Director of Psychiatry

Job Summary

The Director of Psychiatry provides clinical and administrative leadership for psychiatric services across the organization. This role is responsible for overseeing psychiatric providers, ensuring high-quality patient care, and supporting the integration of behavioral health services within the organization's care model.

JOB DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Provide culturally appropriate, creative psychiatric treatment and support for clients.
• Perform psychiatric assessments of potential clients to determine appropriate treatment.
• Prescribe and monitor psychotropic medication for clients, obtain informed consent and provide education regarding lab work, common side effects, expected benefits and potential risks and treatment alternatives as pertains to prescribed medications.
• Collaborate with clinical staff, primary care providers and/or other professionals to discuss treatment planning and progress.
• Maintain detailed, accurate records of direct client services, including psychiatric assessments and medication management in accordance with prudent, generally accepted record-keeping procedures, as defined by Positive Impact and as required by law, grants and contracts.
• Ensure that medical and patient care provided at all PIHC clinics is maintained at the highest levels of excellence and in compliance with applicable laws, regulations and best practices.
• Provide urgent psychiatric evaluations, initial evaluations, and deliver ongoing psychiatric services for patients as appropriate to each patient. This includes comprehensive history, current medications, allergies, pertinent medical and psychiatric history, psychosocial and developmental history, and an appropriate mental status examination.
• Maintain strict confidentiality guidelines regarding all clients, conversations, referrals of work and information, based on PIHC’s policies and procedures.
• Formulation of a diagnostic assessment, treatment plan, disposition and follow up care. This includes rendering diagnosis, ordering and interpreting diagnostic test(s) as appropriate, recommending therapeutic treatment modalities (including medications), providing appropriate patient instruction and/or referrals, monitoring symptoms, progress of treatment, and treatment response as appropriate. Prior medical and/or mental health records from outside providers will be requested as appropriate.
• Responsible for diagnostic clarity and medication management of patients in need of psychiatric medication and/or addiction medication.
• Participates in case conferences and works closely with clinical and non-medical Behavioral Health staff.
• Works to meet benchmarks and achieve productivity sufficient to maintain qualifications for federal and state funding and grant requirements.
• Mets with the Behavioral Director regularly for mutual communication on clinic activities, project status, requirements and compliance.
• Attends community and organization functions/events scheduled throughout the year.
• Completes other duties as requested or assigned.

Clinical Leadership

• Provide clinical oversight for psychiatric services and behavioral health programs.
• Develop, implement, and periodically update standardized clinical protocols for the assessment, diagnosis, and treatment of psychiatric disorders.
• Establish and maintain psychiatric medication management protocols.
• Ensure all psychiatric clinical procedures meet the requirements of state licensing boards, federal laws, and accreditation bodies.
• Ensure delivery of high-quality, evidence-based psychiatric care.
• Provide consultation on complex psychiatric cases.
• Support integration of behavioral health into primary care and other service lines.
• Participate in quality improvement and patient safety initiatives.
• "Provides evidence-based health care coordination and increased communication between patients and healthcare providers as defined by The Patient–Centered Medical Home (PCMH)."

Minimum Qualifications & Experience

• Doctor of Medicine (MD) or Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) from an accredited institution
• Board Certified in Psychiatry
• Licensed to practice medicine in the state of Georgia
• Current, unrestricted license to practice in the State of GA
• DEA registration/Prescriptive authorization
• Minimum 5 years of experience working with chemically dependent/mental health clientele preferred.
• Minimum of two (2) years of leadership or supervisory experience preferred
• Experience in community health, integrated care, or outpatient settings preferred
• Maintain current licensure, as well as current CPR and DEA certification.

Supervisory Responsibilities

• Supervise psychiatrists, psychiatric nurse practitioners, and behavioral health staff
• Conduct performance evaluations and provide ongoing coaching and feedback
• Review and/or lead internal and external audits to measure adherence to established protocols
• Develop corrective action plans (CAPS) and provide appropriate training to psychiatric staff to address identified deficiencies
• Support staff development, training, and continuing education
• Participate in recruitment, interviewing, and onboarding of psychiatric staff
• Address performance concerns and implement corrective action when necessary
• Foster a collaborative, respectful, and team-oriented work environment
• Ensure supervisees understand the whys of protocols and procedures to create a culture of competence and safety

PREFERRED KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, ABILITIES & OTHER APTITUDES (KSAOs)

• Strong clinical and leadership skills
• Acquired knowledge about and work experience with assessing and treating multi-diagnosed individuals (i.e., HIV, Psychiatric Illness, Addiction, and Medical Illness)
• Acquired training, comfort with, and work experience with the use of addiction medications.
• Experience and comfort with conducting staff trainings as it relates to psychiatric medications, differential diagnosis, and addiction medication.
• Knowledge of accreditation requirements relating to psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, recordkeeping, and electronic medical records.
• Knowledge of common safety hazards and precautions sufficient to maintain a safe work environment
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work collaboratively across multidisciplinary teams
• Knowledge of behavioral health regulations and standards
• Experience with electronic health records (EHR)
• Strong problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Program administration, management, delivery, and evaluation
• Needs and risk assessment
• An understanding of crisis management and the ability to deal with life-threatening situations, including the prevention of suicide
• Individual, group, and crisis counseling methods
• Organizational skills and experience with volunteer-based non-profit agencies
• Demonstrated knowledge of issues specific to HIV
• Interpersonal skills and ability to work with a wide variety of people, including staff, volunteers, Board members and community representatives.
• Demonstrate good decision-making in dealing with safety issues and with aggressive and/or intoxicated clients, if required
• Meditation and negotiations
• Conflict resolution
• Effective verbal, written, and listening communication
• Computer technology
• The ability to prepare proposals, reports and policies
• Effective public relations and public speaking
• Research and program development