AMDA Applauds Bill Calling for Public Disclosure of Medical Directors

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 16, 2022
Contact: Ellen Mullally
emullally@paltc.org/410-992-3124

Columbia, MD – AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine congratulates and thanks Reps. Mike Levin (D-CA) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA) for introducing HR 8832, The Nursing Home Disclosure Act. The bill calls for nursing homes to provide information on their medical directors to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The agency would then publish these details on the Care Compare website, where patients and their families could access this critical intelligence.

CMS regulations currently require all nursing homes to have a physician medical director to implement resident care policies and coordinate medical care. However, nursing homes do not have to submit those names to CMS. This would change under the Nursing Home Disclosure Act.

“AMDA has been advocating for a publicly facing national medical director registry for many years, and this bill brings us a step closer to that goal,” said Christopher Laxton, CAE, the Society’s executive director. “We thank Representatives Levin and Fitzpatrick for their leadership in bringing this important legislation forward, and we will work with them to get it passed.”

“The COVID 19 pandemic has highlighted the impact of the medical director on a nursing home's timely response to emerging scientific guidelines and implementation of effective resident care policies,” said Suzanne Gillespie, MD, RD. CMD, president of the AMDA Board of Directors. “The public identification of medical directors of nursing homes is a logical, important step in ensuring the quality of care in America's nursing homes.”

“Nursing facility medical directors are vitally important to ensuring the quality of care that's provided to the residents,” said Karl Steinberg, MD, HMDC, CMD, AMDA’s immediate past president. “Nursing home residents and their families deserve to know who is responsible for implementing resident care policies and coordinating medical care in the facility, and this transparency is long overdue and very welcome.”

A copy of the bill can be found here.

###

AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine is the only medical specialty society representing the community of over 50,000 medical directors, physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other practitioners working in the various post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) settings. Dedicated to defining and improving quality, we advance our mission through timely professional development, evidence-based clinical guidance, and tireless advocacy on behalf of members, patients, families, and staff. Visit www.paltc.org for more information.