AMDA launches competency benchmarks for LTC physicians

AMDA—Dedicated to Long Term Care Medicine (AMDA) has finalized a set of core competencies for physicians who practice in long-term and post-acute care environments, the organization announced today.

The competencies encompass five key areas: ethical and professional foundation, medical care delivery process, systems, medical knowledge, and personal quality assurance and performance improvement. The two-year project involved a workgroup of 25 long-term care LTC physicians and gathered input from multiple long-term and post-acute care organizations.

The development of the competencies paves the way for new standards in physician training for the LTC setting and the development of tools for LTC facilities to assess the physicians who care for their residents.

“[W]e are excited about moving forward to seek broad support for this work, which includes the development of a training curriculum around the competencies and a mechanism for measuring the efficacy of that training,” said AMDA President Jonathan Evans, MD, CMD, in the organization’s announcement.

AMDA’s set of competencies has gained the support of several prominent organizations in the senior living industry, including the American Academy of Home Care Physicians, the American College of Healthcare Administrators, the American Health Care Association, the American Society of Consultant Pharmacists, the Gerontological Advanced Practice Nurses Association, Leading Age and National Association of Directors of Nursing Administration.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.