August 2019 Newsletter
Blue Skies, Humidity, Hot Sun! Summer is still here!
Monthly Motivator
Your work is to discover your skill and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. Be thankful for the opportunities given to you to make a difference in the world. That's the mark of a true professional.
Fun fact: The month of August was named for Julius Caesar’s adopted nephew Gaius Julius Caesar Octavius, who held the title “Augustus.” He named the month after himself. The “dog days of summer” refer to the weeks between July 3 and August 11 and are named after the Dog Star (Sirius) in the Canis Major constellation. The ancient Greeks blamed Sirius for the hot temperatures, drought, discomfort, and sickness that occurred during the summer. Us Texans have someone to blame now.
We will be running Monday-Thursdays as normal in August. The kids do go back to school though! So for some parents this is a holiday month! We will be closed on Monday September 2nd for Labor Day and will run vans Tuesday through Friday that week.
DiagnosTEX is presenting an Upcoming CEU to kick off the Fall!
September 7, 2019 – Arlington, Texas hosted by Rehab Synergies
SOS – Speak Out for Safety by understanding Signs OR Symptoms
6 hours of TSHA CE credits.
Limited seating!!
TSHA is an approved sponsor for SLP CEU in the state of Texas as well as an ASHA approved CE provider. TSHA and ASHA have a reciprocating agreement, in that they recognize each other’s program of approved hours. You can attend a TSHA approved CEU and receive credit for CE hours that will go towards renewing your license as well as maintenance of your ASHA CCC. ASHA uses “CEU” (1 CEU is equal to 10 TSHA hours) while TSHA uses “hours.” TSHA hours can count towards ASHA requirements, and CCC and ASHA hours can count towards Texas licensure requirements. ASHA requires 30 hours (3.0 CEU’s) every 3 years to renew the Certificate of Clinical Competence (CCC). TSHA hours do not count towards the ASHA ACE award. If you are working to earn ASHA’s Award for Continuing Education Excellence (ACE), then you must list all of your CE hours with ASHA.
Ampcare August courses. Ampcare is local and LIVE in Fort Worth this month
August 3 – Birmingham, AL
10 – Memphis, TN
17 – Phoenix, AZ
23 – Tampa, FL
24 – Miami, FL
30 - Fort Worth, TX
Ampcare, LLC has completed a successful evaluation by Encompass Health. As a result, Ampcare will now be collaborating with Encompass Health at select hospitals to add the Ampcare ESP System to their dysphagia equipment offering, and more patients will be able to receive this new innovative therapy protocol.
Stoma Care and Management, A live webinar will be help on August 6th and 7th. This webinar is of no cost and ASHA CEUs are available. In this one-hour, live interactive webinar, they will walk though stoma care, from surgical formation, to mature stoma complications and functional strategies to incorporate into everyday practice. To register, please visit https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/rt/6106085448104373251
DiagnosTEX add-ons during scheduled stops
I think most of you know that we do our best to accommodate you and include any of your add-ons if we can. Please understand that once we schedule you, we have also scheduled many more facilities in the rest of our day as well. If the patient has an insurance payor source, we may not be able to confirm all the information we need to do the study as an add-on that day for you. We will also only add-on what our scheduled time allows. Having your patients up ready and waiting for us when we arrive will be very helpful. Please understand we have a commitment to other patients as much as we do yours. We will wait no longer than 15 minutes for a patient to be transferred out of bed. If we had to wait 15 minutes for 4 patients in a day, we would be running an hour behind.
Parking - Please speak to your administrators about allowing the DiagnosTEX mobile clinic to park as close to the front door as possible for the convenience of your patients so they do not need to be exposed to any extreme weather, whether it be cold, heat or rain. The safety and comfort of your patients come first!
PDPM and instrumental assessments for dysphagia
PDPM is on its way! Lisa Milliken gave a FB LIVE presentation on July 2, 2019 through the TSHA Medical Committee FB page named TSHA Medical SLP’s. She discussed Medicare Myths and Legends, including PDPM. During follow up questions she stated that “facilities will need clear and objective data to back up their coding and scoring decisions on the MDS. So reports from instrumental swallowing exams will be very helpful, especially soon after admission. CMS has said they will be watching & monitoring for any major changes in service delivery & clinical conditions before & after 10/1. An example is if 30% of the facility residents has Dysphagia & needs a modified textured diet in September, then somehow 50% of the facility suddenly has dysphagia & needs modified diet in October. They would start asking questions.... so instrumental evals to back up the accuracy of dysphagia would be very helpful!”
You can see more of this exchange and the FB Live presentation on the TSHA Medical SLP FB site. Check it out!
Saying Goodbye again!
We are very sad to see Ryan leave, he has been a great addition to the DiagnosTEX team! But we are also happy for him and wish him the very best as he starts PA school! He will have so much to contribute to the healthcare field in this role. Some good news…. Bryant is back working with DTEX, we are excited to have him back! Tell him the same when you see him!
Dysphagia Tidbit - Summer Thickened Slushies
Ingredients:
Thickened Ice 4 cups/32 oz.
Fruit Juice, V8 Splash, Hawaiian Punch etc.. 16 oz.
SimplyThick® EasyMix™ Nectar Consistency Honey Consistency 4 (6g) Nectar Packets OR 4 strokes 4 (12g) Honey Packets OR 8 strokes
- Make 4 cups of Thickened Ice: www.simplythick.com/Ice
- Measure 16oz. of desired beverage into the SimplyThick shaker. Ensure at least 2-3” of head space.
- Dispense appropriate amount of SimplyThick gel into beverage. Shake for 20-30 seconds or until desired consistency is reached.
- Pour thickened beverage into blender and add thickened ice made with SimplyThick. Blend to slushy consistency. 5 Serve immediately and enjoy. Critical Control Points (CCP):
* Please assess appropriateness for use of straw prior to use.
More recipes can be found at www.simplythick.com