AMDA to Meet with MedPAC
AMDA will be meeting with staff of the Medicare Payment Advisory
Commission (MedPAC) this winter to discuss the commission's plans to
explore the development of quality measures for short-stay (SNF)
patients. AMDA will support MedPAC's intentions to evaluate the care
management process to see if a skilled nursing facility follows key
processes. MedPAC's plans were outlined at their September 9, 2004
meeting in a discussion that focused on tools to assess quality in
skilled nursing facilities.
Over the past two years, AMDA has worked with the staff of the
Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and other long term
care providers to revise the State Operations Manual, Guidance to Surveyors
to include a systematic approach to treating such clinical conditions
as urinary incontinence, pressure ulcers, and weight loss. While
nursing home residents and post acute patients have different lengths
of stay and different care goals, they both have many of the same
risks, symptoms, and medical complications. Thus, the care of both
populations requires similar care processes.
AMDA will encourage MedPAC to support efforts to improve care, not only through modification of CMS' survey
and certification inspection process, but through the recognition and promotion of a systematic approach to clinical
care processes that can be evaluated by MedPAC, CMS, and other oversight bodies.
To view the transcript of the discussion on Skilled Nursing Facilities: Assessing Quality, go to www.medpac.gov and follow the link to meetings and transcripts.
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