The corporate medical director.

Long-term care is in a period of significant transition driven partially by more knowledgeable and demanding consumers, a national focus on controlling health care costs, and by the rising acuity level of today's nursing facility patients. It is the rising patient acuity level and the increasing array of healthcare services they require that is creating a demand for more physician involvement and supervision. Similar to the acute care industry, there are now many large long-term care provider corporations recognizing the need for physician involvement at the senior-management level. This article reviews the justification for, the attributes, and the responsibilities of the long-term care corporate medical director.