Moving to extend its reach beyond its traditional membership base of nursing home medical directors, AMDA–The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine announced last week at its annual conference that a new Practice Management Section will serve as a national forum for practitioner-led post-acute and long-term care (PA/LTC) population management.

The society has the opportunity to extend our mission by enhancing the skills and understanding of all clinicians who practice in this unique setting.

The new section will “further broaden our membership to the entire PA/LTC clinical and administrative team, including practice managers, administrators, executives, and more,” said Executive Director Christopher Laxton, CAE.

“As the post-acute and long-term care setting continues to evolve, physician-led practice groups are growing as a way to staff and manage PA/LTC facilities,” he said. “The society can and should serve as a professional home for these practice groups and those providers employed by them. Our members and leaders have the education and experience caring for the frail, clinically complex patients in PA/LTC, and we will be able to assist those in practice groups who may be new to our setting and may not have the same experience and education.”

Historically, AMDA’s members have been primarily nursing home medical directors, but the society changed its name in 2014 and expanded its base to include more practitioners who work in the PA/LTC setting. Last November, AMDA joined with an association of nurses to offer its members deeply discounted memberships, in a move to bring more nurses and other practitioners together.

Any administrative or clinical PA/LTC team member will be able to join the section, including physicians, medical directors, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. The section also plans to reach out to groups that have not had much experience with the organization. “We hope to attract facility administrators and practice managers to the society,” Laxton said.

“With an estimated 15,000 practitioners who spend the bulk of their practice in this care setting, the society has the opportunity to extend our mission by enhancing the skills and understanding of all clinicians who practice in this unique setting,” Laxton said. “This will go well beyond the 5,500-member base we currently serve.”

Both AMDA members and nonmembers have indicated they want practice management resources, Laxton explained. In response, the society’s annual conference has featured a practice management track for the past few years.

AMDA is partnering with the Vision Group, a coalition of PA/LTC physician practices, on the new section. Some specific goals include developing and updating practice management models; helping practices with value-based purchasing and population management strategies; and developing the clinical and regulatory educational programming needed to maintain a high-quality workforce.

Another goal is advocacy. With the new section, AMDA can “take our strength in numbers to Capitol Hill and federal agencies that make important decisions for PA/LTC,” Laxton said. “Practice groups both small and large need to speak with a united voice as our PA/LTC regulatory environment changes, both to preserve their ability to offer providers an attractive reimbursement environment and to ensure that the complex clinical needs of the patients and residents in our setting are met.”

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