Physician, Medical Doctor, Palliative Care Physician

Position: Physician (54461)
ATTENDING PHYSICIAN-SNF

JOB DESCRIPTION Department:
Clinical

Reports to:

Director of Physician Services Reporting to this position:
None, unless assigned

Job Classification:
Exempt/ RVUPosition

Purpose:

Provides comprehensive, resident-centered medical care to assigned SNF and long-term care residents in accordance with law, CMS requirements, payer rules, facility policy, and accepted practice. Care includes geriatric, palliative, and hospice services when clinically appropriate. This role does not include Medical Director duties unless separately appointed in writing.

Required Qualifications
MD or DO degree from an accredited university
Current, unrestricted medical license in each state served.
Current DEA registration and controlled-substance authority, as applicable.
Eligible for Medicare, Medicaid, and other payer enrollment; not excluded from any federal or state healthcare program.
Meets facility and organizational credentialing, privileging, screening, and professional liability requirements.
Knowledge of federal and state requirements governing physician services in skilled nursing facilities.
Competent in caring for frail, medically complex, post-acute, and long-term care residents.
Geriatrics, internal medicine, family medicine, post-acute, hospice, palliative, or long term care experience preferred.

Major Duties and Responsibilities
Serves as the primary physician for assigned residents and provides medical care consistent with resident choice, facility policy, applicable law, and professional standards.
Evaluates new admissions, reviews transfer records, confirms orders, identifies immediate needs, develops treatment plans, manages acute and chronic conditions, orders and interprets diagnostic tests, prescribes treatment, and provides follow-up care.
Completes required visits within federal and state time frames, personally performs physician-only duties, and delegates only as permitted by law and regulation.
Reviews the resident's overall plan of care at each visit, including diagnoses, medications, tests, function, cognition, nutrition, skin integrity, pain, behavior, rehabilitation, risks, goals, and response to treatment.
Completes documentation, orders, certifications, and recertifications in a timely, accurate, signed, and dated manner.
Promptly addresses changes in condition, abnormal results, medication concerns, nursing requests, consultant recommendations, and urgent clinical issues. Remains available or arranges qualified physician coverage for urgent and emergency resident needs.
Collaborates with the interdisciplinary team, including the Medical Director, other physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nursing staff, pharmacists, therapists, social workers, dietitians, behavioral health clinicians, hospice and palliative care teams, consultants, and other healthcare professionals.
Applies evidence-based geriatric principles and considers frailty, cognition, function, falls, polypharmacy, nutrition, skin integrity, pain, behavioral symptoms, prognosis, quality of life, treatment burden, advance directives, and resident goals.
Incorporates palliative care principles, manages distressing symptoms, supports advance care planning and goals-of-care discussions, and documents and communicates decisions to the care team.
Supports timely hospice evaluation and informed resident choice when appropriate and coordinates with the hospice Medical Director, hospice team, facility staff, resident, representative, and caregivers.
Prescribes and monitors medications, responds to pharmacist recommendations, and supports the safe use of antibiotics, psychotropics, opioids, anticoagulants,…