View from the Trenches: Interview with Dr. Karl Steinberg, President-Elect of AMDA

Dr. Karl Steinberg has been a hospice and nursing home medical director in San Diego County for 25 years. He is president-elect of AMDA — The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine — and vice president of National POLST. Dr. Steinberg is passionate about high-quality advance care planning, geriatric and palliative care, and bioethics.

I recently had a chance to talk with him about AMDA, antibiotic stewardship, and more.

AH: You are the president-elect of AMDA, the country’s preeminent professional organization for physicians who focus their practice on the post-acute and long-term care sector. Can you briefly describe what AMDA is and touch on its history?

KS: AMDA started out as the American Medical Directors Association back in 1977, as an organization representing nursing home medical directors in the AMA and elsewhere, striving for high-quality care for the frail and vulnerable long-term care population.

Over the years, AMDA has expanded its scope to welcome not just medical directors, but other doctors, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and other professionals who practice in skilled nursing facilities — and this is reflected in our name, The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

AH: What are your goals for AMDA as you assume its leadership?

KS: I’ve been involved on the AMDA Board and other leadership positions, including editor-in-chief of our periodical, Caring for the Ages, for decades now. It’s an honor to be stepping into the presidency in 2021, at a time that has really highlighted some of the issues we face in skilled nursing facilities. I want to continue to speak out to improve our care processes in nursing homes, make them as welcoming and homelike as possible while also elevating the medical care that’s provided in our facilities.