FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 16, 2006

CMS Senior Policy Analyst Karen Schoeneman
Joins Institute for Caregiver Education
Board of Directors

Chambersburg, PA - The Institute for Caregiver Education announced today that Karen Schoeneman has joined the organization’s Board of Directors. Schoeneman’s Board nomination was approved at a vote on Tuesday, January 10th.

“Karen brings with her a wealth of knowledge about the Culture Change movement that has been revolutionizing long term care,” said Institute President Annette Sanders. “Her recent work bringing cultural transformation to the attention of CMS, and helping to make it a priority on their agenda has sped up attention to the movement. She will be an incredible asset to our organization.”

Karen Schoeneman is a senior policy analyst and project officer with the CMS Division of Nursing Homes, which has the responsibility for survey and certification of nursing homes. She led the development of the current long term care survey process, specializing in the quality of life portions of the survey and the quality indicators, and she is lead surveyor trainer for those subjects, having trained over 5000 of the surveyors.

Ms. Schoeneman has been the executive producer for several CMS live satellite broadcasts including shows on activities, the Pioneer Network, a 2-part show on person-centered dementia care, and on pressure ulcer care. She leads or co-leads current CMS contracts to modernize the survey process, to develop an internet repository of clinical standards for the nursing home setting, and to convene expert panels to rewrite the interpretive guidelines for several key regulatory Tags.

Ms. Schoeneman is an expert in culture change and regulatory compliance in nursing homes, and is an active member of the Pioneer Network, as well as a certified Eden Associate. She has provided several presentations on the regulations and culture change for annual meetings of the Pioneer Network, the Eden Alternative, AAHSA, ACHCA, National Ombudsman Conference, and others. She came to CMS (then HCFA) in 1989 as a Presidential Management Intern, after 17 years working in Social Services in long term care settings. Ms. Schoeneman holds a bachelor's in psychology and a master's in public administration, both from Penn State.

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