There are a lot of changes coming up in the next couple of years for the Long Term Care Industry. MDS 3.0 starts this October, QIS survey’s are already in place in some states and will start for the rest within the next 2 years, Electronic Health record requirements are also looming. These changes are causing lots of anxiety for professionals in Long Term Care.
I spoke with one computer programmer that is trying to get ahead of the 3.0 requirements and told him how excited I was for the changes that are coming with the new MDS. He was shocked that I was so pumped up about the changes…he stated that in the 10 states he does business in, I was the first one that he had spoken with that was embracing the changes. He said he gets no less than 10 calls a day from LTC facilities that are in a panic about the new requirements. I gave him my take on what is coming and how it is going to positively impact long term care and he teasingly said I need to go on a promotional tour to ramp everyone up for 3.0.
I have been doing just that within my organization and the facilities I consult for. This new process is the biggest thing to hit Long Term Care in the 24 years I’ve been in this industry. For the first time that I know of, the changes that are present on 3.0 are going to be resident centered and resident driven. I don’t know about everyone else, but this is why I got into LTC. It’s for the residents….not for the pay, not for the glory, but to make a difference in what I do. 3.0 is going to allow all of us to do that. Almost every section of the 3.0 requires some sort of assessment and resident interview. This is so very important for where our industry is now. I know that most of the facilities I deal with have a higher number than ever of Psychiatric residents, because there are just no services out there. One way that I foresee 3.0 having a huge impact is that when the new Quality Indicators/Quality Measures are available, the government will see from the numbers submitted that this area of health care is woefully under-developed. I’m optimistic that this will give LTC the support it needs to provide for those residents or that new programs will be developed because of this.
As a consultant and Corporate Nurse, I also am very excited about the levels of care that 3.0 is going to force facilities to embrace. It is going to force our nursing departments to utilize Critical Thinking and manage not just the disease but the causative factors. This to me is one of the most exciting parts of this change. I know as a Corporate Nurse, I get very frustrated by what often seems like the lack of follow-through in problem conditions. Well, the assessments that come along with 3.0 plus the Care Planning process will require the facility to dig deeper. I think this challenge will be just what our industry needs to move forward into the 21st Century and will raise the standard of care. This will put us in the forefront of media in a positive way instead of the negative light that our industry is sometimes portrayed.
October 1 is getting very close…if you haven’t already attended a training seminar, find one soon. Don’t let the most important changes to our industry sneak up on you and find you unprepared. It’s ok to be nervous….I wouldn’t be telling the truth if I said I wasn’t nervous about parts of the changes to come. But, if you are at least as prepared as you can be, there will be less anxiety come October 1st!
By Michelle Voss. Ms. Voss is an RN with 20 years experience in Long Term Care and is the Director of Clinical Operations for Stein LTC, a Long Term Care management group, where she services facilities in 7 states across the southern United States. With expertise in not only general nursing practices, she also specializes in education, Skilled Nursing services, reimbursement and staff education and motivation to provide that higher level of care we all seek to provide.
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