by Timothy Gieseke, MD, CMD

It’s with great pleasure that CALTCM acknowledges the AHCA “Hero Award” for 2017 for programming in a non-profit facility was awarded last month at their annual meeting to “Chaparral House in Berkeley”.  Their administrator, KJ Page, has been a huge contributor to our continuing education committee as well as faculty at our annual meetings.  See the below announcement about the award for their program.  It’s no coincidence that they also have one of the lowest rates of antipsychotic use in the state.  Come to our annual meeting in 2017 and begin networking with KJ and other administrators in our state.

by Timothy Gieseke MD, CMD

As private pay PA / LTC patients enter the age of value based purchasing, its clear that CMS expects the private system to become fully integrated like the Kaiser Permanente system has become.  CMS is changing our reimbursement system to encourage tighter coordination of care. AMDA's most recent e-newsletter has the latest update on the 30 day readmission measure for SNFs along with a link to the SNF Value Based Purchasing Program.  

by Frank Randolph, MD

I met Jean Brian in 1992 when she was Director of Nursing at Riverside Community Convalescent, a 162 bed SNF in Riverside. When I met her I was immediately impressed by her confidence and positive attitude. She had amassed considerable experience as a nurse in the field of long term care. An LVN by 1974, she worked in various clinical settings including clinics, ERs, and a rehab center. By 1984 she had evolved to Director of Nursing status at a SNF in Palm Springs, learning the ropes from veteran administrator Ann Gaul. Jean was my age, graduating from high school in 1970 in Redlands, finally getting her RN at College of the Desert in 1984. Jean worked in many areas of LTC including home health care and hospice.  She taught nursing care of the elderly to LVN’s and CNA’s for many years. She successfully developed a home health care and hospice program. She has had in excess of 12 years management experience as a director of nursing in skilled nursing and rehabilitation facilities.

As of July 1, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has been requiring more detailed documentation of employee time spent in nursing homes on the job.  This initiative goes by the tasty acronym of PBJ:  Payroll-Based Journal.  Many of us medical directors have been doing this for awhile, but probably just about all of us will be doing it soon.  Nursing homes in California also now require a specific on-site audit annually to ensure that they meet the state-mandated minimum nursing staffing of 3.2 nurse hours per patient day, but this is a separate matter.