Primary Care Mental Health Integration (PCMHI) PSYCHIATRIST (Physician)

The Washington DC VA Medical Center, located within sight of the Nation's Capitol, is the only health care system that specifically provides care to Veterans. Offering tertiary care in a Complexity Level IB hospital, allows ours staff to provide comprehensive primary and specialty care in medicine, surgery, neurology and psychiatry. The medical center has 175 acute care beds, 30 Psychosocial Residential Rehabilitation Treatment beds, and a 20-suite Fisher House. Also, the medical center is home to an adjacent 120-bed Community Living Center which provides Veterans with geriatric long-term care, hospice and palliative care.

VA offers a comprehensive total rewards package.

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 day 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)
Malpractice: Free liability protection with tail coverage provided
Contract: No Physician Employment Contract and no significant restriction on moonlighting

• Collaborates with PCPs and the interdisciplinary PACT to support high quality, effective, and coordinated service delivery at the patient and programmatic levels
• Maintains daily open access slots and encourages same day warm handoffs within PACT
• Completes most individual appointments (e.g., 75%) within 30 minutes
• Utilizes Measurement Based Care (MBC) in accordance with nationally recommended guidelines for PCMHI
• Conducts brief (e.g., 30 minutes or less), functionally-oriented, psychiatric assessments that are targeted to the main reason(s) for referral and less extensive than traditional psychiatric evaluations (consistent with 2014 VHA Memorandum)
• Supports Stepped-Care principles to facilitate "on-time, on target" services to Veterans, matching the intensity of services with the level of clinical need
• Refers Veterans with more severe or complex needs to the appropriate general or specialty mental health program, providing liaison services and/or time-limited care to bridge transitions, if required
• Shares on-call duties as assigned by service line leadership and maintains readiness to assist with psychiatric emergencies that may arise in the primary care setting
• Ensures quality of care by successfully completing the national VA PCMHI Competency Training Program (or approved equivalent) and associated ongoing education modules
• Writes clear, concise notes that are optimized for collaboration within PACT
• Notes document important elements for team collaboration (e.g., MBC, curbside consultation/team care discussion, liaison with specialty care providers) as appropriate
• Clinical documentation and encounter billing procedures are completed appropriately and timely (e.g., within 24 hours)
• Through ongoing consultation, education, and co-management, builds capacity of PACT and PCPs to effectively address mental health needs that can be managed as part of routine primary care, including emphasis on prevention, early identification, and early treatment efforts
• Provides clinical oversight and consultation as a required component of PCMHI Collaborative Care Management (CoCM), dedicating appropriate time each week (one to three hours per care manager) for case discussion, panel review/monitoring, and recommendations for collaborative management with the PCP (e.g., needed laboratory testing, medication adjustment, referral, behavioral intervention, etc.)
• Maintains readiness to assist with urgent/emergent situations that may develop within PCMHI CoCM or other PACT workflow
• Tolerates interruptions, demonstrates flexibility and adaptability, and maintains availability for ad hoc team discussion, curbside consults, or warm hand offs, as needed
• Engages in PACT huddles and meetings to cultivate optimal team functioning and serve as a subject matter expert for psychiatric considerations, biological bases of behavior, and the interplay of mental and medical conditions
• Provides education on mental health and health behavior issues, including medication support updates, practice guidelines, effective patient communication, motivational enhancement, behavior change, etc.
• Works collaboratively with other team members in PCMHI to ensure high quality, effective, Veteran-centered services at the patient and programmatic levels
• Serves on Medical Center or Healthcare System, VISN, and/or National VA committees or task forces, as endorsed by supervisors
• Participates in Psychiatry privileging, educational and peer review activities, in accordance with Psychiatry and medical center policies
• Abides by applicable medical staff bylaws and participates accordingly
• Participates in grand rounds and maintains continuing education
• In academically affiliated settings, supervises psychiatric residents or other allied healthcare students in accordance with training program policies and accrediting agency requirements
• Provides staff and student didactic training and consultation as requested in content areas of scholarly and/or clinical expertise

Work Schedule: Monday - Friday; 8:00am - 4:30pm
Telework: Available
EDRP Authorized: Contact visn5edrpcoordinators@va.gov, the EDRP Coordinator for questions/assistance. Learn more