Salary and responsibility of MDS coordinator/ Medicare case manager

Catching up....

CCMermaid, we usually agree, but when you wrote "can't even sign the R2b." it offended me a bit. I know I'm not an RN and can't sign the R2b (yet....220 days until graduation!!) but I work in a 139 bed facility, do all of the MDS'....Medicare, Medicaid, HMO, quarterly, annual, significant change.....write ALL of the nursing care plans, work the RAPs, run PPS, set ARDs, get HMO updates/auths, get Medicare D prior auths/ appeals, run care plan meetings....etc. I may not be an RN, but I contribute a heck of a lot to my facility. My boss signs the R2b.....but I capture the money-making events!! Anyway, I wouldn't have blinked if you'd left out the word "even".....

PS....not close to 78 grand, but as an LPN in PA I make $40,000 doing MDS...and our cost of living is pretty low up here near Lake Erie, so I do ok. Plus, the flexibility while in school is really nice!!

I am a male nurse, LPN working in LTC. I have only been a nurse for 2 years, and a position opened up at my facility, I applied and was promoted. I am the nurse manager. Job duties include MDS for 47 Residents. Out of that population 20 are usually medicare. Updating the care plans. My biggest battle. I can never seem to get the care plans updated when they should be. But how does one find time. Not only do I have the MDS, and Medicare to handle, but I also function as the asst to the DON, am the Infection control Nurse, Direct Quality Assurance, Weekly AT-Risk meetings, Weekly Care Conferences, Implementing new policies and procedures, Supervising all the nursing staff, covering the floor when needed for call-in's, maintaing and updating employee health files, and running daily staffing reports, and scheduling for both the nurses, and CNA's. Now this is only what I can think of this morning, by looking across my desk and the numerous binders, and paper piles that have accumulated. When I started at the facility as a floor nurse, I made 13.50/hr, and this position raised me to 17.17, however I don't accrue the OT I used to on the floor, and often put in 50-60 hour work weeks. People have told me I shouldn't complain because it's not often a LPN gets a job like this. Maybe that is so. But I feel I am forever going to be held back because I chose to simply be a LPN. I am lucky that I work at a facility that treats their nurses alike, however each day I am getting more and more tasks, and my care plans are so far behind, I don't even know where to start. THe DON has offered to help me, but when she does, I end up having to go and correct them all because she does not do them right. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to manage all these tasks, and get it all done? Any help would be appreciated.

Hello ladies, I too am from Upstate NY, make 28 bucks an hour, and am the lowest paid RN in the building. I take on call every 5th week, pulled to do supervision if they are short, becasue of salary, am paid nothing extra. I am dragged into all the meetings, and given chores as seen fit at them. I do all PPS MDS's, RAPS, run medicare meeting, rehab meeting and do Managed care of all payment scources, speaking to the familys when they are going to be cut funding.

Im also one of the first people to get the team work lecture if another part of nursing is not running right, and expected to help fix it, yet no team work is ever given to me when I am running around crazy for a deadline. I do not have to push a med cart, and have to say at that I would draw a line. My knees are so arthritic, that if I pushed the med cart for 8 hours, I would need 16 to recover...(am getting old and not very graceful)
I do wish I worked in a place that recognized my importance to bring in the bucks, just the importance of what I do. and sure wish I made 78 grand (am very jealouse) LOL

After reading some of your replies, I guess I'm pretty lucky, and believe me, I have bad days, too! Our facility has 183 beds and 4 RNACs- 1 full-time Medicare, and 3 part time long-term caseload, one for each of the 3 units. I'm one of the LT RNACs. I'm supposed to work 32 hours a week, but it's been so crazy with the Medicare caseload, that we've had to work 40+ hours to help with that. We schedule and complete the ENTIRE MDS, all the sections, the RAPs, and care plans. We conduct the case conferences weekly, and meet weekly with the restorative nurse to screen residents for changes and evaluate their restorative programs. We provide weekly updates to all discipines and management on the QM/QI. And we do all the cut notices (my least favorite part of the job). We also provide routine eduacation to the CNAs on all shifts on Caretracker documentation. There are several other meetings here and there. Here is where I know I am very fortunate- except for helping the residents with meals if staff is very short or can't get in due to bad weather, we are never called to work the floor, be on call, or do supervisory coverage. My hours are very flexible, as long as I meet all my requirements and required number of hours. I'm at $23.45/hr, though our next paycheck will reflect a raise.

where i live, doing mds's for as long as i have, still don't make your kind of money. area pay rate study shows... i am over-worked and under paid. still, i love the job i do, am good at it, am able to capture all the same stuff as mentioned above. our case mix has gone up for the end of this quarter, also. all i can say is... re-educate your staff on the importance of adl scoring, part b therapy, restorative programs marked properly, document, document document!