The Medical Director
The Job Description in Long-Term Care

The Medical Director has potentially hundreds of separate tasks to be accomplished in a facility which utilizes this position to its full potential. Unfortunately, few Long-Term Care facilities take advantage of this resource. Even more disheartening, many of the directors don't take it upon themselves to initiate more involvement.

These facts can lead to problems in both patient care and regulatory issues if not recognized and corrected. This also presents a wonderful opportunity to you who is knowledgeable and willing to show how valuable you can be as part of the administrative team.

She is responsible for seeing to it that all patients/residents of a facility are receiving appropriate medical care. This doesn't mean that she must see all the patients herself. It means that she must be sure that each patient/resident is being cared for properly by a doctor in the facility.

Among the administrative duties there are policies and procedures to review, update and implement. An example of this would be the facility’s flu vaccination policy, or employee needle stick protocol. The position assumes responsibly to participate in quality assurance activities like infection control, wound care and prevention and other medication issues.

The director can and should be instrumental in educational activities throughout the facility. In-services and training should be a routine and major part of her duties. Participating in these activities not only improves knowledge and skills, it also brings together the staff in an environment of shared learning. This is wonderful for moral and self esteem for all.

An effectively utilized Medical Director can help serve as a resource to the community and secondarily assist with marketing of the facility. In the end, the director and the facility benefit by boosting their profiles with the surrounding businesses and potential referral sources.

More Information at American Medical Director's Association

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