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by Jay Luxenberg, MD
Today is March 1, and at the time this article is being written it is uncertain but looking more likely that we will experience the “sequester”- the dreaded across-the-board $85 billion in spending cuts between March 1 and the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. In case you notice a “Mad Max” scenario on your drive home today, with the dissolution of civilization as we have known it, it probably can be attributed to the remarkably dysfunctional legislators who could not work out a compromise that would allow a more logical allocation of cuts rather than this blunderbuss approach. As usual, our fragile elderly patients are likely to suffer disproportionately from such cuts.
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Letter from the Education Committee Chair |
Mira Cantrell, MD
The clock is ticking! Only 66 days until our 2013 Annual Conference!
It is with great pleasure that I am inviting our members and their friends to attend this year’s Annual conference to be held at the Omni hotel in downtown Los Angeles on April 26 and 27.
This year’s topics are of special interest to our members: systems-based approach to quality, safety and efficiency; provision of comprehensive, patient-centered care; effective communication within and across all levels of care, and, to “tickle our participants’ fancy” we take a glance into the future with a presentation on “Hot Topics in LTC”. Speaking about “hot topics,” I think everybody will find the panel discussion on medication reconciliation especially relevant and stimulating, and the panel discussion on “When Hospitalist Meets SNFologist,” will provide a glimpse into the real world of the trials and tribulations we encounter in our daily practice and transition-related issues.
In a word, the overarching theme of this year’s conference will be “How to get things done” – with quality, efficiency, and in line with all current CMS Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement (QAPI) guidelines while working in a successful, coordinated team environment. |
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Is The 5th Vital Sign Valid? |
by Tim Gieseke, MD, CMD
Over the last 15 years, all levels of medicine have emphasized the need for early recognition and appropriate management of pain. One of the mantras of this campaign has been the dogma that only the patient can tell us the severity of their pain. We have supported this construct with efforts to quantify pain severity using a variety of pain assessment tools including: pain thermometers, faces, alphanumeric scales, and qualitative descriptors. Using these tools, our nurses have put a # to this 5th vital sign. This # has also become the key metric on our MARs for the success (or failure) of our interventions to control the identified pain. |
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So you are thinking about a poster? |
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by Rebecca Ferrini, MD
The annual California Association of Long Term Care Medicine conference is a great opportunity to do something new and different—present a POSTER on something your facility has done to improve quality. The following gives you some ideas and some guidelines on submitting, developing. Laying out and presenting a poster at a meeting of your colleagues.
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By Steve Lai, MD and Tim Gieseke, MD, CMD
We are excited about the upcoming annual CALTCM meeting on April 26 and 27, 2013. We believe those of us who work in long-term care have a passion for providing the best care possible to frail patients who often have advanced illnesses. With the annual meeting, it is a wonderful opportunity to nourish oneself by sharing your trials and tribulations with other dedicated, long-term care professionals. One of the best ways to learn best practices is by sharing your innovative work at the annual poster session at the meeting.
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