Transcript
Medical Directors’ FAQs
Ashley Kirk
Hey, I’m Ashley Kirk.
Ayasha Thomason
And I’m Ayasha Thomason.
Ashley Kirk
And today we’re going to talk about some of the frequently asked questions that the medical directors will have when you present that an ICP nurse practitioner is going to be coming into your facility.
Ayasha Thomason
First of all, the very first question that comes up is, how is this going to affect my billing?
Ashley Kirk
Yeah, a lot of times they’ll say, I think it’s a great idea. I think it’s going to be great for the residents and even better for the staff, but how’s it going to affect me? And so, I mean, let’s just get it out there on the table. It’s not going to affect them differently at all.
Ayasha Thomason
We tell the physicians it will not affect your billing in the least because ICP is a separate practice from the medical director. Anything that we bill is going to be billed under ICP. Anything he bills is going to be billed under his practice. It’s the same thing as if you went to your PCP. They build an office visit, then the next day you go see your cardiologist, they build an office visit.
Ashley Kirk
That kind of works the same way.
Ayasha Thomason
So another question that comes up is, if I’m on call on the weekends and the MP’s, they’re making changes on my residents plan of care, how will I know what’s going on when they call me?
Ashley Kirk
Right and so our nurse practitioners can communicate. They can figure out a system of communication to keep the doctor up to speed as far as what’s going on during the week. A lot of times the physicians like to round with our nurse practitioners when they do come in the facility.
Ayasha Thomason
So the next question we get asked is, how will call work? Because our nurse practitioners are there daily, the call volume is typically reduced within a matter of weeks because they’re there putting out fires, taking care of all the acute and chronic issues that are going on. So the call volume is reduced after hours and on weekends. Then our nurse practitioners will often share call with the Medical Director, often alternating weeks.
Ashley Kirk
So sometimes the doctors want to know, are they going to be responsible for our nurse practitioner?
Ayasha Thomason
Typically, we like them to collaborate with the Medical Directors so that if issues do come up and they need advice from the Medical Director, then, you know, they’re covered as far as supervision and collaboration go.
Ashley Kirk
But the nice thing is that the doctors are not liable for the nurse practitioners. We hold our own malpractice insurance, right?
Ayasha Thomason
Nurse practitioners in all the states that we currently practice in, practice independently. So they hold their own license. They carry their own malpractice insurance, which we provide for them, in addition to whatever other insurance they like to carry on their own.
