Job Title: Medical Director
Reports to: : Head of Medicine
FLSA Status: Exempt
Summary of Job Purpose and Function
The purpose of this position is to manage and oversee the day-to-day operations related to the medical care and treatment rendered to the patients. In cooperation with the Hospital Director, the Medical Director will plan, direct, and coordinate office activities as well as practice medicine as a staff veterinarian. The Medical Director reports directly to the Head of Medicine and leverages the operational support of their Hospital Director.
Essential Responsibilities and Tasks
The following is a list of essential job requirements. This list may be revised at any time and additional duties not listed here may be assigned as needed. Job Functions and Job Responsibilities include overseeing that the following occur within the hospitals.
EXEMPLIFY AND EMBODY CARA’S CULTURE EVERY DAY.
All employees are expected to exemplify Cara’s five pillars daily: Put Pets First. Trust the Parent. Authentically Human. Good Neighbors. Shake Things Up. Employees should also be willing and capable of multi-tasking, confidentially navigate various types of technology throughout the practice, and use mathematical skills accurately throughout their daily tasks. Employees must also mentally and physically stay organized to help ensure the clients and patients receive the best possible experience. Cara employees are also required to be mentally flexible, adaptable, and resilient to working in a stressful and demanding work environment. All Cara employees are expected to always conduct themselves in a professional manner. They are also expected to be independent while working in their role, show integrity, be willing to collaborate with others, and to show always be a team player and show initiative.
MEDICAL QUALITY
- Ensures highest quality patient care (pain control, safe anesthetic practices, wellness care, care for hospitalized patients etc.) and medical decision making by the associate DVM team
- Determines Standard Operating Procedures for the hospital – including handling of patients with infectious disease, isolation protocols, anesthesia prep/monitoring standards etc.
- Works with the associate DVM team to deliver a consistent message to staff and clients regarding patient care, case management and Standards of Care. Provides Head of Medicine with direct feedback on associate DVM case management problems or in cases where mistakes were made. Performs an internal review in such circumstances and revises protocols when appropriate.
- Provides Head of Medicine feedback on medical record review of associate DVM’s
- Along with the Head of Medicine, decides on products/ drugs for hospital to carry as well as equipment purchases
- Ensures drug log practices in place + secure
- Stays medically current by reading journals, attending CE events. Shares knowledge gained with associate veterinarians and technicians
- Supports practice medical initiatives and ensures successful implementation within the hospita
- With Hospital Director ensures appropriate technical staff training structure and implementation
- Plans, organizes, and conducts routine doctor meetings
- Ensures equipment problems/needs are delegated to the appropriate individua
- Ensures the doctors schedule covers the hospital without being short doctors (Hospital Director can help to find other practice doctors to cover shifts or relief doctors, if needed)
STAFF
- The Medical Director is a key “problem solver” within the hospital and a go-to person for staff members in need. The Medical Director also sets the mood/staff outlook for the practice. They are the ‘on the floor’ director of medical staff to maximize efficiency and ensure productivity and provides feedback to help streamline daily routines.
- Plans, assigns, and directs work; conducts monthly one-on-ones, and reviews development plans
- Helps to schedule veterinary shift coverage while proactively planning time off and CE scheduling.
- Addresses staff complaints and resolves problems.
- Trains the team on NPVEC guidelines and practices and supervises associates to ensure compliance
- Responsible for overseeing the development of Hospital Director and ensuring the Hospital Director has current development plans in place for each support team member.
- Participates in routine one-on-ones with support team members at least once a quarter
CLIENT SERVICE
- The Medical Director works with the Hospital Director to ensure delivery of toplevel client service to every client.
- Partners with the Hospital Director to oversee the client/patient flow to ensure clients receive timely service
- Along with the Hospital Director, the Medical Director ensures that the hospital culture is “client centered” (vs staff/DVM focused) and that a “come in now” policy is followed
- Helps Hospital Director ensure high level and timely communication to clients by DVM team in the delivery method requested by the client (phone, fax, email…)
CE OPPORTUNITIES
- The Medical Director is the CE advocate within the hospital. They should strive to provide themselves and the staff with a variety of professional development opportunities throughout the year
- Attend local CE events and encourage staff to attend as well
- Enlist doctors to present in house CE at staff meetings
- Share current knowledge or material from Head of Medicine with associates in the hospital
- Encourage associates to share new knowledge from CE events they attend with the rest of the doctor team and staff
FINANCIAL
- The Medical Director is accountable for reviewing the Profit & Loss statement every month, and ensuring a plan is in place for improving or sustaining steady revenue growth
- The Medical Director should understand the financial and DVM compliance reports and work closely with the Hospital Director to ensure hospital goals of medical and operational excellence are met
- The Medical Director partners with the Hospital Director to work on yearly hospital goals including the operating plan and budget
- The Head of Medicine and Medical Director should discuss the hospital + individual doctor compliance reports (successes/challenges) at the monthly doctor meetings
- The Medical Director should continue to stress the importance of charge capture to associate DVM’s and team
- To ensure a client centered practice and continued revenue growth, the Medical Director works with the Head of Medicine, Director of Business Operations, and Hospital Director to consider changes in hospital hours/days, services hours, DVM availability etc.
AUTHORITY
- Oversees and/or participates in Interviewing, hiring, and training of all employees within the practices.
- Oversees the performance management, disciplinary actions, promotions, and terminations of all employees withing the hospital.
- Directly supervises associates and Hospital Director.
Hiring Qualifications
Special Working Conditions
- Employee should expect to spend nearly all of their workdays standing, sitting and typing at a computer
- They should have a physical strength and the ability to safely lift objects weighing up to 50 pounds without assistance.
- Able to assist in lifting patients weighing more than 50 pounds.
- Must possess sufficient strength and assertiveness to effectively restrain patients and ensure the safety of clients and personnel.
- Ability to be confident around pets (ex: dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.)
- The noise level in the work environment is moderately high.
- Ability to carry out instructions furnished in written, oral or diagram form and to solve problems involving several variables
- Requires ambulatory skills sufficient to perform duties while at hospital.
- Ability to stand, walk, stoop, kneel, crouch, and climb as well as manipulate (lift, carry, move) up to 50 pounds
- Requires good hand-eye coordination, arm-hand-finger dexterity with the ability to reach and grasp, and visual acuity to use a keyboard, operate equipment and read information.
- Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus.
- Staff is routinely exposed to pets that may bite or scratch, and on occasion, exposed to anesthesia, radiation, biological hazards and medication/ controlled substances.
Experience, Education and/ or Training
- A Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) degree, or equivalent, from an accredited university.
- A license to practice in the state in which they are employed in
- 3 years of experience in operations management with profit and loss and HR responsibility preferred.
