other HBPC physicians in providing medical administrative support such as reviewing, approving and signing forms requiring physician signature for the HBPC patients.
• Collaborate with the Program Director to select HBPC team members.
• Readily available to the team members for collaboration when medical and/or other problems arise.
• Serves as backup for other HBPC team physicians and the inpatient Geriatrics Evaluation and Management (GEM) unit physician.
• Collaborating with community home health and hospice agencies as needed for HBPC patients.
• Any other duties as assigned by the supervising physician or his/her designee as it relates to scope of practice.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package. VHA Physician Total Rewards.

Recruitment/Relocation Incentives (Sign-on Bonus): May be eligible for highly qualified applicants.Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment): This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan payment reimbursement program. You must meet specific eligibility requirements per VHA policy and submit your EDRP application within four months of appointment. Program Approval, award amount (up to $200,000) & eligibility period (one to five years) are determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services program office after review of the EDRP application. Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply. Learn more.
EDRP Authorized: Former EDRP participants ineligible to apply for incentive.

Pay: Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases
Paid Time Off: 50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year and possible 5 day paid absence for CME)
Retirement: Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance: Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Licensure: 1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
CME: Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification)
Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided
Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

Work Schedule: Monday-Friday, 8:00am - 4:30pm

To qualify for this position, you must meet the basic requirements as well as any additional requirements (if applicable) listed in the job announcement. Applicants pending the completion of training or license requirements may be referred and tentatively selected but may not be hired until all requirements are met. Currently employed physician(s) in VA who met the requirements for appointment under the previous qualification standard at the time of their initial appointment are deemed to have met the basic requirements of the occupation.

Basic Requirements:

• United States Citizenship: Non-citizens may only be appointed when it is not possible to recruit qualified citizens in accordance with VA Policy.
• Degree of doctor of medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from one of the schools approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs for the year in which the course of study was completed.
• Current, full and unrestricted license to practice medicine or surgery in a State, Territory, or Commonwealth of the United States, or in the District of Columbia.
• Residency Training: Physicians must have completed residency training, approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in an accredited core specialty training program leading to eligibility for board certification. (NOTE: VA physicians involved in academic training programs may be required to be board certified for faculty status.) Approved residencies are:
  • (1) Those approved by the accrediting bodies for graduate medical education, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) or American Osteopathic Association (AOA), in the list published for the year the residency, or fellowship if applicable, was completed; OR
  • (2) One year of post medical school training (internship, first year of residency, or transitional year residency) approved by ACGME or AOA followed by two years of post-training independent practice (performing under a full and unrestricted license) in the United States; OR
  • (3) Non-US residency training programs followed by a minimum of three years of verified independent practice in the United States (performing under a full and unrestricted license) performing duties related to the position they are applying for (United States fellowships would be creditable towards this requirement), which the local Medical Staff Executive Committee deems to have provided the applicant with appropriate professional training and believes has exposed the Physician to an appropriate range of patient care experiences.
  • Exceptions:
    • Residents currently enrolled in ACGME/AOA accredited residency training programs and who would otherwise meet the basic requirements for appointment are eligible to be appointed as "Physician Resident Providers" (PRPs). PRPs must be fully licensed physicians (i.e., not a training license) and may only be appointed on an intermittent basis. PRPs are not considered independent practitioners and will not be privileged; rather, they are to have a "scope of practice" that allows them to perform certain restricted duties under supervision. Additionally, surgery residents in gap years may also be appointed as PRPs.
    • In rare and unusual circumstances, the Facility Director can submit a memo to the VISN Director through the VISN Chief Medical Officer, who may approve requests for reasonable exceptions to the residency training requirement for Physicians whose composite record of experience, accomplishments, performance, and qualifications warrant such action.
• Proficiency in spoken and written English.

Additional Requirement: Maintaining a valid Drivers' License.

Preferred Experience:

• Outpatient or in-home management of frailty, goals of care and complex, chronic medical conditions.
• Geriatric care or elder care experience preferred.
• Experience with interdisciplinary teams or work groups.

Reference: For more information on this qualification standard, please visit https://www.va.gov/ohrm/QualificationStandards/.

Physical Requirements: In accordance with VA Directive and Handbook 5019.

Degree of Doctor of Medicine or an equivalent degree resulting from a course of education in allopathic medicine or osteopathic medicine. The degree must have been obtained from an institution whose accreditation was in place for the year in which the course of study was completed. Approved schools are:

1. Schools of medicine accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for the year in which the degree was granted.
2. Schools of osteopathic medicine approved by the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) for the year in which the degree was granted.
3. For foreign medical graduates not covered in (1) or (2) above, confirmation must be made that the medical school meets (or met) Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG) eligibility requirement for year graduated.

NOTE: The Under Secretary of Health or designee in the VHA Central Office may approve the appointment under authority of 38 U.S.C. 7405 of a physician graduate of a school of medicine not covered above if the candidate is to be assigned to a research, academic, or administrative position with no patient care responsibilities. The appointment will be made only in exceptional circumstances where the candidate's credentials clearly demonstrate high professional attainment or expertise in the specialty area.