Physician - VISN 6 Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

Job Title

The Chief Medical Officer provides direct support to clinicians in all health care facilities and programs within the VISN and interface with Headquarters offices and officials as appropriate for coordination of services throughout VHA.

Expert guidance is provided in such areas as clinical programming, established primary care networks, strategic planning for health care delivery, business planning, VISN coordination, academic affairs, human resources, credentialing and privileging, quality improvement and utilization management.

Duties

• Serves as advisor for all clinical operations within the VISN.
• Oversee contracted service providers and ensure that the system and standards for credentialing and privileging providers are standardized across the VISN.
• Responsible for quality improvement and utilization management throughout the VISN and ensures that all programs are customer focused.
• Ensures availability of a strong primary care base, which offers ease of access to services, and that primary care providers are held accountable for meeting VISN performance goals and standards.
• Ensures availability of primary care, specialty medicine, and mental health patient care services with ease of access to patient population.
• Assures the special programs (i.e., spinal cord injury, blind rehabilitation, Community Care Network oversight, etc.) are delivered and communications with those monitoring and interested in the provision of special programs, is maintained.
• Spearheads VISN performance goals and standards for all providers.
• Knowledgeable of significant management professional issues that affect the overall operations and administration of VISN health care activities.
• Identifies and analyzes situations and directly advises the VISN Director and Field and Headquarters staff of appropriate interventions to correct problems as they arise.
• Promotes the development of health care professionals in the VISN through counseling, mentoring, teaching, and encouraging self-assessment.
• Contributes to an environment that provides educational activity, and administrative planning and evaluation based on integration and application of current health care principles.
• Establishes mechanisms whereby VISN administration, and other VHA components are informed, in a timely manner, of clinical program developments that affect them.
• Takes an active role as a VISN management team member, providing advice and counsel in defining and accomplishing the VISN's mission and goals.
• Works with the VISN Medical Centers to ensure that facility programs reflect the mission and priorities of the VISN and the VHA.
• Promotes an effective mix, coordination, and support of VISN clinical programs by evaluating current and potential patient population needs, clinical workload and resources, special program mandates and cost/benefit analysis making recommendations to the VISN Director ensuring implementation of approved clinical proposals.
• Provides advice to VISN staff through policy guidance and activities on behalf of patients and their clinical care.