Long-Term Caring Insight & strategies for the entire LTC team

CMS Update 

Even with the Medicare Part D drug benefit well under way, organizations are still struggling with various patient issues. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is responding, in part, by providing a list of telephone and e-mail contacts to be used when requesting exceptions to the Part D drug plan formularies.

You can access the list, which is organized by state, at www.cms.hhs.gov/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/04_Formulary.asp

CMS has been working on a Plan Formulary look-up tool that will allow physicians to browse for specific prescription drugs that are covered under each plan. The plan formulary information is contained with the Formulary Finder on www.medicare.gov.

Government-Funded Resource for LTC Product Research 

Researching products for your facility? Check out the Technology for Long-Term Care Web site at www.techforltc.org/ltc.cfm. This free, government-funded site provides information on hundreds of products designed to improve quality of life and care for people in long-term care settings.

Browse products related to care issues including assistance/nurse calls, falls, wandering, incontinence, bathing, medication management, and resident lifts and transfers.

The Technology for Long-Term Care site offers information to inform purchasing decisions; products cannot be purchased through the site.

Residents Prefer Pneumonia Treatment in LTC Setting 

A recent study examined resident and family member perspectives regarding on-site care for pneumonia in long-term care residents. Researchers found that both residents and family members preferred that pneumonia be treated in the nursing home rather than a hospital. Both groups felt that caring and attention are key aspects of medical care, and are more easily accessible in the nursing home setting. However, residents also indicated that staff or doctors should make the decision whether to hospitalize them, whereas family members wanted to be consulted or involved in the decision-making process.

Read the article on the research at www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2318/6/2/abstract.

Did you know …? 

Dr. Gary Applebaum, formerly of Erikson Health Systems and longtime member of AMDA, is joining a crowded race for Maryland's 3rd district seat in the U.S. House of Representatives? According to the Baltimore Business Journal, the seat is open because U.S. Rep. Ben Cardin seeks a U.S. Senate office.

FAST FACT 

Only half of elderly Americans in nursing homes are treated to prevent recurrent strokes.

Source: Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association