On average it receives 30,000 hits per day, 800,000 hits per month, and routinely receives over one million hits in October and March. Content is routinely updated. We are in the process of streamlining prior to the possibility of restructuring the site down the road as we want the site to be as user-friendly as possible.
2) Where did the original idea for AMDA come from?
The American Medical Directors Association (AMDA), was officially chartered in June, 1978, when Dr. James Pattee and Mr. Herman Gruber went to Hilton Head, South Carolina, to swear in Dr. William Dodd as founding president of the organization. Dr. Dodd, a family practitioner based in Macon, Georgia, recognized the need to organize and educate physicians who would fulfill the role of the physician medical director created by federal mandate in 1975. The association stayed in Georgia until 1988, when it moved to Washington, DC, where it could better influence the momentous changes ushered in by the passage of OBRA '87. Indeed, AMDA commented on virtually every regulation stemming from the OBRA '87 legislation. This increased activity in national public policy began a period of membership building that attracted younger primary-care physicians who were becoming increasingly involved in long term care.
3) What can I find at AMDA's website that is unique and special?
Many items:
A) http://www.amda.com/about/
National Day of Recognition for Long Term Care Physicians In 2010, the United States Congress designated March 20th as the National Day of Recognition for Long Term Care Physicians. This initiative started with an AMDA - Dedicated to Long Term Care Medicine House of Delegates resolution from the Georgia Medical Directors Association honoring the memory and work of AMDA founder William Dodd, MD, CMD. Dr. Dodd was a community physician who recognized that residents of nursing homes were patients with complex medical problems and that physicians needed to be involved in establishing the standards of management and clinical care for the frail elderly and other residents in long term care facilities.
B) http://www.amda.com/
The AMDA Certified Medical Director (CMD) in Long Term Care Program was developed by AMDA in 1991, after three years of research and development using surveys, consensus conferences, and experts to define the core skills and knowledge necessary for effective medical direction.
The Certified Medical Director program recognizes the dual clinical and managerial roles of the medical director. Certification requires indicators of competence in clinical medicine and medical management in long term care. The certification process is based on an experiential model that incorporates existing mechanisms such as fellowship programs, board certification, continuing medical education, CMD-approved and AMDA-sponsored courses in medical direction, and other continuing education programs to fulfill certification requirements. Currently, no additional examination or testing is required.
Study Links Certified Medical Director with Improved Nursing Home Quality Columbia, MD - A 2009 study, commissioned by the American Medical Directors Certification Program (AMDCP) and IRB approved, finds that having an AMDA certified medical director (CMD) contributes positively to a nursing home's quality of care. Analysis of data showed that quality scores represented a 15% improvement in quality for facilities with certified medical directors (CMDs). The study appears in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA). Access the article at www.jamda.com/article/
The AMDA CMD program is administered by the American Medical Directors Certification Program (AMDCP), an independent not-for-profit organization. Applications for certification are reviewed by the AMDCP Board of Directors twice each year, in June and December. New AMDA CMDs are recognized at AMDA's annual meeting, Long Term Care Medicine, each year.
C) Clinical Practice Guidelines and Toolkits as care guidelines recognized in the industry http://www.amda.com/tools/
D) AMDA Access Subscription Service
AMDA - Dedicated to Long Term Care Medicine is an individual membership organization. Nursing home administrators, Directors of Nursing, owners, and operators often request additional copies of Caring for the Ages* and other AMDA offerings, such as job postings. Hearing these needs expressed repeatedly, we are presenting the AMDA Access subscription service to meet the needs of the non-member audience. There are three offerings outlined at: http://www.amda.com/resources/
E) http://www.amda.com/advocacy/
This site contains physician payment Information specific to nursing facility services.
2009 CMS Utilization Data Shows the Effect of Coding and Relative Value Unit (RVU) Changes on Payments for Nursing Facility Codes The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the 2009 utilization data that was used for the final rule Medicare Program; Proposed Revisions to Payment Policies Under the Physician Fee Schedule, and Other Part B Payment Policies for Calendar Year 2011. The data shows that while the number of services has increased by 2.1%, the total allowed charges went up nearly 7%. "This is a continued reflection of AMDA's leadership in obtaining new and revised codes and then achieving increased work RVUs," said AMDA Director of Government Affairs Kathleen Wilson, PhD. The new physician work values AMDA achieved for the nursing facility family of codes initially became effective on January 1, 2008.
CMS Issues Corrected Physician Fee Schedule The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a corrected Relative Value Unit (RVU) file for 2011 that incorporates the changes included in the Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010 that was signed into law by President Obama on December 15, 2010. The conversion factor for 2011 will be 33.9764.
F) The latest information on national policy issues affecting the long term care industry.
G) Developments of innovative projects/research/individuals impacting the quality of long term care
H) Over 20+ topics dedicated to helping consumers make informed decisions about long term care settings
I) An extensive selection of educational and informational resources for long term care practitioners
4) What has been the feedback you have received about your site and how do you go about making changes?
Feedback varies. Changes are made in consultation with the department responsible for individual page content.
5) What would you say is the single most asked question you receive at AMDA? How would you answer that?
Questions about the CMD program. We provide background information and refer them to the program coordinator.
6) What is the best piece of advice that you could give to caregivers of seniors?
Do your research but begin by engaging the seniors in the conversation to ensure that their needs/wishes are heard and understood.
7) What would you say is the current state of long-term care medicine in this country? Not only the quality of medicine but the affordability aspects? In particular, how could the potential Medicare cuts affect seniors, nursing homes, long-term care facilities, etc?
Last December, Congress stopped the 25 percent Medicare cut for one year to preserve nursing home resident's access to physician care in 2011. MedPAC has predicted a 29% pay cut for 2012. Projected pay cuts will decrease resident access to physicians and adequate medical care. The current flawed SGR formula, concerned only with meeting a target budget for physician services, must be replaced with viable systems that acknowledge the growing needs of medically complex elders in LTC and the importance of the involved physician who ultimately provides both quality care and fiscal value.
Susan Hanf, MBA
Director of Membership and Communications AMDA - Dedicated to Long Term Care Medicine(tm)
11000 Broken Land Parkway - Suite 400
Columbia, MD 21044
Direct: 410-992-3126
Main: 410-740-9743
Fax: 410-740-4572
shanf@amda.com
www.amda.com
Be sure not to miss AMDA Long Term Care Medicine - 2012!
March 8-11, 2012 in San Antonio, TX
