As a MDS coordinator/ Medicare care manager, what all are you responsible for at your facility? How much do you make? How big is your facility?
I have been in my position two years and it seems the longer I am there, the more the DON piles on me
We have a 80 bed facility w/ an average 10-15 SNF
I do all assessments, careplans and case management
I am responsible for the restorative nursing program and the infection control program. I do all assessments of the patients in the hospital before admit (sometimes traveling up to 40 miles)
There are many more to say the least
I am a LPN and make only 18.00 an hour. I have been in this position 2 years.
Specializes in i.v cert., ltc, hospital, dialysis.
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!
well, being new in MDS is quite overwhelming. Monday: Skin and weights meeting. Tuesday: UR/medicare meeting. 1st wednesday of the month Triple check, Thursday: fall /restraint meeting. Friday: psychotropics meeting. I come to work 7:30 or 8am and leave at 6:30pm or 7pm. I am salaried ...so no over time. 9:00am everyday, Stand up meeting & then proceed with other meetings.There goes the first 4 hours. ...in-services on varied hours and days. 78 bed facility. I do all MDS,PPS,LTc,Careplan meetings Thursdays as well. When I was away for a 3 day seminar, I left everything under the care of the DON as she told me she'll handle it. But, heck... nothing was done. That's why I was cramming when I got back. Then,, friday she told me to make sure all my weekends are open so if somebody calls off and wont go to work. i need to cover the floor. i told her I cant do it coz I basically work 12 hours in a day , no over time pay. She told me, NO, you must make sure you will be available .As she is also making herself available as well as the DSD. Well, not me. Is she going to give me a day off on the weekday after i cover the floor on the weekend? well, no because I have to conduct the daily meeting. Or when Im off, who's gonna do the MDS? I dont want my facility to get a default rate on Medicare while Im away. She does not have any ON CALL nurses on the list. That's why she needs to hire more nurse. I got so frustrated last friday , I just closed the door of my office and cried....Im thinking of resigning already.
Talked to my administrator about my DON's decision but he told me,as a nursing leader, I must be available all the time and support the DON. I frankly verbalized that I am not willing to work on weekends as ON CALL. Im already salaried and I'll be giving more free hours? And how about my days off? So anyway, I left the facility with a heavy heart. I didnt talk to my DON anymore that night.She called me on my celphone but was not able to answer it as my phone was on a silent mode,,,, received a text Saturday morning and she told me that She was able to do 8 BACKLOGS for the MDS that's it. Ok, She can do it ....they dont need me anymore. So Im thinking of quitting monday. Salary? I earn more when I was working on the floor. But Im not afetr the money when I accepted this job. It's the experience. Im leaving not because I cant do the MDS job. Im deciding to leave because I feel like I am being obliged to be ON CALL every weekend starting 5pm friday and ends 6Am Monday every weekend. Im not a robot. I have a family. i have a husband, a 1 year old and a 4 year old that I also need to spend quality time also................
well, being new in MDS is quite overwhelming. Monday: Skin and weights meeting. Tuesday: UR/medicare meeting. 1st wednesday of the month Triple check, Thursday: fall /restraint meeting. Friday: psychotropics meeting. I come to work 7:30 or 8am and leave at 6:30pm or 7pm. I am salaried ...so no over time. 9:00am everyday, Stand up meeting & then proceed with other meetings.There goes the first 4 hours. ...in-services on varied hours and days. 78 bed facility. I do all MDS,PPS,LTc,Careplan meetings Thursdays as well. When I was away for a 3 day seminar, I left everything under the care of the DON as she told me she'll handle it. But, heck... nothing was done. That's why I was cramming when I got back. Then,, friday she told me to make sure all my weekends are open so if somebody calls off and wont go to work. i need to cover the floor. i told her I cant do it coz I basically work 12 hours in a day , no over time pay. She told me, NO, you must make sure you will be available .As she is also making herself available as well as the DSD. Well, not me. Is she going to give me a day off on the weekday after i cover the floor on the weekend? well, no because I have to conduct the daily meeting. Or when Im off, who's gonna do the MDS? I dont want my facility to get a default rate on Medicare while Im away. She does not have any ON CALL nurses on the list. That's why she needs to hire more nurse. I got so frustrated last friday , I just closed the door of my office and cried....Im thinking of resigning already.
Talked to my administrator about my DON's decision but he told me,as a nursing leader, I must be available all the time and support the DON. I frankly verbalized that I am not willing to work on weekends as ON CALL. Im already salaried and I'll be giving more free hours? And how about my days off? So anyway, I left the facility with a heavy heart. I didnt talk to my DON anymore that night.She called me on my celphone but was not able to answer it as my phone was on a silent mode,,,, received a text Saturday morning and she told me that She was able to do 8 BACKLOGS for the MDS that's it. Ok, She can do it ....they dont need me anymore. So Im thinking of quitting monday. Salary? I earn more when I was working on the floor. But Im not afetr the money when I accepted this job. It's the experience. Im leaving not because I cant do the MDS job. Im deciding to leave because I feel like I am being obliged to be ON CALL every weekend starting 5pm friday and ends 6Am Monday every weekend. Im not a robot. I have a family. i have a husband, a 1 year old and a 4 year old that I also need to spend quality time also................
:eek:OMG......I really feel for you! There are LTC Corporations that do not allow MDS Coordinators to do On Call/Work the Floor Nonsense. This facility is using you. Good for you for deciding to leave. This is a Universal problem in the MDS World. Sounds like this facility doesn't care about Reimbursement! You Deserve Better!:)
I'm an LPN, so not the MDS coordinator at my facility, thank goodness - but we are so swamped that it's almost necessary to work 'for free' to keep up on all the paperwork.....and I'm growing tired of it fast. Good thing is that they don't make us work on the floor or on call.
Job duties: resident caseload as of today: 51. Do all MDS' for these, which include approx. 6 pps. All RAP's and careplans for them. Assessments: fall risk, abuse/neglect risk, norton score, pain assessment, elopement risk. Make follow-up appointments for them, schedule x-rays, etc. as needed. Careplan meetings one day a week. Meet with PPS resident/families ongoing through their medicare stay. Assist with admissions, psychotropic consents, fill-out and update care sheets for the CNA's to follow. Put out the ADL and behavior look back sheets.
hhmmm....this is all I can think of right now, off the top of my head.
Hi, Admin and DNS talked to me today. Never wanting to let me go because according to them... I've done more and did my job well comparing to the other MDS they had. ofcourse, I dont do a sloppy job. They gave me a choice to resign or just be on the floor. When I chose to resign, they wouldnt allow me. well,,, our conversation ended as me, having to think about the whole thing this week and they expect me to be there on Monday. I dont want to give them high hopes though . This day was somethin' else.....
b3nch08 - Resign or work the floor? a choice. What if you choose to forget those choices, and stay in the MDS job? Sounds like they don't want to let you go and end up paying for your unemployment. Do you have to train your replacement too? Do you have to give them 2 weeks to find your replacement or go straight to the floor now? just wondering.... Good luck.
b3nch08, I feel for you too. I have almost the same problem only I am not salaried but I am not allowed to have overtime so if i work the floor on the weekend I get days off during the weekdays. I am new to mds. At first i thought i found my dream job but I was wrong. I am so disappointed. I feel unappreciated and being unfairly treated. So now I am thinking of going back to the floor. As a RN supervisor I can go home as soon as my shift is over, i can just give them days that I would like to work, i have the choice to do so unlike mds coordinator who they feel like has an obligation to work on call. It's not just the working on call but a lot of times i feel a lot of people in my facility does not know the importance of this position.
Hi, Admin and DNS talked to me today. Never wanting to let me go because according to them... I've done more and did my job well comparing to the other MDS they had. ofcourse, I dont do a sloppy job. They gave me a choice to resign or just be on the floor. When I chose to resign, they wouldnt allow me. well,,, our conversation ended as me, having to think about the whole thing this week and they expect me to be there on Monday. I dont want to give them high hopes though . This day was somethin' else.....
Sounds like Administrator & DNS thought if they played "Hardball" with you, that you would give in to their demands.....too bad it "Backfired" on them!!!
Many persons in many facilities do NOT know what is involved with scheduling, completing, transmitting, correcting, and printing/filing the MDS. But whose fault is that? And can it be corrected?
Many persons in many facilities do NOT know basic MC skilled coverage criteria, RUGS calculation, PPS assessment scheduling, required termination notification, how to handle appeal requests, etc. But whose fault is that? And can it be corrected?
Yes, the MDS/PPS coordinator position is "important"--as is each and every other person/position. Alot of its "importance" is in knowing what to do, then doing, multiple tasks (many which do NOT require an
RN
or LPN to complete) that no one else knows to do, knows how to do, or wants to do. But whose fault is that? And can it be corrected?
In October 2010, just like in July 1998, October 1998, and January 1999 we will have many many unprepared administrators, DN's, admissions directors, MDS/PPS coordinators, hospital discharge coordinators, and other facility clinical/administrative/secretarial staff. We will have software with "bugs", "bugs" with the RUGS, no hardware or plugs...and facilities will close.
Without education, analysis, cooperation and humor we may have a real mess...
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
We were told today that the MDS and MMQ nurses can't take call because they 'can't do the floor, write in the charts, and then do the billing'. I think it's preposterous since many many MDS nurses work the floor. They just didn't want to help and be part of the team so they made up an excuse. (flame away)
Salary? I earn more when I was working on the floor. But Im not afetr the money when I accepted this job. It's the experience. Im leaving not because I cant do the MDS job. Im deciding to leave because I feel like I am being obliged to be ON CALL every weekend starting 5pm friday and ends 6Am Monday every weekend. Im not a robot. I have a family. i have a husband, a 1 year old and a 4 year old that I also need to spend quality time also................ 
sm101
9 Posts
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!