Since starting my new job a few weeks ago a lot of people
have asked me, “What do you do now?”
That’s not a simple questions to answer so I usually respond with my
title and a joke about how “it’s complicated, but basically I help people with Intellectual
Disabilities get services in the community rather than in institutions.” That’s such a watered down definition of what
I do that I figured I’d take a moment to elaborate here on my blog for the few
people who care about what it is I do…exactly.
To tell you what I do I’ll have to give a little bit of history…
First to help clarify terms the term Intellectually Disabled
is a fairly new term in this field.
Prior to that the term Mentally Retarded was used. Their definition is the same.
Prior to 1981, people in need of long term care services
could only receive Medicaid funding for such services when the services were
provided in an institutional setting such as a nursing home. In October 1981, the Social Security Act was
amended to allow states to choose to offer Medicaid funding for long term care
services when those services are provided in the person's home or
community. This became known as the Home
and Community Based (HCB) Waiver or Medicaid Waiver option. This program saves the government (and tax
payers) money by getting people out of the high cost institutions (nursing
homes and institutional care facilities for the intellectually disabled) and
allows them to live in the community, at home or in group homes.
The state of South Carolina currently has 8 different waiver
programs. 4 are operated by the
Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) through Community Long Term Care
(CLTC). DHHS also administers four
waivers that are operated by the Department of Disabilities and Special Needs
(DDSN), where I now work. My specific
job is the Intellectual Disabilities/Related Disabilities Waiver Program
Coordinator.
Anytime new policies come around from either CMS (Center for
Medicare and Medicaid Services – Federal), or DHHS (state), or the higher ups
at DDSN, it is my job to get the policies implemented through adjusting the
waiver manual that is used by our providers.
Our providers consist of various entities around the state that get paid
to actually do the service coordination.
They meet with the people using the waivers, monitor their needs, and
ensure they get the services they need.
Of course my day to day duties consist of more than updating
a manual. I’m involved in proving to
DHHS and CMS that we are following their standards and ensuring that our providers are following their standards.
I participate in meetings in which various policies are discussed and
changed, and then there are the other various tasks that are assigned by my
supervisor.
In addition to my job as the waiver program coordinator I am
working as the IT liason for my department.
This consists of being a “translator” from IT jargon to common speak :-). I’ve also been given the role of our agency’s
HIPAA Privacy Coordinator which means if anyone in our agency has questions
involving the privacy of protected information they will come to me.
That’s it in a nutshell, for the 2 of you that didn’t fall
asleep. :-) I’ve
learned a lot about my role in just the few weeks I’ve been here and look
forward to continuing on.
For more info on the SC waivers opperated by DDSN and to see the waiver manual you can go here:
