MDS nurse needs the help of MDS Care Plan Coordinator to make the patient’s treatment successful. Aside from performing nursing duties, MDS coordinator also performs other tasks in the health care facility. Understand the nature of their job because you can be next in line in becoming a coordinator in your own health care facility.
What is MDS Care Plan Coordinator?
MDS Care Plan Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the records of the patients and make sure that all records stick to that policies set by the state and federal. They work together with other medical and administrative staff in the health care facility to update the records of their patients and handle also the RAI for patients from the start of their admission to discharging them.
Duties of a MDS Care Plan Coordinator
One of the primary duties of MDS Care Plan Coordinator is to assess the patients and offers care plan and ensure that it is the best care that they can give. Part of assessing their patient is preparing the care plan schedule and make sure that they are done in timely manner. They usually decide the overall care plans that are needed by their patient. They prepare, encode and monitor electronically the medial reports of their patients.
Other duties that they need to perform are to work with other staff members and run the care plan assessments and meetings. They also train the medical staff in the proper use of patient information system. And as needed, they too are required to perform nursing duties.
Work Condition of a MDS Care Plan Coordinator
They work in an office and in the health facility all the time. Like the MDS nurse they can be exposed to infectious waste and other diseases because this is part of their work environment. They handle the patient charts and transport these charts if needed. They communicate more often with the patients, residents, medical staff and even government personnel and other agencies.
Educational Requirements of a MDS Care Plan Coordinator
Like a MDS Nurse, MDS Care Plan Coordinator needs to be a registered nurse. Most of the health care institutions require them to have a bachelor’s degree in nursing and addition to it a licensed in practical nursing can be applicable too. Aside from these educational requirements they are required to take the MDS certification and most of their assessments need to be reported to Medicare thus they need to have a vast knowledge on medical procedures and computer skills in encoding the patient’s record to the patient information system.
Occupation and Progress of a MDS Care Plan Coordinator
There is an increasing need not only for MDS nurse but as well as becoming MDS Coordinator. It has been projected that most of health institutions will need more medical staff in the state and one of the person they need are MDS Care Plan Coordinator. It has been noted that in the year 2009 alone the salaries of MDS Coordinator ranges to $18 to $25 per hour. This can increase depending on the experience and number of hours that the nurses rendered to their patients not only in hospitals but also in nursing homes and clinical institutions.
Being a MDS Nurse, entails you more if you do good in your skills and you are well experienced too. MDS Care Plan Coordinator is something that a nurse can become in the future. They too are quite in demand in the medical field today.