by Karl Steinberg, MD, CMD

In an unexpected but welcome development, the California Medical Association's House of Delegates, on the recommendation of their Board of Trustees, overwhelmingly approved a resolution at their annual meeting in San Diego in early December that supports the expansion of who can sign POLST orders to include nurse practitioners and physician assistants.  Many states, including Oregon (where the POLST form originated over 20 years ago) already allow non-physician providers to sign POLSTs, and no problems have been identified. CALTCM has supported this position and will be supportive of any legislation that allows this to move forward.  

As a long time Medical Director, I have made a commitment to my facilities to provide a monthly in-service on a topic of their choice.  I’ve found that adult learning is more enjoyable and effective if the subject addresses areas of education important to active clinical problems in the facility.  Because I have 5 facilities, I usually will pick one subject area from my discussions with nursing administration, which seems applicable to most of my facilities.  Since I’m a busy clinician, I need resources and curriculum readily available to meet this commitment in a time efficient way.  Fortunately, the digital age has filled this need.  In a recent issue of the WAVE*, I identified web based materials available from AMDA, AGS, and CALTCM.  In addition, our collaboration with state stakeholder organizations like the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California, California Culture Change (lead organization for California Partnership for Dementia Care), and CAHF (California Association of Health Facilities) has provided access to their educational materials in digital format.

Meet The CALTCM Board of Directors:  

Janice Hoffman, Pharm.D., CGP, FASCP

CALTCM BOD Member

On November 5, 2014 at the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists Annual Meeting Dr. Hoffman received the “Excellence in Geriatric Pharmacy Practice Award” which nationally recognizes the Certified Geriatric Pharmacist (CGP) who fosters the principles of good pharmacy practice, demonstrates excellence in geriatric patient care, and promotes the value and rigorous standards established by Commission for Certification in Geriatric Pharmacy (CCGP.)

CALTCM has joined #GivingTuesday, a first of its kind effort that will harness the collective power of a unique blend of partners—charities, families, businesses and individuals—to transform how people think about, talk about and participate in the giving season. Coinciding with the Thanksgiving Holiday and the kickoff of the holiday shopping season, #GivingTuesday will inspire people to take collaborative action to improve their local communities, give back in better, smarter ways to the charities and causes they support and help create a better world. Taking place December 2, 2014 – the Tuesday after Thanksgiving – #GivingTuesday will harness the power of social media to create a national moment around the holidays dedicated to giving, similar to how Black Friday and Cyber Monday have become days that are, today, synonymous with holiday shopping. 

Seeing an opportunity to channel the generous spirit of the holiday season to inspire action around charitable giving, a group of friends and partners, led by the 92nd Street Y (92Y), came together to find ways to promote and celebrate the great American tradition of giving. Thought leaders in philanthropy, social media and grassroots organizing joined with 92Y to explore what is working in modern philanthropy and how to expand these innovations throughout the philanthropic sector. The concept gained steam, and with the help of the United Nations Foundation and other founding partners, more than 10,000 organizations have joined the movement and are providing creative ways people can embrace #GivingTuesday and collaborate in their giving efforts to create more meaningful results.