EMS Director

[sylvanthus]

For the EMS people out there, any advice? I am going to interview for an medical program director position for a couple of rural counties. Job requires about 20 hours of work a month, mostly meetings, QI, protocol writing, etc. Any advice on prep? Any other thoughts or words of wisdom?

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[Dr Mantis Toboggan]

Try to get a county car or gas card out of the deal. Plus some sweet gear.

For the EMS people out there, any advice? I am going to interview for an medical program director position for a couple of rural counties. Job requires about 20 hours of work a month, mostly meetings, QI, protocol writing, etc. Any advice on prep? Any other thoughts or words of wisdom?

 

[shookwell]

Are they paying you? Do they have a relationship with your clinical site so you can buy down some hours there? Or are you doing it for free?

Other things to think of:

Will you have any involvement in hiring medics? Being involved in hiring/firing and HR stuff drastically increases your liability.
Will you have scene response duties? Will it be with a department vehicle or a personal vehicle? Will they provide insurance and some sort of emergency vehicle training?
Will they let you have final say on medical decisions? It's very frustrating when operational people can overrule your medical decisions.
If your department doesn't indemnify you, buy the NFP EMS medical director insurance.

 

[TheComebacKid]

Thanks for posting this. As someone also interested in EMS fellowship and hopefully medical director some day, I am interested in this topic as well.

I have 99% committed to doing an EMS fellowship because I really enjoy the work. However, I find it extremely frustrating as there's such a variety in jobs without much standardization, you never really know what you'll end up with. Unlike if one does a GI fellowship after IM residency, you have a little more of a sense of what you'll be doing. With EMS you could be the medical director for a volunteer fire department, involved with Air Methods or maybe a paramedic/EMS academy. I wish I had a better sense of what kinds of jobs I could get, how hard they were to obtain etc. as I have some very specific interests within EMS.

Time will tell, I suppose.

 

[shookwell]

The NAEMSP's EMS medical director's course is also a good resource that may help with your decision - I thought it was useful

NAEMSP Annual Meeting – Conference for EMS Professionals | NAEMSP

 

[Osteoth]

Are they paying you? Do they have a relationship with your clinical site so you can buy down some hours there? Or are you doing it for free?

Other things to think of:

Will you have any involvement in hiring medics? Being involved in hiring/firing and HR stuff drastically increases your liability.
Will you have scene response duties? Will it be with a department vehicle or a personal vehicle? Will they provide insurance and some sort of emergency vehicle training?
Will they let you have final say on medical decisions? It's very frustrating when operational people can overrule your medical decisions.
If your department doesn't indemnify you, buy the NFP EMS medical director insurance.

How does hiring/firing increase your personal liability?

 

[deleted109597]

20 hours a month? How rural are we talking? How many runs per day?
What are your state requirements for EMS directors?
Are they paying you and for your malpractice?

 

[NYEMMED]

How does hiring/firing increase your personal liability?

When a medic does something wrong, you hired them. It opens you up to more civil litigation

 

[southerndoc]

How does hiring/firing increase your personal liability?

It's not as much hiring as it is firing or disciplining a paramedic. There are risks, albeit I don't think they're that strong. Most EMS medical directors are not employees of the agency they direct. Therefore, as independent contractors, they can be held liable personally for their actions. This is why it's highly recommended that EMS medical directors carry an EMS specific malpractice policy. NFP offers one (NAEMSP endorses it). I have it and it covers not only malpractice for clinical care I provide in the field, but also malpractice for what the paramedics do, if I teach them something that is incorrect, etc. There is a built-in D&O policy that protects me for the boards that I serve on (regional EMS authority committee, state medical directors committee that determines scope of practice, etc.). I also have a general liability policy in case my actions cause the county's computer networks to go down, I damage their property, etc. It's typical for most businesses, but outside the scope for general medical malpractice insurance. This is why EMS insurance is necessary.

On another note, some states allow medical directors who volunteer to have sovereign immunity. If you volunteer your time, you should check with your state.

 

[shookwell]

It's not as much hiring as it is firing or disciplining a paramedic. There are risks, albeit I don't think they're that strong. Most EMS medical directors are not employees of the agency they direct. Therefore, as independent contractors, they can be held liable personally for their actions. This is why it's highly recommended that EMS medical directors carry an EMS specific malpractice policy. NFP offers one (NAEMSP endorses it). I have it and it covers not only malpractice for clinical care I provide in the field, but also malpractice for what the paramedics do, if I teach them something that is incorrect, etc. There is a built-in D&O policy that protects me for the boards that I serve on (regional EMS authority committee, state medical directors committee that determines scope of practice, etc.). I also have a general liability policy in case my actions cause the county's computer networks to go down, I damage their property, etc. It's typical for most businesses, but outside the scope for general medical malpractice insurance. This is why EMS insurance is necessary.

On another note, some states allow medical directors who volunteer to have sovereign immunity. If you volunteer your time, you should check with your state.

Yes, it is mostly firing people that can get you into civil liability issues. It is best if you are not involved in these decisions.

The only reason I don't buy the NFP insurance is that the municipality I work for has agreed to indemnify me for all liability arising from the medical director position. When I was sued, their legal department defended me, and they would have paid if I had lost the case.

 

[enalli]

On another note, some states allow medical directors who volunteer to have sovereign immunity. If you volunteer your time, you should check with your state.

The only reason I don't buy the NFP insurance is that the municipality I work for has agreed to indemnify me for all liability arising from the medical director position. When I was sued, their legal department defended me, and they would have paid if I had lost the case.

How are these agreements generally worded in contracts?

 

[NYEMMED]

I was offered a EMS director position for my facility which provides coverage for an large county with ~82k calls per year and ~60k transports.
I was offered $900/month does this seem like a reasonable stipend?
-Also how much does the NFP EMS Director insurance cost per month?

 

[EKGdoc]

I was offered a EMS director position for my facility which provides coverage for an large county with ~82k calls per year and ~60k transports.
I was offered $900/month does this seem like a reasonable stipend?
-Also how much does the NFP EMS Director insurance cost per month?

With that volume of calls- $900/month seems insulting. Do u get any protected/administrative time to do the job?

 

[southerndoc]

I was offered a EMS director position for my facility which provides coverage for an large county with ~82k calls per year and ~60k transports.
I was offered $900/month does this seem like a reasonable stipend?
-Also how much does the NFP EMS Director insurance cost per month?

NFP EMS medical director's insurance is about $4k per year if you're a member of the NAEMSP. More if you're not.

Generally figure about $150-200/hour for your time. At $900/month, they should expect at most 6 hours/month of work. If that's what they're expecting, then yes, $900/month is fair. I have a similar volume fire department that doesn't transport and I'm paid $3000 per month.

 

[NYEMMED]

With that volume of calls- $900/month seems insulting. Do u get any protected/administrative time to do the job?

Thats what I thought. No protected time