T

he second Symposium on Regulatory Issues for Management in Long-Term Care (SORIM LTC), a conference geared to senior decision makers in long-term care, will take place April 26-27, 2007, at the Marriott Waterside Hotel and Marina in Tampa, Florida. The meeting will once again bring attendees together with state and federal officials from the agencies whose regulations directly impact the success or failure of long-term care facilities, says Courtney H. Lyder, ND, GNP, FAAN, the University of Virginia Medical Center Professor of Nursing and Chairman of the Department of Acute and Specialty Care. Dr. Lyder, the SORIM LTC conference chairman, recently spoke with ECPN about the 2007 meeting and how it will build on last year’s success.

       ECPN: Based on your impressions and attendee feedback, how would you rate last year’s SORIM LTC conference?
       Dr. Lyder: Last year’s conference was highly successful. They key is the fact that most of the conference’s speakers are truly in positions to effect change on a regional or national level. What separates this meeting from most meetings is the fact that we have a lot of the people who can truly change the shape of long-term care. Moreover, last year attendees raised issues to CMS officials who, in turn, acted on that information. One of the things brought to our attention was the fact that some states were requiring a test that does not exist—that is, surveyors were asking facilities to do a tissue tolerance test to identify people at high risk for pressure ulcers. Directors of Nursing (DONs) brought it up in an open forum, and CMS immediately enacted confirmation to the states that the test didn’t exist. It was the first time CMS officials had heard about the test, and they were determined to get to the bottom of the issue. That’s a tangible example of the types of issues that participants can bring to the table. It’s discussion leading to action.

       ECPN: What is on the agenda this year’s conference?
       Dr. Lyder: A hot topic will be an update on some of the federal tags released in 2006 as well as those coming out in 2007, including tags F501 [medical director], F323/324 [accidents/supervision], F309 [end-of-life/pain], and F325 [nutrition]. Other topics include the implications of Pay for Performance (P4P) in long-term care, the role of appropriate medications, the role of state agencies in increasing care quality, Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) to drive quality, the ABCs of CMS, and simplifying the survey process.

       ECPN: Are there new features to this year’s conference?
       Dr. Lyder: One of the main requests we heard from last year’s attendees was to have more interaction with their regional officers. So this year we invited regional officers from all eight regions of CMS. It’s important to remember that the agency has both central and regional administration and that our attendees work with the regional offices more often than central administration. So this conference will have dialogue on CMS at the central level as well as information relevant to a particular region.
       Another tangible change based on last year’s attendees requested to have a broader discussion on reimbursement. So we found a person from CMS central administration to talk about reimbursement. The attendees also really liked the facility “comeback” stories, which help facilities learn from each other. Attendees also said they appreciated opportunities to interact with officials, vendors, and other attendees during receptions and breaks, so this year there will be more of those types of opportunities.

       ECPN: What sets this conference apart from others?
       Dr. Lyder: No other conference puts participants in front of the people who will be either writing or interpreting the regulations that affect them on a daily basis. That’s the biggest difference with our conference. Many conferences will have one person from a state and one from CMS, but the majority of our speakers are people in some regulatory capacity.
       The fact that attendees can literally bring issues and have them resolved is unique. Do you know how long it can take you to find the right person to deal with the issue that a state survey said was off? Here, attendees interact with the people who can pick up the phone and say, ‘This is a problem.’ That’s worth the price of admission.

       Editor’s note: For more information on the 2007 SORIM LTC conference, call Kristi Shelly at 800-237-7285, ext. 203, or visit www.SORIMLTC.com.