Physician, Palliative and Hospice Care

*This position can be full-time or part-time*

As a member of the interdisciplinary palliative care and hospice team, the Palliative and Hospice Care Physician, provides support to the palliative care consultation and hospice services that involves expert symptom management and communication and coordination skills used to engage patients and their caregivers facing serious illness or frailty to enhance their quality of life through patient centered goal concordant care throughout their illness trajectory including end of life care.  The Palliative and Hospice Care Physician is an integral member of the interdisciplinary palliative care and hospice teams that serve long term chronic care and post-acute patients and the community -dwelling older adults through home based services including home hospice.

Core Competencies:

• Able to provide expert symptom management for individuals with serious progressive illness or frailty throughout their illness trajectory including at end of life
• Able to effectively facilitate family meetings where serious illness and/or frailty trajectory and goals of care are reviewed and identified.
• Able to coordinate and collaborate effectively with other providers and health professionals
• Able to work effectively with the interdisciplinary palliative and hospice care teams to deliver effective and comprehensive specialized palliative care.
• Advances the impact and visibility of palliative and hospice care and advanced illness management by establishing a trusting, collaborative approach between palliative and hospice care service and other service lines. 
• Serves as a mentor and resource to staff as they provide care to patients with complex medical, psychosocial and ethical issues, promoting the development of advanced illness management, palliative and end of life care skills across the continuum.
• Keeps up to date on evidence-based medical practice, industry trends, and current research in advanced illness management and palliative care.

Position Responsibilities:

• Provide palliative care consults for long term chronic care hospital patients and post-acute unit patients and their families facing chronic, complex and life-threatening conditions.
• Conduct comprehensive medical and psychosocial and spiritual evaluation of patients and families referred for consult.
• Provide recommendation for skilled pain and symptom management commensurate with specialty palliative care competency.
• Work with patients and families to determine their understanding of the patient’s medical status, disease course and proposed treatment plan.
• Facilitate clarification of patient and family goals of care and advance care directives.
• Promote continuity of care through effective verbal and written communication across health care settings.
• Recommend additional referrals deemed appropriate based on assessment.
• Participate in interdisciplinary meetings as indicated.
• Provides cross coverage for other palliative and hospice providers as appropriate
• Document patient visits according to policy using the medical record system to facilitate timely billing.
• Support home hospice service with evaluations for eligibility, documentation of certifications for terminal illness and face to face visits in accordance with Medicare regulations, and reviewing and ordering medications, and where appropriate, serving as attending hospice physician
• Support weekend physician coverage of rehab and long term chronic care units commensurate with DOM practice
• Precept palliative medicine fellows and other clinical rotators who shadow the Palliative Care and Hospice service. 
• Provide formal and informal educational opportunities for the clinical staff on current aspects of advanced illness management, palliative and hospice care.
• Enhance professional growth and self-development through participation in educational programs, current literature, in-service programs and research activities.
• Follows established department policies, procedures and objectives, continuous quality improvement objectives, and safety, environmental, and/or infection control standards and quality measures
• Successfully meets productivity benchmarks as established by Department of Medicine Administration
• Participates in specified health promotion, education and/or preventative programs throughout HRC as appropriate
• Participate in Medical Staff quality improvement and review activities
• Participates in monthly Medical Staff Meetings
• Performs miscellaneous job-related duties as assigned
• An academic teaching appointment at Harvard Medical School (HMS) will be commensurate with experience.

Qualifications:

License: Valid and unrestricted Massachusetts Medical License

Certification: BC/BE or equivalent in Hospice and Palliative Medicine required; BC/BE or equivalent in Geriatric Medicine preferred. 

Experience:

• Knowledge and experience in the use of medications used by specialty palliative or hospice care especially opioids

• Knowledge of current principles, methods and procedures for the delivery of medical evaluation, diagnosis and treatment in area of expertise
• Ability to maintain quality, safety, and/or infection control standards
• Ability to supervise, advise and train clinical professionals and/or students in area of expertise
• Experience delivering effective medical care across various medical settings
• Experience working both independently and in a team environment

Physical requirements:

• Please refer to the Physical Requirement Sheets in Occupational Health.