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January
- February - March 2004 Chair |
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Notes from the ChairI am pleased to announce that our section name has been changed from "Subacute Care" to "Long Term Care." The change was approved by the AARC Board of Directors during the AARC International Respiratory Congress in December. Our new section name will increase our recognition and coincide with current federal and state regulation language. I hope to see an increase in membership as well, since some therapists did not identify with the term "subacute care." I am also pleased to announce the 2004 Long-Term Care (LTC) Section committee volunteers:
As you may already know, the AARC is no longer publishing printed
Bulletins for any of the Specialty Sections. Therefore, to receive
your quarterly section Bulletin you must go to the section homepage
at http://www.aarc.org/sections/longtermcare_section/longtermcare.asp.
To receive our monthly E-Newsletters, which feature up-to-the-minute
news and information about the long-term care arena, you must have
a valid e-mail address on file with the AARC. With an e-mail address
on file, you'll also receive a notice when the next Bulletin is posted
on the web site. To enhance communication and get the most out of
your section membership, please update your AARC profile on the AARC
web site to include your e-mail address: http://services.aarc.org/source/security/member-logon.cfm?section=home.
You'll also want to make sure you have subscribed to the Section
E-Mail List. This service is available at no extra cost
to all section members and provides a great way to network with your
fellow long term care practitioners around the country. I look forward to our continued growth and success, which cannot happen without your participation. So, get involved, and get your colleagues in long term respiratory care to join our section, too. |
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Specialty
Practitioner of the Year:
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Melinda Gaylor-Childress Re-Elected LTC Chair-ElectOur current section chair, Melinda Gaylor-Childress, BSEd, RRT, director of training and education at Advanced Lifeline Services, Inc., in Louisville, KY, will continue to serve in that capacity for the next several years. Melinda was re-elected to the chair-elect position during the AARC elections last fall, and thus will succeed herself as chair in 2005. Melinda believes the biggest challenge facing our profession today is "the availability of therapists," and sees recruitment as a top goal for the AARC over the next three years. You can read more about her thoughts on this and other issues at: http://www.aarc.org/member_services/election/gaylor.asp. |
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MDS Minutes: How They're Counted and Who Can Count Themby Melinda Gaylor-Childress, MEd, RRTIn the last issue of the Bulletin, we discussed the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and Section P. I would like to take this opportunity to discuss how minutes are counted, who can count minutes, and provide a sample form based on MDS version 2.0 guidelines that you can modify and use in your skilled nursing facility. First, the minutes of therapy can include setup time as time under the therapist's or therapy assistant's direct supervision. Whether the time spent evaluating the patient is counted depends on whether it is an initial evaluation or an evaluation performed after the course of therapies has begun. The time it takes to perform an initial evaluation and develop the treatment goals and the plan of care for the patient cannot be counted as minutes of therapy received by the patient. However, re-evaluations that are performed once a therapy regimen is underway (such as evaluating goal achievement as part of the therapy session) may be counted as minutes of therapy received. Basically, only the time spent with the resident can be counted. In addition, all therapy services must meet each of the following criteria in order to be coded on the MDS as therapy:
According to information included in the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) and outlined in the MDS 2.0 answer guide, a trained and qualified professional can provide respiratory therapy services. Therefore, if nursing is providing any type of respiratory therapy in your skilled nursing facility, then nursing should also be recording minutes of therapy delivered on Section P of the MDS. This sample form for minutes of therapy delivered can be used to collect respiratory therapy minutes by whoever provides the respiratory therapy services in your facility. This is only a sample, but it can be modified for your needs. I hope you find the form useful. If you have questions, do not hesitate to contact me at melinda.g@alsvents.com. |
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News
from the National Lung Health
by Gretchen Lawrence, RRT, NLHEP liaison to the AARC
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Section ConnectionSpecialty Practitioner of the Year: Submit your 2004 nominations online. Recruit a New Member: Know an AARC member who could benefit from section membership? Direct them to: https://secure.aarc.org/sections/ — It's the easiest way to add section membership to their overall membership package. Section E-Mail List: Start networking with your colleagues via the section E-Mail List, and follow the directions to sign up. Bulletin Deadlines: Winter Issue: December 10; Spring Issue: March 10; Summer Issue: June 10; Fall Issue: September 10. |