POSITION SUMMARY
The Ophthalmologist is responsible for providing clinical assessment and management of eye problems, and providing surgical treatment at the Tuba City Regional Health Care Corporation or appropriate referrals to other eye surgeons.
ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:
- Interviews, examines patients, and orders tests as appropriate for diagnosis and management of eye conditions. Formulates diagnoses of eye problems and treats eye conditions or refers patients as appropriate to other eye care professionals. Documents observations, inferences about diagnoses, and management decisions in the medical records.
- Works closely with optometry and other eye clinic staff. Attends Eye Care Department meetings. Completes appropriate coding and billing documents, and works with the coding and billing services as needed to ensure compliance with professional, federal, and other applicable guidelines.
- Directs appropriate rescheduling or notification of patients who fail to keep appointments, working with the public health nurses as necessary to ensure that patients with severe vision-threatening conditions have the opportunity to receive appropriate eye care.
- Performs eye surgery when indicated within the scope of procedures for which the provider has privileges and for which there is appropriate hospital resources. Performs pre-op assessments, educating and counseling patients as appropriate about the risks, benefits, and alternatives to surgery and the nature of the surgical process and post-op recovery. Handles post-op evaluations and manages as appropriate. Dictates operating room cases and signs off on surgical dictations. Participates in completion of other O.R. documentation. Participates as needed in the supervision of ordering materials, supplies, and equipment for the operating room. Provides appropriate supervision of CRNAs as indicated by Department of Surgery and O.R. policy.
- Presents surgical complications at the Department of Surgery monthly M&M conferences, and provides a semiannual summary of surgical cases and complications to the Performance Improvement committee. Participates in performance improvement activities as appropriate.
- Presents malignant tumor cases at the monthly Department of Surgery tumor rounds.
- Participates in the care of Eye Care Dept. and O.R. equipment by careful use of the equipment, notification of the appropriate offices when equipment is missing or malfunctioning, and contributing to recommendations about equipment needs.
- Participates in admitting patients and managing of eye problems of inpatients as appropriate. Takes responsibility for orders, daily progress notes, discharges, discharge summaries, and continuity care of inpatients who are admitted to the Ophthalmology Service. Works with other services to provide appropriate daily care of patients.
- May need to answer questions about inpatients after-hours and to round on patients on weekends or holidays even when not on call, or arrange care by other providers, as patient needs dictate.
- Participates in after-hours on-call emergency consultation on a rotating basis for the entire Navajo reservation, and for other emergency patients as needed. Discusses cases by phone with providers at other service units, authorizing patient transfer as appropriate when the patient has a vision-threatening condition requiring urgent evaluation and management, when the hospital capabilities allow for such transfer, and when there are no contraindications to transfer to this facility. Participates in the organization of the on-call schedule for ophthalmology for the Navajo Area I.H.S.
- Provides consultation and guidance about patient eye conditions as needed to optometrists, optometry resident, and physicians of this hospital and other service units. Communicates as needed by letters and phone calls with referring and consulting optometrists of other service units in a timely fashion, to provide feedback for those care providers and appropriate patient continuity of care.
- Participates as required in patient care assignments at other service units or facilities. Works to build a practice providing some ophthalmology services to other service units on the reservation in addition to this service unit.
- Directs referral of patients to outside ophthalmology subspecialty services when patient eye problems warrant referral outside the competence and capabilities of this provider and this hospital. Fills out appropriate referral paperwork to provide adequate information for the outside provider who will be caring for the patient, and directs appointment scheduling and Contract Health Services referrals. Reviews information received from referral providers and ensures filing of this information in the patient medical records. Arranges patient follow up at this hospital or elsewhere as indicated to provide continued care for the patient. Directs appropriate follow-up for patients who fail to complete their scheduled outside appointments.
- Files appropriate vision evaluation forms with the Department of Motor Vehicles, provides appropriate employer notification for post-op recovery of surgical patients, and fills out disability forms or other patient-related paperwork as appropriate.
- Participates in the ophthalmology peer review activities at a participating hospital, as directed by the TCRHCC Chief of the Eye Care Services, such as PIMC. May be required to be credentialed at that hospital for shared use of their EMR.
- Participates in Eye Care Dept. academic activities such as journal clubs, grand rounds, etc. Mentors the optometry resident and acts as an attending to the resident when needed. Also participates in hospital administrative duties, such as committee assignments. Participates in hospital and NAIHS educational activities, giving talks when requested to the medical staff, hospital M&M conference, peri-operative nursing educational sessions, and I.H.S. eye care conferences.
- Participates in Continuing Medical Education activities to maintain competence in current standards of care in ophthalmology, and to meet CME requirements for medical licensure and hospital credentialing. Maintains records of CME activities to provide documentation for these purposes.
- Meets other educational requirements as mandated by the hospital, medical staff guidelines, and Medical Staff Bylaws, including CPR courses, computer and electronic health record training, and computer security awareness training. Satisfactorily completes orientation sessions and annual mandatories as specified by the administration and medical staff.
- Works in accord with regulations including EEO objectives, HIPAA law, computer security policies, and other federal, hospital, medical staff, and department regulations and policies.
- Participates in other administrative and medical activities as dictated by hospital needs and provider abilities.
- Performs other duties as assigned and/or directed.
- Responsible for electronic health records data entry pertinent to patient service role.
MENTAL AND PHYSICAL EFFORT
The physical and mental demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
Physical:
Must be able to walk several hundred yards quickly, write well, and see well for complete diagnostic skills
Mental:
Must be able to work on a regular basis and handle the stresses of rural medicine. Must be able to prioritize and use good judgment. Must be able to coordinate a variety of issues while being frequently interrupted.
|
Click here for technical assistance.
