Medical Direction

Medical Director Checklist

All agencies licensed in the Commonwealth of Kentucky must have a medical director. Medical directors shall function under terms of employment or a contractual agreement that specifically address the responsibilities of the medical director and the employer or the contractor responsibilities for the following topics:

1. Establishing medical protocols and standing orders for communications and patient care personnel
2. Serving as a liaison with the local medical community
3. Interacting with regional, state, and local EMS authorities on issues relating to EMS standards, needs and requirements and the optimization of resource utilization
4. Maintaining continuing education appropriate for the EMS medical director, administrative staff, communication and patient care personnel
5. Restricting or limiting patient care functions of staff
6. Establishing patient destination policies
7. Establishing initial qualification of personnel involved in patient care and dispatch
8. Developing, implementing, and maintaining a quality improvement program for continuous system and patient care improvement

Please submit one of the following documents:

• Copy of Agreement between Agency and Medical Director (Financial Information may be redacted) meeting the items listed above.
• Copy of Job Description meeting the items above.
• Signed statment from Medical Director stating that they will meet all regulatory requirements as listed in 202 KAR 7:801 Section 2.

 

Basic Life Support (BLS) Medical Director Requirements

• Hold a current, unrestricted license to practice medicine in Kentucky
• Have knowledge of EMS laws and administrative regulations in Kentucky

and

• Be board certified in Emergency Medicine by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Association of Physician Specialists

OR, hold current provider certifications in

• Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS), Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS), or Pre-Hospital Trauma Life Support (PHTLS)
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (AHA or ASHI)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) or Pediatric Education Pre-Hospital Providers (PEPP)

Advanced Life Support (ALS) Medical Director Requirements

• Hold a current, unrestricted license to practice medicine in Kentucky
• Have knowledge of EMS laws and administrative regulations in Kentucky

and

• Be board certified in Emergency Medicine by the American Board of Medical Specialties or the American Association of Physician Specialists

OR, hold current provider certifications in

• Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS)
• Advanced Cardiac Life Support (AHA or ASHI)
• Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS) or Pediatric Education Pre-Hospital Providers (PEPP)

In order to change the medical director for a service, or to complete any other applications in the KEMSIS system, you must complete an application.

Go to the KEMSIS Logon from the KBEMS website. It is located in the upper right hand corner of the website.

Logon to your KEMSIS Account

Once you have logged in, select "Applications" from the left side navigation area.

1.)Click on the drop-down box next to Available for: and choose the agency for which you wish to submit an application.

2.)Click the Go Button to show available applications for that agency.

3.) Choose the appropriate application.

NOTE: If you have previously started an application, but have not finished it, you may scroll down and find the application you started and look for the Continue button, or you can click Continue on the left side of the page (under Applications)

Once you have selected the application you wish to apply for, you will be taken to a sceen where you will officially "Start" the application. Push the "Start" button to begin the application.

At the end of every application will be a signature section. In order to electronically sign the document, enter your username and password. It will be the same username and password you used to sign onto KEMSIS.

Then click "Save and Submit".

Note: If you only 'Save' the document, it does not get submitted to KBEMS, but just stays inactive in your account.

Once you have submitted an application you can check on the status of the application as well as see a copy of the application you submitted.

You may click the small .pdf icon under each application to see the application that you submitted.

Status Information:

Incomplete: The application is missing some information or payment. The application has NOT been submitted to the KBEMS office if it is in this status.

Pending Review: All information has been submitted and payment has been made (if required). This application is in queue in the KBEMS office.

Information Requested: The KBEMS office requires additional information from the applicant. Please check your email for more information. The KBEMS office will not process the application until the required documentation or information has been provided.

Legal Review: Application is being reviewed by the KBEMS legal team.

Director Review: The KBEMS staff have elevated your application for further review by a Director. This is a normal process in processing applications. An example of why this would happen is to verify an out of state Paramedic course meets Kentucky requirements.

Issued: This is a terminal status of every application. This means that KBEMS has processed the application to completion. You should have a confirmation email or be able to access the information you need from your KEMSIS account.

Archived: Applications that have became stale in the KBEMS system are moved to Archived. They are available to be reactivated, however, there is currently no action on them.

If the application requires payment, go to the "Checkout" tab. It is located on the left navigation area of KEMSIS.

Put a checkbox in every application you wish to pay for in this transaction.

Once you have selected all applications you wish to pay for, select "Pay Now".

Insert all payment details in the payment screen.

At the bottom of the payment screen, push the "Submit Transaction" button.

Return to KEMSIS Navigation

A physician applying to become a medical director may request a waiver for up to twelve (12) months from the date the physician is approved by the board to acquire necessary certifications.

In order to obtain a waiver, the medical director or agency director must submit a letter to the Board of EMS with the specific items for which they would like to request a waiver.

Once submitting a waiver request to the Board, you will receive notification that the waiver request was approved.

A physician operating under a one (1) year waiver may request an additional one (1) year extension at which time the KBEMS office shall assign a staff member to work with the EMS medical director to locate any training needed to obtain missing credentials or to work with the provider to find an alternate EMS medical director who meets the requirements of this administrative regulation.

Please contact KBEMS with any questions at kbems@kctcs.edu or at 859-256-3565.

The Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure provides an online verification system for physicians licensed in the Commonwealth.

Kentucky Physician Verification of Licensure

The following information is available on medical and osteopathic physicians with a Kentucky license:

• Name
• Address
• Phone
• License Number
• Status
• Expiration
• Practice County
• Specialty
• Type of Practice
• Year Licensed in KY
• Medical School
• Year Graduated
• Board Action

The physician profile provides a link to Orders relating to current Board actions taken against a physician's license.

Previous actions taken by the Board can also be obtained by submitting a written requests pursuant to Chapter 61 of the Kentucky Opens Records Law directly to the Board. The request can be mailed to:

Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure

310 Whittington Parkway, Suite 1B

Louisville, Kentucky 40222

Attention: Bertha Wallen, or fax to 502/429-7118 or email bertha.wallen@ky.gov.

Please note that you may be invoiced for the duplication of the records.

It should be noted that information on a pending investigation relating to a grievance against a licensee is not publicly available.

 

In March of 2012, FEMA distributed a Handbook for EMS Medical Directors. It has pages of resources and information for EMS Medical Directors and is a great resource for EMS Directors as Leaders as well.

Handbook for EMS Medical Directors - FEMA 2012