Our quarterly Long Term Care Council Meeting was held on Wednesday morning, and much to our surprise we had a packed house. Summer vacations and hot weather could not prevent the large turnout of rehab managers all eager to hear two dynamic speakers.
Steven Goldschmidt of SigmaCare shared information about their Electronic Medical Record system being adopted by many facilities. Of particular interest to our group was the new rehab module SigmaCare is developing. This module will integrate nursing and rehab records and statistics with the MDS to track every patient on rehab, provide essential information to the therapists and help in the planning process so essential to ensure reimbursement capture.
This was followed by Robert Heppenheimer, a Nursing Home Administrator and Owner who shared his cutting edge GPS tracking product with the group. The product tags and tracks confused, wandering patients in an effort to avoid alopements and prevent other dangerous situations from occurring. Additionally, it provides a new mobile call bell system which remains with the resident as they move about the facility, tracking their whereabouts and improving their safety in case of falls. The product has wide applications and everyone was very excited about the potential uses.
The two presentations were followed by our group discussion led by Alice Massa, OTR, Director of Rehabilitation at Kings Harbor Health Care Center. Participants shared information about the most recent surveys. There was great interest in discussing the implications and planning for the upcoming MDS and RUGS changes for Medicare due October 1, 2010.
Participants were urged to attend the TR course Rehab Survival Under MDS 3.0 and RUGS IV which will provide an overview of the changes and management strategies to ensure revenue capture under the new programs. Everyone agreed that the meeting provided a lot of important information not found anywhere else. The next meeting is planned for December.
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