PMDA Spring Symposium Checks ALL the Boxes
Plan to join PMDA for its fifth annual Spring Symposium, May 10, 2024, in Lancaster at the Wyndham Resort and Convention Center. Our Education Committee has assembled a tremendous line-up of Pennsylvania and national experts ready to share their insights and expertise in this day-long program focused on sharpening your clinical and administrative skill set.
After breakfast and time with our exhibitors, the morning begins with Dr. Rollin Wright, Associate Professor of Medicine, Penn State Health-Hershey Medical Center Division of Geriatric Medicine and her session on “Managing the High-Risk Nursing Home Admission.” Dr. Wright will focus on enhancing transitional care for long-term care residents, particularly around the critical juncture where these individuals require transfer between nursing facilities and emergency departments. Session attendees can expect to come away with a better understanding of the barriers that limit optimal care in this context and acquire skills to improve collaboration between nursing facility providers and emergency department providers.
In “Common Arrhythmias in the Elderly,” presenter Michael Desiderio, MD, Medical Director of Cardiology at UPMC North Central, will help attendees acquire the skills to identify and discriminate between different forms of brady or tachyarrhythmias, understand the most appropriate testing based on each arrythmia, and know when to refer to cardiology/ electrophysiology. Dr. Desiderio holds board certifications in internal medicine, cardiovascular disease, adult echocardiography, nuclear cardiography and cardiac computed tomography. In his current role as medical director, Dr. Desiderio focuses clinical efforts in advanced imaging to bring cardiac diagnostics to rural areas and quality improvement initiatives to improve access and cardiovascular care.
Have you thought about how you plan to encourage and strengthen your practice’s opportunities and pathways for the career development of your CNAs? It’s not too late to let Erin Ulrich, a nurse with more than 20 years of experience across the full spectrum of health care settings, share the importance of personal growth for these pillars PALTC. Their nurturing can lead to the potential expansion of the healthcare workforce. Ms. Ulrich is the Regional Educator overseeing the three Nurse Aide Training Programs UPMC offers in the North Central Region.
After the energizing break with PMDA’s exhibitors, the morning’s educational sessions continue with a deep dive into the “Management of Chronic and Acute Congestive Heart Failure in Nursing Homes,” lead by Dr. Nicole Osevala, Chief of Geriatric Medicine and Medical Director for Penn State Health Post Acute Care Service. Dr. Osevala will review the prevalence and general impact of heart failure in nursing homes and the opportunities to optimize the components of a heart failure management program in SNFs.
Dr. Michael Danielewicz is an Assistant Professor in the Divisions of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University, and he has a keen interest in LGBTQIA+ health and wellbeing. He is the inaugural Director of Pride Care at Jefferson, the first-in-the-nation program dedicated to care to LGBTQIA+ older adults. His session, “Palliative Care Across the Long-Term Care Spectrum” will use case-based learning to review the core concepts of palliative care and to gain knowledge of affirming, competent care practices that promote inclusivity.
The “Long-Term Care Medicine Forum,” an ask the experts panel session featuring Drs. Thomas Lawrence, Nicole Osevala, and David Nace, will close out the morning programming and afford attendees the opportunity to ask ANYTHING! Bring your questions, whether clinical challenges, regulatory issues, administrative issues, or quality improvement, and gain a better understanding and comfort level with managing the wide range of challenges seen in the daily practice of LTC Medicine.
Media coverage of opioid users often oversimplifies, leading to stereotypes. These stereotypes influence our perceptions, especially regarding opioid use for managing pain. “Pain & Prejudice: Chronic Illness & The Opioid Crisis,” presented by Carson Wagner the founder and Director of the ViDS Effects Laboratory, a dedicated research facility for media effects experimentation in the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, will explore ways to reduce the impact such stereotypic depictions have on treatment decision. He will help attendees understand how stereotypes are formed, gain an awareness of their own subconsciously held prejudices, and learn about what the research and theory show can and can’t be done to decrease prejudice in diagnosis and treatments.
“Substance Use Disorder in Older Adults: Navigating Treatment in SAR/LTC Setting,” our second session of the afternoon, features Dr. Jennifer Moyer, a family medicine, geriatric, and addiction medicine physician who spends her clinical time caring for those with substance use disorders in the outpatient, inpatient, and SAR/LTC settings. Her session will review screening guidelines for substance use disorders and boost your understanding of FDA approved medications for substance use disorders.
Learning the signs and symptoms of elder abuse and being familiar with the reporting system are critical to reversing its under-recognition and under-reporting. Join Dr. Nataliya Dementovych, a Medical Director of Geriatrics at Lansdale Jefferson Health and a practicing geriatrician at the Foulkeways at Gwynedd and The Hill at Whitemarsh, as she delves into the types and warning signs of elder abuse, its long-term effects, the reasons for its under-reportage, and the knowledge needed to prevent it.
No PMDA meeting would be complete without a Public Policy Update from the dynamic duo - Dr. David Nace, MD, MPH, CMD, Associate Professor and Chief of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh and an AMDA and PMDA past president and AMDA’s Senior Director of Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships, Alex Bardakh. Learn about the state and national policies on the horizon that will impact your practice and be ready to implement the changes needed to meet new requirements.
Following the afternoon refreshment break with our exhibitors, Dr. Thomas Lawrence will wrap up the day’s education with “Clinical Issues in Nursing Facility – Emergency Department Transitional Care.” Dr. Lawrence, a PMDA past president, is board certified in internal medicine and geriatric medicine and is the System Medical Director of Geriatric Medicine and Long-Term Care for the five hospital Main Line Health System in suburban Philadelphia. His session will focus on managing acute changes in condition using strategies that create a “we got this” safety culture with the collective aim of preventing hospital transfers, treating acute changes in condition in place and proactively identifying residents in risk of hospital transfers/readmissions.
Register today for PMDA’s Spring Symposium. You don’t want to miss the education, networking, cutting edge exhibitors, and camaraderie that have PMDA meetings checking all the boxes!
