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(l-r) Dr. Leonard Hock, President Elect of FMDA and CMO of Harbor Palliative Care Services and Advanced Illness Management at TrustBridge Health, Dr. Charles Crecelius, Past-President of AMDA, and Chris Laxton, executive director of AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long Term Care Medicine.
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The underlying theme for this year’s FMDA conference, “Best Care Practices in the Geriatrics Continuum
2014” was exceptionally timely:” Future Directions: Transforming Long-Term Care.” More than 250 practitioners with an interest in care for the elderly from throughout the state and more than 20 other states gathered in Orlando, October 16- 18. The 23rd annual event featured an outstanding line-up of experts who presented the best care practices in the field of postacute and long-term care (PA/LTC) medicine.
Dr. Leonard Hock, Jr., DO, MACOI, CMD, FMDA’s Conference Program Chair and President- Elect, felt strongly that the theme of this year’s conference was perfect in light of the rapidly changing healthcare environment. “As long-term medicine transitions into the future, practitioners need to be aware of all the changes heading our way and how to properly prepare for them,” said Dr. Hock who is the Chief Medical Officer for Harbor Palliative Care Services and Advanced Illness Management, two of TrustBridge Health’s affiliated companies.
In anticipation of National Hospice and Palliative Care Month, Thursday, the pre-conference day focused on “Hospice: Complex Illness Management = Advanced Care.” Sessions were held about “History, Regulations, and Compliance,” “Hospice Non-Cancer Diagnosis (Eligibility, Adult Failure to Thrive),” and “Withdrawal of Life Support (e.g., PEG, dialysis, vent, auto-internal cardiac defibrillation. etc.).”
During the afternoon, Rebecca Ferrini, MD, MPH, CMD; Medical Director, Edgemoor, DP SNF, San Diego, CA; and Polly Weaver, BS; Chief of Field Operations, Division of Health Quality Assurance, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration, Tallahassee, and Diane Sanders-Cepeda, DO, CMD, Associate Medical Director of Optum Florida, led a three-hour session about the “Challenges of Caring for Younger Adults in the Long-Term Care Setting: Utilizing the AMDA’s Toolkit.” Dr. Ferrini chaired the AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute Long-Term Care Medicine (AMDA) workgroup that developed the Toolkit.
“Best Care Practices” offered on Friday featured an extraordinary array of high level programming with nationally known speakers covering a wide variety of topics in the areas of geriatrics and PA/LTC. In addition to the main program, the president of AMDA, Leonard Gelman, MD, CMD, presented during the national leaders forum, and also on his topic of expertise, Medicare Billing and Coding. During the national leaders forum, Dr. Gelman was joined by Sharon Clackham, PharmD, President Elect of the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, and Rachel Pryor, Senior Advisor to the U.S. Senate Special Committee on Aging in Washington, DC.
“It’s clear as physicians; we have a responsibility to stay abreast of the changes that are rapidly occurring in healthcare today. This conference has been an ideal way of providing practitioners with the knowledge and skills to properly prepare for health care change. They are going to be better equipped to effectively transition into the future,” added Dr. Hock.
FMDA is the preeminent organization for providing leadership and education for best care practices, evidence-based medicine, regulatory compliance and practice management. FMDA’s goal is to become a model organization by collaborating with related organizations to promote the highest quality of care to patients in the long-term care continuum.
