Chief of Pulmonary - East Orange, NJ, USA

Duties

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package.  VHA Physician Total Rewards .
Education Debt Reduction Program (Student Loan Repayment):  Learn more .
EDRP Authorized:   This position is eligible for the Education Debt Reduction Program (EDRP), a student loan reimbursement program. To participate in the program, you must meet specific individual eligibility requirements in accordance with VHA Policy 1021 and submit your application within four months of appointment. The final award amount (up to $200,000) and eligibility period (one to five years) is determined by the VHA Education Loan Repayment Services office .  The EDRP Coordinators can be reached at  VISN2EDRPCoordinators@va.gov

Pay:  Competitive salary, annual performance bonus, regular salary increases
Paid Time Off  50-55 days of paid time off per year (26 days of annual leave, 13 days of sick leave, 11 paid Federal holidays per year, and possible 5 days paid absence for CME)
Retirement:  Traditional federal pension (5 years vesting) and federal 401K with up to 5% in contributions by VA
Insurance:  Federal health/vision/dental/term life/long-term care (many federal insurance programs can be carried into retirement)
Licensure:  1 full and unrestricted license from any US State or territory
CME:  Possible $1,000 per year reimbursement (must be full-time with board certification)
Malpractice:  Free liability protection with tail coverage provided
Contract:  No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

Specific Duties:

• Clinically and administratively directs and supervises the pulmonologist and Chief of Respiratory Therapy.
• Technically develops and directs Critical Care and Pulmonary programs for the inpatient veteran population.
• Responsible for ensuring that high quality care is provided consistently in the outpatient setting, on the inpatient unit and within the ICU.
• Responsible for developing, monitoring, and enforcing clinical practice standards, policies and procedures for pulmonologist and RT's.
• Attend Medical Center Committee meetings, which oversees the quality of care and reviews and approves Critical Care and Pulmonary section policies and procedures.
• Administers / participates in the Peer Review process including chart reviews.
• Strengthens and facilitates communication among pulmonary providers, and other Medicine Service supervisors.
• Reviews and monitors clinical privileges of each medical provider in consultation with the provider.
• Recommends disciplinary action for professional staff conduct detrimental to the service and veteran.
• Confirms that all pulmonologist and RT staff maintain hospital privileges or competencies and monitors these functions.
• Responsible for working with the Administrative Officer in the development and implementation of call schedules and weekend coverage and ensuring adequate clinical provider coverage by developing work schedules / tours for pulmonary and RT staff.
• Provide leadership and oversight of provider coding practices for billing purposes.
• Establishes and manages a quality assurance/improvement plan for the Critical Care / Pulmonary / RT Section in coordination with Quality management.
• Ensures appropriate patient access to quality comprehensive inpatient and outpatient services and works directly with the emergency department leadership.
• Monitors all leaves of absences for professional staff members of the Critical Care and Pulmonary section including continuing education, vacation, sick, and emergent annual leave.
• Reviews/resolves patient complaints/grievances and directs modification of the system to diminish and eliminate further complaints/grievances with assistance of the ACOS/Medicine Service.
• Acts as a liaison for Medicine Service involving medical matters with outside organizations including local hospitals, clinics, and other appropriate organizations.
• Responsible for assisting the AO and ACOS with physician/mid-level and other clinical staff recruitment for the Medicine section.
• Helps ensure patient confidentiality and is an advocate for patient rights and responsibilities.
• Performs other health leadership, management, and clinical duties as required.
• Ensure that all pulmonologists are maintaining continuing medical education adequate to keep knowledge and skills current and to maintain licensure and board certifications.
• Utilizes "bed huddle "to interact with Nursing and other services concerning inpatient issues.

Work Schedule:  8:00 am - 4:00 pm, with rotation on-call

Paid Time Off:

• 26 Days paid annual (vacation/personal) leave
• 13 Days paid sick leave each year with no limit on accumulation
• 11 paid Federal holidays per year
• 5 Days paid absence to attend approved CME courses

Insurance:

• Health Insurance : VA employees have an outstanding number of health insurance plans from which to choose (premiums are partially paid by VA) Lifetime Healthcare Insurance options available
• Dental & Vision : Our insurance options also include exceptional vision and dental plans (premiums are partially paid by VA)
• VA employees have the option to use Flexible Spending Accounts , which allow you to use tax-free dollars to pay for medical, dental, and vision care expenses that are not reimbursed by your health insurance plan
• Term life insurance , family, and additional coverage options are available with the cost shared by the Federal Government
• Long-term care insurance is available as an option

Federal Retirement Plan:

• VA employees are covered by the Federal Employees Retirement System (FERS). FERS is a three-tiered retirement plan composed of 1) Social Security benefits, 2) FERS-RAE basic benefits (pension), and 3) Thrift Savings Plan (TSP) which is a 401K-type plan
• How is the pension funded? VA employees automatically contribute 4.4% of their salary each pay period and the VA contributes 8.3% of the employees salary each pay period for a total annual contribution percentage equal to 12.7% of the employees salary
• Similar to the 401(k) savings plans widely available in the private sector, the TSP allows employees to tax defer a portion of their income each year, subject to the requirements of the Internal Revenue Service. For calendar year 2020, employees under the age of 50 may contribute up to $19,500, while those over age 50 are eligible to make catch-up contributions that allow them to defer up to $25,500.
• The Federal Government also provides an automatic basic contribution (1% of salary) and up to 4% of salary in matching contributions , depending on the amount of the employee contribution
• For retired military personnel, these benefits are in addition to full monthly retirement pay or pension
• In addition to FERS, VA provides health care insurance coverage for retired personnel
• Disability Retirement
• Employees are vested in a federal pension after only 5 years service

Pursuant to VHA Directive 1193.01, VHA health care personnel are required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 subject to such accommodations as required by law (i.e., medical, religious, or pregnancy). VHA HCPs do not include remote workers who only infrequently enter VHA locations. If selected, you will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and submit documentation of proof of vaccination before your start date. The agency will provide additional information regarding what information or documentation will be needed and how you can request a legally required accommodation from this requirement using the reasonable accommodation process.