Portrait of an LTC Medical Director

Yesterday, I received a report summarizing the results of the 2010 AMDA–Dedicated To Long Term Care Medicine (formerly the American Medical Directors Association) membership survey that provides some interesting demographics worth passing along to you. Primarily a physicians’ survey, feedback is also provided by AMDA’s non-physician members, including advance practice nurses, physician assistants, consultants, and administrators.

From the information unearthed by the survey, a profile of today’s long-term care medical director emerges. A majority of respondents (551 or 79%) report spending an average of 6-10 hours per facility as part-time medical directors, while 547 (88%) also serve as attending physicians. Generally, the respondents practice in one or two facilities with an average size of 100 beds. Interestingly, these practitioners average 16.8 years in long-term care practice and, on average, have performed in this capacity for 14.1 years. The majority of respondents are board-certified primarily in Internal Medicine and Family Practice.

As indicated by the graph below, skilled nursing, followed by assisted living and hospice, continue to be primary areas of participation as in years past.

To learn more about the issues, programs, tools, and education, that AMDA offers, visit www.amda.com. If you would like Long-Term Living to provide more coverage on the medical directors’ role in long-term care and the issues that confront them, please contact me at shoban@iadvanceseniorcare.com.

Sandra Hoban

Sandra Hoban was on I Advance Senior Care / Long-Term Living’s editorial staff for 17 years. She is one of the country’s longest-serving senior care journalists. Before joining Long-Term Living, she was a member of the promotions department at Advanstar Communications. In addition to her editorial experience, Sandi has served past roles in print and broadcast advertising as a traffic and talent coordinator.