Medical director stipend

[Dansk2011]

Curious as to the going rate for medical director stipend? I guess it depends on company/hospital but wanting to get a ballpark idea and is that something that is typically negotiable as far as number. Looking primarily for inpatient.

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[DMBandFan86]

Depends on unit number, location

 

[Journey man]

I am curious about this as well. Any thoughts regarding the expected medical director stipend for a 15-20 bed unit in the Northeast or Mid-Atlantic region?
Also, are there any suggestions for trying to project collections for carrying a census of approximately 15 or so patients for a unit as an independent contractor?

 

[Iamnew2]

Curious as to the going rate for medical director stipend? I guess it depends on company/hospital but wanting to get a ballpark idea and is that something that is typically negotiable as far as number. Looking primarily for inpatient.

From non-official numbers, 50-150k plus

 

[Ogliodendrocyte]

Curious to anyone who's done it- what additional responsibilities do you have as med director compared to just clinical care? What admin duties are you charge of?

 

[Iamnew2]

Curious to anyone who's done it- what additional responsibilities do you have as med director compared to just clinical care? What admin duties are you charge of?

Depends - for me it involved setting up a ton of protocols throughout different departments, being part of the executive committee, helping with certifications, teaching/training of staff, policies, credentialing, meetings, utilization review, etc etc. It certainly gets busy and takes up time particularly at a larger institution.

 

[DMBandFan86]

I think it depends where you are working and how big the rehab center is. New / newer hospitals require more admin time initially to get programs set up. It also depends on how your hospital is set up. Technically the program director should do most of the admin stuff, with medical director helping with medical administration. Also depends how good your nursing management is and how well the nurses are trained. A lot can factor in. There are some medical director roles with very little admin burden and others where is could be half your time.

 

[RangerBob]

I think it depends where you are working and how big the rehab center is. New / newer hospitals require more admin time initially to get programs set up. It also depends on how your hospital is set up. Technically the program director should do most of the admin stuff, with medical director helping with medical administration. Also depends how good your nursing management is and how well the nurses are trained. A lot can factor in. There are some medical director roles with very little admin burden and others where is could be half your time.

This.

Also, if it's a stand-alone rehab hospital you'll be much busier as medical director than if you were running a rehab unit with a hospital.

The program director does the vast majority of the work. They're the "CEO."

 

[Iamnew2]

This.

Also, if it's a stand-alone rehab hospital you'll be much busier as medical director than if you were running a rehab unit with a hospital.

The program director does the vast majority of the work. They're the "CEO."

This is the truth. I pretty much run everything on my rehab hospital, minus the executive reports which are done by the CEO.

 

[RangerBob]

This is the truth. I pretty much run everything on my rehab hospital, minus the executive reports which are done by the CEO.

What are you running? You shouldn't be doing more than the CEO.

 

[Iamnew2]

What are you running? You shouldn't be doing more than the CEO.

All the clinical stuff, from talking to the liaisons,approving all patients, doing all the clinical care of patients course, setting protocols for Pharmacy, nursing, therapy, the Medicine staff, training midlevel, overseeing clinical staff, credentialing of staff/providers, compliance, meetings, utilization review, executive board, etc etc. I am not good at all the socializing and stuff so CEO does all that, attends the social stuff, and does all the reports/financial stuff. But I essentially run all the day to day of the hospital.

 

[RangerBob]

All the clinical stuff, from talking to the liaisons,approving all patients, doing all the clinical care of patients course, setting protocols for Pharmacy, nursing, therapy, the Medicine staff, training midlevel, overseeing clinical staff, credentialing of staff/providers, compliance, meetings, utilization review, executive board, etc etc. I am not good at all the socializing and stuff so CEO does all that, attends the social stuff, and does all the reports/financial stuff. But I essentially run all the day to day of the hospital.

Shouldn't all the day-to-day management stuff be up to the CEO/program director and their underlings?

As far as I know, the medical director isn't supposed to oversee any staff aside from physicians (and midlevels if applicable--it's up to you if you want them). I specifically have a "non-management" clause in my contract. So I can complain to the program director if there are staff issues, but I don't manage anyone, which I am thankful for.

 

[Iamnew2]

Shouldn't all the day-to-day management stuff be up to the CEO/program director and their underlings?

As far as I know, the medical director isn't supposed to oversee any staff aside from physicians (and midlevels if applicable--it's up to you if you want them). I specifically have a "non-management" clause in my contract. So I can complain to the program director if there are staff issues, but I don't manage anyone, which I am thankful for.

I think it depends on the hospital. Where I'm at, it's CEO --> me. Hospital wasn't doing well until I got here, and everyone kinda did what they wanted which needless to say didn't work very well. Only reason the hospital is doing well now is because I've taken a very hands on approach. There is no program director.

 

[DMBandFan86]

The CEO is your program director. You have to have someone as a program director.

Sounds like some issues with your unit may have been because of the top level management and organization? I agree with others and am surprised you have to do so much admin work and some of those things could be handled by someone else. But then again as long as you like the work then that is all that matters. Overseeing clinical staff is a big job and hopefully you are getting paid well for it. I leave that to my PD.

I educate and train nurses all the time, but mostly leave it up to nursing management. If I have a specific issue I also mostly bring up to management and expect them to fix. I agree, medical protocols should come from the medical director.

 

[Iamnew2]

The CEO is your program director. You have to have someone as a program director.

Sounds like some issues with your unit may have been because of the top level management and organization? I agree with others and am surprised you have to do so much admin work and some of those things could be handled by someone else. But then again as long as you like the work then that is all that matters. Overseeing clinical staff is a big job and hopefully you are getting paid well for it. I leave that to my PD.

I educate and train nurses all the time, but mostly leave it up to nursing management. If I have a specific issue I also mostly bring up to management and expect them to fix. I agree, medical protocols should come from the medical director.

Well because the CEO is non-clinical if I don't take care of something it simply doesn't get done. This is one of the reasons this hospital was doing so poorly before. I have had to rework pretty much everything. I get paid well however since Im a contractor I don't get bonuses which kinda bugs me. Pretty much all the staff and admin got bonuses because we did so well since I took over.

 

[RangerBob]

Well because the CEO is non-clinical if I don't take care of something it simply doesn't get done. This is one of the reasons this hospital was doing so poorly before. I have had to rework pretty much everything. I get paid well however since Im a contractor I don't get bonuses which kinda bugs me. Pretty much all the staff and admin got bonuses because we did so well since I took over.

I think your hospital may need a new CEO/program director.

If you like the work you're doing and feel you get paid well enough, then I guess it's all moot. You get bragging rights that you turned the hospital around, which is no small feat. You can (and probably should) use that in future negotiations regarding salary/benefits.

 

[Iamnew2]

I think your hospital may need a new CEO/program director.

If you like the work you're doing and feel you get paid well enough, then I guess it's all moot. You get bragging rights that you turned the hospital around, which is no small feat. You can (and probably should) use that in future negotiations regarding salary/benefits.

Oh RangerBob trust me that I will be using all of this massive turn around of the hospital when it comes to renegotiating my stipend in a month or so. It definitely is a lot more work than I expected and anticipated.

 

[j4pac]

I think it depends on the hospital. Where I'm at, it's CEO --> me. Hospital wasn't doing well until I got here, and everyone kinda did what they wanted which needless to say didn't work very well. Only reason the hospital is doing well now is because I've taken a very hands on approach. There is no program director.

Probably because you’re doing the work of about 3 people. I hope you are getting paid really well for that type of investment.

 

[Iamnew2]

Probably because you’re doing the work of about 3 people. I hope you are getting paid really well for that type of investment.

You are probably right. They had a less than ideal medical director before, who was an absolute and utter disaster. Before that they had mostly locums. Then they had a medicine/hospitalist team that they "dually" credentialed as Medicine/rehab that was seeing patients. They have no clue about PM&R stuff so the hospital was a mess and outcomes were needless to say not good, compliance was terrible, the whole thing was a disaster. Of course no one told me any of this prior to me taking the job. There are a lot of strong personalities, with everyone thinking "they know best" attitude, so it's a struggle for sure - I keep telling people, when I give an order, it's not a suggestion! Lol. It's called an order for a reason. Staff is more situated and amenable now but it's been a ton of work. I really can't complain about the pay to be honest, it's multiple times what I was making before and far more than I ever thought I'd ever make. I do think that once I leave at some point in time, the whole thing will collapse again - I have invested more than any other medical director they've ever had. But it would be hard to pull what I'm making here at most other places though so I take the frustration with a grain of salt.

 

[sloh]

All the clinical stuff, from talking to the liaisons,approving all patients, doing all the clinical care of patients course, setting protocols for Pharmacy, nursing, therapy, the Medicine staff, training midlevel, overseeing clinical staff, credentialing of staff/providers, compliance, meetings, utilization review, executive board, etc etc. I am not good at all the socializing and stuff so CEO does all that, attends the social stuff, and does all the reports/financial stuff. But I essentially run all the day to day of the hospital.

This sounds super stressful haha. Do you feel like you’re well compensated for all this?

 

[Iamnew2]

This sounds super stressful haha. Do you feel like you’re well compensated for all this?

Well like everything it has its ups and downs and pros and cons. I only work M-F and don'twork weekends which is rare for input rehab, I can take off when I want, compensation to date has been quite good to be entirely honest between collections, med stipend, guarantee, bonus. In my former practice, I was doing some of the above work (although not as much obviously) - without the compensation that I'm getting now. Since I took over here as med director too, I have also been offered a number of really cool positions too, which come with a very healthy wage, which I don't think would have happened had I not taken this job. So when I'm ready to pull my hair off, I remind myself of my former group and I shudder a little bit and feel better haha!