Medical Director of Outpatient Psychiatry

How would you like to work in a place where your contributions and ideas are valued? A place where you can serve with compassion, pursue excellence and honor every voice? At Wellstar, our mission is simple, yet powerful: to enhance the health and well-being of every person we serve. We are proud to have become a shining example of what's possible when the brightest professionals dedicate themselves to making a difference in the healthcare industry, and in people's lives.

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Description

How would you like to work in a place where your contributions and ideas are valued? A place where you can serve with compassion, pursue excellence and honor every voice? At Wellstar, our mission is simple, yet powerful: to enhance the health and well-being of every person we serve. We are proud to have become a shining example of what's possible when the brightest professionals dedicate themselves to making a difference in the healthcare industry, and in people's lives.

Medical Director of Outpatient Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

A member of the Mayo Clinic Network, WellStar Health System is the largest health system in Georgia, recognized as one of the most integrated in the United States and in the top 10 of all systems nationally in the provision of charity care. WellStar is committed to investing in the communities we serve. We continue to develop innovative care models, focused on improving quality and access to healthcare. To this end, the WellStar Medical Group is excited to announce an opportunity for a Medical Director of Outpatient Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry who functions as a clinical and administrative leader, developing and providing C-L psychiatry services to expand access to needed services for patients receiving services in primary care, obstetrics and gynecology, cardiology, cancer, and other medical specialties. Aims of this integrated care model are oriented around the quadruple aim and include the following:

• Improve access to expedient and quality psychiatric care
• Improve clinical outcomes and patient experience by providing biopsychosocial care
• Reduce clinical burden on physicians in primary care and various medical specialties
• Provide cost-effective care by reducing unnecessary healthcare utilization

Medical Director of Outpatient Psychiatry

Wellstar has multiple locations in which behavioral health is co-located and integrated into the workflows of primary and specialty care clinics. Whereas Wellstar has clinical directors that oversee programs such as Primary Care-Behavioral Health Integration (PCBHI), Health Psychology, and Neuropsychology, these clinical directors have oversight of the non-medical aspects of care. The new Medical Director of Outpatient Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry is a physician leader who will work alongside these other clinical directors, overseeing all medical aspects of these programs. With direct oversight of other psychiatrists and advance practice professionals, (s)he will ensure that evidence-based medicine is employed to manage psychiatric symptoms that can be treated effectively in primary care and specialty settings. (S)He will work as a collaborator with other clinical directors to establish and fulfill program aims, developing effective relationships with non-psychiatry physician colleagues and functioning as a core member of the Behavioral Health Service Line's leadership team. In this role, the Medical Director will develop processes and workflows to provide time-limited medication management and physician-to-physician (curbside and e-consult) services to support patients receiving care within WMG primary and specialty care clinics. (S)He will partner closely with Wellstar's other psychiatry medical directors to establish seamless and coordinated care across the continuum to optimize patient safety and clinical outcomes.

Wellstar's PCBHI Program

• Innovative Care Models : Wellstar integrates behavioral health services into adult primary care locations and specialty clinics including cardiovascular medicine, gastroenterology, and OB/GYN.
• PCORI Study : Five original Wellstar integrated practice locations participated in a 5-year Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) study. The study evaluated integration elements most correlated with patient outcomes.
• National Collaboration : Participation in the PCORI study has allowed Wellstar to build relationships with national leaders in behavioral health integration.
• Behavioral Health Consultants : Wellstar's integrated locations feature Behavioral Health Consultants (BHCs) or clinical psychologists who provide screening, assessment, and brief evidence-based treatments for patients with primary psychiatric disorders or medical conditions exacerbated by emotional or behavioral issues.
• Expansion of Services : Building on PCORI research, Wellstar is expanding its behavioral health integration services into additional primary care and specialty clinic locations.
• Challenges in Primary Care : Despite documented benefits, primary care providers often handle most psychiatric care and face challenges accessing psychiatric consultation for severe mental health conditions.
• Ambulatory Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry : Wellstar plans to enhance its infrastructure with ambulatory consultation-liaison psychiatry, using a population health approach and elements of the Collaborative Care (CoCM) model.
• Collaborative Care Model : The new service will use patient registries and stepped-care, with a team of psychiatrists and advanced practice providers under the Medical Director of Collaborative Care Psychiatry, to transform mental health care at Wellstar.

Minimum Requirements

• Holds a MD/DO degree
• Is a licensed psychiatrist, with a minimum of 3 years post-residency experience
• Board-certification in general psychiatry
• Fellowship training (or Board-certification) in Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry

Clinical Responsibilities (80%)

Anchored in quality patient- and family-centered care, the psychiatrist provides the following clinical services:

• Review patient referrals to identify patients needing psychiatric care in collaboration with psychologists, masters-prepared therapists, and integrated behavioral health consultants
• Provide initial psychiatric evaluations and treatments (in-person or virtually) for patients referred from primary care and other medical specialties
• Gather clinical information via multi-source data, including psychiatric interviews, collateral interviews, screening tools, labs and imaging, and consultations with other members of the healthcare team
• Render diagnoses to drive evidence-based treatment decisions
• Develop, monitor, and modify treatment plans as needed in collaboration with other members of the healthcare team
• Provide medication management and/or behavioral interventions as appropriate to meet patient's needs
• Provide routine and ad-hoc and e-consultations to adult primary care and specialty care physicians, consulting on recommended medication protocols to facilitate psychiatric symptom remission
• Lead/Participate in regular interdisciplinary team meetings/huddles
• Lead case reviews and consultations with the interdisciplinary healthcare team
• Provide education and training to adult primary care providers, specialists, and other healthcare professionals
• Document all patient care activities using Epic, Wellstar's electronic health record
• Participate in quality improvement activities, including data collection, analysis, and reporting

Administrative Responsibilities (20%)

Leader as Collaborator

• Works as a clinical dyad with psychology directors through the Behavioral Medicine division
• Works closely with the directors of PCBHI, Health Psychology, and ambulatory Psychiatry to ensure clarity of roles/responsibilities
• Meets with Behavioral Health Service Line leaders to develop and ensure fidelity to processes that improve patient flow, optimize patient access, and improve patient and provider satisfaction
• Collaborates with WMG operational leaders to accomplish program aims
• Builds effective relationships with clinical leads/medical directors in other service lines
• Gives presentations at Lunch & Learns and other didactic forums for physicians and APPs regarding first-line treatments for various psychiatric illnesses
• Works effectively with WMG practice managers and operational leaders
• Develops tactics to support the well-being of direct reports
• Provides mentorship to psychiatrists and advanced practice providers
• Holds crucial conversations with team members with performance improvement opportunity

Leader as Creator

• Designs effective workflows to support integrated psychiatric care for the Wellstar Medical Group
• In concert with other clinical directors and Epic leadership, develops patient registries to help manage the care of patients with psychiatric illnesses within a primary care setting
• Works with WMG clinical and operational leaders to plan fiscal year scaling of consultation-liaison psychiatry services to adult and specialty care practices across all Wellstar submarkets

Leader as Competitor

• Establishes service utilization goals
• Establishes goals to measure and improve clinical outcomes
• Establishes annual performance goals related to quality and safety
• Establishes annual productivity goals for outpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry providers
• Disseminates performance updates to BH Service Line leaders at a monthly cadence (or as requested by BH Service Line Chief and/or AVP of WMG/BH Service Line)
• Meets regularly with Wellstar's Chief Behavioral Health Officer to discuss program performance
• Leads recruitment efforts for outpatient consultation-liaison psychiatrists and APPs, attracting the top talent and positioning the program for long-term success and brand recognition
• Meets regularly (at least monthly) with the Behavioral Health leadership team to establish annual quality and performance goals that raises the standard of behavioral health care in greater Atlanta

Leader as Controller & Monitor

• Establishes population parameters to define scope of patients appropriate for referral to the consultation-liaison psychiatry service
• Establishes clear and measurable programmatic aims
• Monitors clinical outcomes
• Monitors annual performance goals related to quality and safety
• Monitors annual productivity goals for outpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry clinicians
• Identifies and removes barriers to patient access
• Optimizes processes and workflows to improve efficiency in Epic
• Develops and standardizes protocols and clinical workflows in effort to reduce practice variation
• Leads regular meetings with outpatient consultation-liaison psychiatry team

Other

• Participates consistently in the WMG BH Clinical Leadership development forum
• Serves as a BH Service Line cabinet member with voting eligibilities
• Attends all Behavioral Health Service Line cabinet meetings
• Presents program updates at Behavioral Health Service Line cabinet meetings
• Participates, as needed, on Primary Care and other Service Line cabinets
• Makes recommendations to CBHO and WMG senior leadership (e.g., SVP, Medical Group) regarding strategic growth opportunities, innovative technologies to enhance, PCBHI, etc.
• Sits on Wellstar's Service Line quality committee

Additional Position Details

Operational support for this position will originate within the WellStar Medical Group's Behavioral Health services. The Medical Director of Outpatient Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry will have the support of a practice manager and other resources to support scheduling needs, staffing, supplies ordering, and other day-to-day operational needs.

The Wellstar Medical Group will provide and furnish office space sufficient to deliver clinical care and access to technology needed to leverage care virtually.

To apply please visit careers.wellstar.org or reach out to Provider Recruiter, Andrew Wilson, View email address on click.appcast.io.

Join us and discover the support to do more meaningful work-and enjoy a more rewarding life. Connect with the most integrated health system in Georgia, and start a future that gives you more.

Join us and discover the support to do more meaningful work-and enjoy a more rewarding life. Connect with the most integrated health system in Georgia, and start a future that gives you more.