by Michael R. Wasserman, M.D., CMD

The 2016 Best Practices Summit and 42nd Annual Meeting were a big success!  Last year, CALTCM released a call for Submissions for the Best Implementation Plans which yielded 17 submissions from across California. Last Friday, the top 5 submissions presented their Best Practice Implementation Plans at the 2016 Best Practices Summit.  Attendance at this event exceeded our expectations.  We are happy to congratulate the winners of the 2016 Best Practices Summit:

The Friday afternoon session of the annual meeting covered the top issues presently identified by CMS in relation to nursing home quality.  We heard the latest information on appropriate use of antipsychotic medications in both the older dementia population and the younger cohort with mental health concerns.  We also got a legal perspective on the importance of informed consent in relation to antipsychotic prescribing.  The importance of reducing readmissions to the hospital was discussed in the context of the OPTIMISTIC program, an innovative demonstration project that encourages the geriatric approach to care.  Finally, polypharmacy and its costly adverse events was presented in the context of "de-prescribing."  The bottom line of the afternoon was that we can deliver better care if we choose our interventions wisely!