Background
Directors of medical institutions play an important role in the evaluation of medical programs. The medical director’s responsibilities include the issues related to the patient satisfaction, quality of care provided, malpractice, medical records, and the strategies of development of a particular medical center. Medical director is also responsible for development and control of medical programs that would correspond to the standards and requirements of the field and to the strategy of the facility created by the executive director. The given paper describes the relationship between the director of a medical program and the evaluator when establishing evaluation criteria and identifying the main evaluation questions.
Functions of a Medical Director
Medical directors play an important role in the design and operation of medical programs, providing a basis for their successful implementation. A medical director is also responsible for equipment issues, quality of nursing care, organization, and interdisciplinary work (Kossaify et al., 2013). According to the research by Goldhamer et al. (2016), medical directors are evaluated based on several characteristics. First of all, the directors were evaluated according to their availability and supportiveness. They were also expected to actively improve the academic programs and articulate a clear vision of medical trainee’s education. They also had to provide a system for feedback concerning their job. Besides, medical director is expected to have developed communication and organizational skills and to deal with documentation effectively. The ability to resolute conflicts and to organize the work of mentors and advisors should also be present. Jones and Fulop (2021) note that the medical director’s responsibilities include diplomatic and translation work. Translation work means that the director works both in the “front” and the “backstage”, being a mediator between the patients and the facility personnel. Diplomatic work means that the director should actively apply communication skills, dealing with different agents and solving the problems through a number of strategies.
Communication with Medical Evaluators
Medical director should be responsible for dealing with documentation, including the documentation concerning medical evaluation. An evaluator can assess the workers’ condition and the medical care that they have received. According to California Labor Code (2016), medical evaluators as well as medical directors are appointed by the administrative director. An evaluator should have enough competence to evaluate the patient’s state and the medical programs. Thus, an evaluator shall pass an examination, to be a certified professional and to have experience in the field of medicine. When evaluation is needed, a medical director should choose an evaluator and assign a three-member panel of qualified doctors. The evaluators should not have any conflict of interests and should not conduct evaluation in more than 10 locations (California Labor Code, 2016). The medical director should review and monitor the process of evaluation.
Program Evaluation
As for the program evaluation, its efficiency should be monitored according to the number of criteria. As Balmer et al. (2020) put it, the evaluation should be, first of all, accurate, adequate, and reliable. Trainees and faculty should share a mutual understanding of the program’s purpose. Thus, some pilot evaluation tools should be used in order to provide the mutual understanding. Second, the program should correspond to a high utility standard, which means that it should serve to the needs of the stakeholders. The scope, timeline, and clarity are expected to correspond the stakeholder’s preferences. A timeline should be set, as it would allow to disseminate the findings that coincide with key decisions. Third, the program should have high integrity, which means an ethical and fair evaluation. Finally, the evaluation should be realistic, cost-effective, and politically viable. Thus, all these steps should be monitored by a medical director in order to ensure the evaluation adequacy.
Ways to Increase the Evaluation’s Efficiency
Some steps can be made by the medical director to increase the program’s evaluation efficiency. First of all, they should apply to the standards of evaluation, which define the integrity of the process and its outcomes (Balmer et al., 2020). Besides, the purpose of evaluation should be clearly set. A medical director can discuss a number of questions with the evaluator, for example, whether the program is consistent with the community needs. It is also important to state the scope of evaluation, for example, ambulatory or educational setting. Feasibility and utility of the program also should be discussed, as they are the key characteristics defining the program’s efficiency. The interests of a wide range of stakeholders should be considered, since they are important for the program development.
The programs also should be evaluated with the consideration of the certain context. According to Gandomkar and Sandrar (2018), the programs evolve, and some tools can be used to assess their efficiency. For example, the CIPP evaluation model helps to identify the stakeholder engagement and evaluation data. Besides, the strategy allows determining the factors facilitating the program.
Summing up, a medical director has a wide scope of responsibilities. They deal with the issues related to medical records, professionalism, quality of care, patient satisfaction, and so on. Evaluation of medical programs is one of the issues that should be considered by the medical director. A medical director can communicate with evaluators in order to increase the evaluation efficiency and to define its scope. Besides, the director can choose evaluators in case of assessment the workers’ condition the medical treatment. Thus, medical directors are associated with the quality of the programs implemented, and this position also implies communication with the evaluator of different programs. Interaction between the medical director and evaluator creates a basis for the development of an efficient medical program.
References
Balmer, D. F., Riddle, J. M., & Simpson, D. (2020). Program Evaluation: Getting Started and Standards. Journal of graduate medical education, 12(3), 345–346. Web.
California Labor Code (2016). California Legislative information. Web.
Jones, L., & Fulop, N. (2021). The role of professional elites in healthcare governance: Exploring the work of the medical director. Social science & medicine, 277. Web.
Gandomkar, R., & Sandars, J. (2018). The importance of context in medical education program evaluation. Medical teacher, 40(1), 106. Web.
Goldhamer, M. E., Baker, K., Cohen, A. P., & Weinstein, D. F. (2016). Evaluating the Evaluators: Implementation of a Multi-Source Evaluation Program for Graduate Medical Education Program Directors. Journal of graduate medical education, 8(4), 592–596. Web.
Kossaify, A., Rasputin, B., & Lahoud, J. C. (2013). The function of a medical director in healthcare institutions: a master or a servant. Health services insights, 6, 105–110. web.
Vassar, Matt & Wheeler, Denna & Davison, Machelle & Franklin, Johnathan. (2010). Program evaluation in medical education: An overview of the utilization-focused approach. Journal of educational evaluation for health professions. Web.