Ohio Directors of Nursing Administration in Long Term Care (ODONA/LTC)

President's Letter - December 2009

Health care reform, combining of and new interpretive guidelines for F-Tags, pre-authorization for payment of medications coupled with Medicare Part-D formularies that change every month, the DEA’s crackdown on long term care pharmacies and the interpretation of laws that we have been working under for years now that could result in long term care nurses and physicians not being able to adequately providing pain management to our elderly populations in a timely manner without major changes in the way orders have been written for the past decade, bundling of Medicaid services that hopefully will not negatively impact the care facilities now provide to our aging population, WOW, the powers that be sure have been busy keeping the industry on its toes. I have a feeling this is just the beginning folks. Couple this with the economic crisis we have been and are still experiencing with all the cutbacks and layoffs in health care as well as other factions of society, that impact census and staffing demands and the increased acuity coming to long term care facilities from the acute care setting due to cutbacks and layoffs in that area, sometimes I just feel like throwing my hands in the air and saying that’s it I’m done. But then, thank the powers that be for provider organizations and support organizations such as ODONA, that help us all put things into perspective, realize that our industry has been through major changes before and that stick-togetherness, education, networking, and support will serve us well in this epoch of change also.

ODONA also is experiencing change. It is increasingly difficult for individuals to get out of facilities to participate in support organizations. We as an organization have elected to restructure the format of ODONA from monthly meetings and officers to the board itself being the governing body of the organization. This will allow for more participation from greater numbers of people through fewer scheduled meetings out of facilities and more communication via email and teleconferencing to plan events for example. We are currently reviewing and restructuring our by-laws to reflect this change and will be ready to implement fully by convention 2010.

Speaking of convention, the agenda is set, speakers are lined up ready to go, vendor and sponsor registrations are coming in to the ODONA office and all is looking good for 2010. Our membership is continuing to grow and we appreciate all your support. Call the ODONA toll free number if you have any questions or suggestions and our executive assistant will be glad to help. She by the way is wonderful, doing a great job for the organization and our membership. Look for convention brochures to come out late December 2009 and mark the dates.

It has been an absolutely beautiful summer, cool temperatures at night to promote sleep and low energy bills, and warm mostly dry days for summer activity enjoyment. Here is hoping this trend continues, we have a wonderful autumn and winter. Hope to see you in the spring at convention.

Nancy George RNC
President ODONA/LTC