What Should Your Medical Director Be Doing?

Outline:

Objectives

Hospice Administrators/Nurses

From Hospice Physicians

From Hospice Medical Directors

HMD Roles

History

History Continued

HMD Competencies

Hospice Physician Compliance History

Hospice Physician Fraud & Abuse

Hospice Physician Fraud & Abuse Continued

What Should Hospice Administrators Want From the HMD

What Should Hospice Physicians Want From Their HMD

What Should HMDs Want for Themselves?

Engagement Points for Physicians in Compliance

Engagement Points for Physicians in Compliance Continued

Dr. Lauren Templeton has been a Physician Consultant with Weatherbee Resources since 2017. As a physician since 2009 and a hospice and palliative medicine physician since 2012, Dr. Templeton began her career in internal medicine, but soon thereafter was drawn to end-of-life care due to its overall philosophy and her passion for ensuring a dignified death for her patients. As a hospice medical director and Hospice Medical Director Certified physician, she is perfectly positioned to assist your hospice physicians with compliance education!

Dr. Templeton currently works in hospice as the medical director for a medium size not-for-profit hospice based in Texas. In this role, she assists with compliance, quality improvement and documentation review. She continues to participate in clinical care managing hospice patients in both the home care and inpatient setting.

Dr. Templeton also serves as associate medical director for the Palliative Care Department at a local medical center, as well as, serving on the foundation board, medical executive committee, and ethics committee for the same facility.

Dr. Templeton’s mission is to help support hospices by educating on the role of the hospice medical director from a regulatory and clinical perspective. She has served as a task force member and item writer for the Hospice Medical Director Certification Board from which she is certified. She continues a robust educational program within her own hospice program and is a regular speaker with the Texas New Mexico Hospice Organization.

Dr. Templeton is an advocate of the hospice benefit and speaks to groups such as the Alzheimer’s Association about hospice care. She currently serves as a member of the NHPCO Regulatory Committee assisting in advocating for hospice providers across the country.

As a Physician Consultant with Weatherbee, Dr. Templeton assists hospice providers and physicians with compliance services as well as:

• Orientation for new medical directors and team physicians.
• Education, coaching, and mentoring for hospice physicians.
•  Consulting on complex issues (e.g., making appropriate coverage determinations; ethical issues; challenging pain and symptom management cases; admission, recertification, and level of care eligibility; etc.).
• Auditing physician and other clinical record documentation (e.g., thoroughness and appropriateness with regard to hospice eligibility; compliance with regulatory requirements; appropriateness with regard to coverage determinations; etc.).
• Re-tooling the interdisciplinary group meeting and related processes.
• Preparing physicians for Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) hearings.
• Providing expert witness testimony in ALJ hearings and other legal matters involving patient eligibility.

Dr. Templeton graduated from Pennsylvania State University with a Bachelor of Arts and received her doctor of osteopathy from Ohio University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2009. She completed a residency in Internal Medicine and is board certified with the American College of Osteopathic Internists. She completed a fellowship in Hospice and Palliative Medicine at Texas Tech University and became board certified in hospice and palliative medicine in 2013. She obtained additional certification with the Hospice Medical Director Certification Board in 2018.

In November 2022, Dr. Templeton earned the designation Fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine (FAAHPM). This is the highest honor that can be bestowed upon a member. The Academy is the professional organization for physicians specializing in hospice and palliative medicine, nurses, and other healthcare providers.

Tommie Farrell is from West Texas and his wife, Karen, and he are raising their four kids in Abilene TX. He has a passion for end-of-life care and has been involved with hospice and palliative medicine for more than 15 yearHe is a hospice physician with Hendrick Hospice in Texas.

Dr. Farrell had training at Harvard’s Palliative Care Education Project. He has participated in hospice and palliative medicine at the state level as a previous president of Texas Academy of Palliative Medicine and is a member currently of the Texas New Mexico Hospice Organization Board. He has been involved with the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine as a former Assistant Editor in Chief and Section Chief for the publication PC-FACs.

Dr. Farrell is currently serving as Board President of the Hospice Medical Director Certification Board.

His favorite part of hospice is direct patient care and visits to the homes of the patient and family.