Carolinas Medical Directors Association

CMDA is a joint collaboration between the North Carolina Medical Directors Association and the South Carolina Medical Directors Association. We are the local professional association of medical directors, attending physicians, and others practicing in the long term care continuum, dedicated to excellence in patient care and providing education, advocacy, information, and professional development to promote the delivery of quality long term care medicine.

We hold local educational and networking meetings several times each year. Normal meeting times are June (Greenville, SC), October (Charlotte, NC), and in March at the annual AMDA meeting. Please see our Upcoming Events link for more detailed information.

Certified Medical Director Program:

The AMDA Certified Medical Director (CMD) in Long Term Care Program was developed by AMDA in 1991, after three years of research and development using surveys, consensus conferences, and experts to define the core skills and knowledge necessary for effective medical direction.

The Certified Medical Director program recognizes the dual clinical and managerial roles of the medical director. Certification requires indicators of competence in clinical medicine and medical management in long term care. The certification process is based on an experiential model that incorporates existing mechanisms such as fellowship programs, board certification, continuing medical education, CMD-approved and AMDA-sponsored courses in medical direction, and other continuing education programs to fulfill certification requirements. Currently, no additional examination or testing is required.

A 2009 study, commissioned by the American Medical Directors Certification Program (AMDCP) and IRB approved, finds that having an AMDA certified medical director (CMD) contributes positively to a nursing home’s quality of care. Analysis of data showed that quality scores represented a 15% improvement in quality for facilities with certified medical directors (CMDs). The study appears in the July 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (JAMDA).

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Of Particular Interest To Us....

The DEA Ruling on Physician's Agent of Record.....

On October 6, 2010 the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) issued a five-page Statement of Policy on the “Role of Authorized Agents in Communicating Controlled Substance Prescriptions to Pharmacies.” The DEA Statement provides an example of a written agreement that would confer authority to an agent to act on behalf of an individual practitioner with regard to controlled substance prescriptions. For More Information....

Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Use in LTC...

A newly issued study from the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) titled "Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Claims for Elderly Nursing Home Residents" calls for provider education on the appropriate prescribing of antipsychotics for nursing home residents. AMDA acknowledges that psychotropic drug use remains a challenge in this setting and continues to make this a priority issue. Currently, the organization has many educational efforts to reduce and even eliminate the inappropriate use of these medications. William Smucker, MD, CMD, a medical director who has assisted with drafting clinical practice guidelines aimed at ensuring appropriate psychotropic use, said, "We have several tools that address this issue, and they all stress evaluation and using these drugs as a last resort when there are no alternatives and only for the shortest amount of time possible."

Specifically, the 2001 IOM report said, “Nursing homes should develop structures and processes that enable and require a more focused and dedicated medical staff responsible for patient care. These organizational structures should include credentialing, peer review, and accountability to the medical director.”