NewsLine - January 2013 - (Page 24)

continued from previous page Another benefit of utilizing social workers in leadership roles comes down to savings—in the current market, a competitive salary for an MSW is typically lower than that for a registered nurse. A Model That Works In addition to HBTB CEO Sandra Lew, LCSW, and myself, five of our eight team leaders are master’s-prepared social workers. Using these professionals in leadership roles has benefitted the agency in several ways. The pool of qualified, committed professionals to draw from has greatly expanded. The promotion of these professionals has provided our agency with skilled leaders who can serve as role models. However, social work team leaders are just one aspect of our innovative team structure. In 2007, we adopted a transdisciplinary team (TDT) model. Trans—meaning across or beyond—exemplifies our belief that everyone who works in our agency is a “hospice worker.” We work from different perspectives, and offer different skills, but we all share the common goal of providing the highest-quality end-of-life care. (A detailed outline of our TDT model can be found in the September 2011 issue of NewsLine.) The team leader role, once held only by nurses, can now be filled by any qualified member of the team— nurse, social worker, or chaplain. Another structural change in this model is having the team leader supervise all members of the team. This helps ensure that everyone—nurses, social workers, chaplains and hospice aides—is held to the same expectations and is working toward the same results. A single supervisor also contributes to group cohesion and fosters equality among team members. Early on, we assessed our model’s effectiveness and put into place several procedures and structures to bolster it. In addition, our commitment to this model requires us to continually monitor its viability, making adjustments as needed. The Regulatory Considerations Our number-one concern is ensuring that we meet all federal and state regulations. While the Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation (CoPs) and the Community Health Accreditation Program (CHAP— our accrediting body) are very exact about what is required to provide comprehensive care to patients and their families, they are not specific about who should oversee the interdisciplinary team. CoP 418.56 states that “the hospice must designate a RN that is a member of the IDG to provide coordination of care and ensure continuous assessment of each patient’s and family’s needs and implementation of the Interdisciplinary POC.” We accomplish this with the assignment of a primary nurse to each patient admitted for hospice care. Per the CHAP standards, a clinician may be supervised by someone of a different 24 NewsLine https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nhpco/newsline_201109/#/28 https://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/nhpco/newsline_201109/#/28

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NewsLine - January 2013

New Strategic Plan to Guide Us Forward
Highlights From 2012
New NHPCO Website
Meet MLC’s Stellar Plenary Speakers
The Voice of NCHPP
Social Work Leadership—a Resource to be Tapped
My.NHPCO: A Great Resource for SWs
Get the NHPCO Edge (display ad)
How Can I Help Hospice? (display ad)
Compliance Tip
A Special Thanks to Our Guest Authors
Videos Worth Watching
News From NHF

NewsLine - January 2013