Medical Director of Outpatient Psychiatry

Medical Director of Outpatient Psychiatry

The Medical Director of Outpatient Consultation‑Liaison Psychiatry serves as a physician leader overseeing medical aspects of behavioral health services integrated into primary and specialty care clinics at Wellstar Health System. The role collaborates with clinical directors, manages psychiatrists and advanced practice providers, and develops processes to deliver efficient, evidence‑based psychiatric care.

• MD/DO degree
• Licensed psychiatrist with a minimum of 3 years post‑residency experience
• Board‑certification in general psychiatry
• Fellowship training or board‑certification in Consultation‑Liaison Psychiatry

• Review patient referrals to identify psychiatric needs in collaboration with psychologists, masters‑prepared therapists, and integrated behavioral health consultants.
• Provide initial psychiatric evaluations and treatments (in‑person or virtually) for patients referred from primary care and other medical specialties.
• Gather clinical information via multi‑source data, including psychiatric interviews, collateral interviews, screening tools, labs and imaging, and consultations with other members of the healthcare team.
• Render diagnoses to drive evidence‑based treatment decisions.
• Develop, monitor, and modify treatment plans as needed in collaboration with other members of the healthcare team.
• Provide medication management and/or behavioral interventions as appropriate.
• Offer routine and ad‑hoc e‑consultations to adult primary care and specialty care physicians, recommending medication protocols to facilitate psychiatric symptom remission.
• Lead/participate in regular interdisciplinary team meetings and huddles.
• Lead case reviews and consultations with the interdisciplinary healthcare team.
• Provide education and training to adult primary care providers, specialists, and other healthcare professionals.
• Document all patient care activities using Epic.
• Participate in quality improvement activities, including data collection, analysis, and reporting.

• Leader as Collaborator
  • Work as a clinical dyad with psychology directors through the Behavioral Medicine division.
  • Collaborate with the directors of PCBHI, Health Psychology, and ambulatory Psychiatry to ensure clarity of roles and responsibilities.
  • Meet with Behavioral Health Service Line leaders to develop and ensure fidelity to processes that improve patient flow, access, and satisfaction.
  • Collaborate with WMG operational leaders to accomplish program aims.
  • Build effective relationships with clinical leads and medical directors in other service lines.
  • Give presentations at Lunch & Learns and other didactic forums for physicians and APPs regarding first‑line treatments.
  • Work effectively with WMG practice managers and operational leaders.
  • Develop tactics to support the well‑being of direct reports.
  • Provide mentorship to psychiatrists and advanced practice providers.
  • Hold crucial conversations with team members for performance improvement.
• Leader as Creator
  • Design effective workflows to support integrated psychiatric care for the Wellstar Medical Group.
  • Develop patient registries to manage the care of patients with psychiatric illnesses within a primary care setting.
  • Plan fiscal year scaling of consultation‑liaison psychiatry services across all Wellstar submarkets.
• Leader as Competitor
  • Establish service utilization goals.
  • Set goals to measure and improve clinical outcomes.
  • Set annual performance goals related to quality and safety.
  • Set annual productivity goals for outpatient consultation‑liaison psychiatry providers.
  • Disseminate performance updates to BH Service Line leaders monthly.
  • Meet regularly with Wellstar’s Chief Behavioral Health Officer to discuss program performance.
  • Lead recruitment efforts for outpatient consultation‑liaison psychiatrists and APPs.
  • Meet monthly with the Behavioral Health leadership team to establish quality and performance goals.
• Leader as Controller & Monitor
  • Define population parameters for appropriate referral to the consultation‑liaison psychiatry service.
  • Define clear and measurable programmatic aims.
  • Monitor clinical outcomes.
  • Monitor…