What’s a CMD?

AMDA Board of Directors President 2016-2017 Susan M. Levy, MD, CMD, AGSF, wants patients and their families to start asking their nursing homes and other facilities if their medical director is an AMDA Certified Medical Director (CMD).

“It’s also important for families and patients to ask if their medical director in their facility is a CMD; and I think one of the reasons for that is because it does imply that there’s been some education, training, commitment to this as an important place where patients and families come for services and that you know that you have someone who understands what their role is supposed to be in the setting. That they know that they’re supposed to have someone to fall back in terms of oversight of the medical staff, as well as a physician who really is looking at the clinical policies and procedures in the facility.”

What’s a Certified Medical Director?

A Certified Medical Director (CMD) has gone through specific training and a credentialing program focusing on the importance of clinical and management knowledge specific to long-term care. They are certified by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM), and dedicated to providing quality care to long-term care patients and oversight of the whole team.

Why should long-term care facilities have a CMD?

CMDs are the only medical directors who have gone through an accreditation process to serve in long-term care settings. Studies have shown that quality of care delivered to patients in facilities with a CMD increases by 15%.*
CMDs are required to attend AMDA’s Core Curriculum**, which focuses on 22 important issues and topics in long-term care including: infection control, residents’ rights, working with families, and much more. They must also keep their certification current and have to recertify every six years, ensuring they refresh their knowledge and have access to cutting-edge information and tools.

How can my facility or physician learn about CMDs or the certification program?

Visit www.abplm.org for more information about how to become a CMD. Contact the ABPLM at cmd@amda.com or 410-992-3117.

*See Impact of Medical Director Certification on Nursing Home Quality of Care
Frederick N. Rowland, PhD, MD, CMD, Mick Cowles, BA, MS, Craig Dickstein, BA, MS, Paul R. Katz, MD, CMD