New approaches to wound care using biological dressing, negative pressure wound therapy and other devices are driving the growth of the wound care market, according to market research. Read More »
With the need for states to rein in healthcare budgets, we are seeing a rapid move toward managed long-term care in states across the country. These changes are forcing many LTC providers to adapt to a new healthcare environment. Read More »
Some insurers aren't waiting for the Supreme Court's decision to show how they feel about some of the reforms within the Affordable Care Act. Read More »
Last spring (May 2011), the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) published a report titled, "Medicare Atypical Antipsychotic Drug Claims for Elderly Nursing Home Residents." Here is what medical directors practicing in long-term care had to say about the appropriate prescribing of antipsychotic medications. Read More »
Sexual appetites don’t disappear after age 50, an Australian study concludes. However, seniors in nursing homes often have to sneak around because administrators are concerned about safety risks. Read More »
Sadly, many hospital nurses are depressed according to a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative. Read More »
Cutting-edge organizations that are effectively meeting the challenges of caring for an aging population with acquired brain injuries are implementing strategies that promote good health and quality of life by actively engaging both mind and body. Read More »
Solving the problem of hospital readmissions will take much more than follow-up calls at home. Each link in the care chain has quality improvements to make, say health IT experts at the 2012 LTPAC Health IT Summit. Read More »
With the federal government’s escalating war on healthcare fraud and abuse, long-term care operators are on high alert in their efforts to be compliant in documentation and reporting. A leading educator pounds home the need for documentation and compliance. Read More »
On a hot day in the spring of 2011, a nurse said the building’s temperature could get hot in the summer, sometimes as high as 100 degrees. I remembered that on May days when my room was not cool. Even with a fan some evenings my thermometer read 87 degrees and I was perspiring profusely. Read More »
Georgia Tech’s new lab for senior home health technology will test pilot products designed to help seniors remain independent for longer and to assist them in maintaining chronic conditions at home. Read More »
Genesis HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest long-term care providers, buys Sun Healthcare Group to expand its services, geographic presence and grow business during these uncertain times in the healthcare industry. Read More »
HHS and the Office of Health Reform announced today that customers will get money back from insurers who didn’t meet 80/20 rule. Payors will also have to explain why they didn't meet the mandate. Read More »
The stability in nursing care market fundamentals continues, as occupancy remains essentially flat, according to NIC MAP. In 1Q12, nursing care occupancy was 88.2 percent, which is unchanged from the prior quarter and a 30 basis point decrease in the past year. Read More »
NASL’s Cynthia Morton shares insights on Congressional legislation and CMS innovation projects with attendees at this week’s eHDS User Group meeting. Read More »
However the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the need for additional healthcare workers at all levels will continue to grow. Read More »
It’s been a week of high anxiety for the long-term care industry as anticipation builds for the U.S. Supreme Court’s impending decision on the fate of the Affordable Care Act, expected to come down before the end of the month. Read More »
This past week I was entertained and enlightened at the eHDS User Group meeting. The general session focused on becoming a better, happier and more successful person professionally and personally. Here’s a little of what I took away from that enjoyable hour. Read More »
A basic strategy you should use to grow qualified referrals is targeting physicians for referral development. Consider these recent successes by clients employing this strategy. Read More »
Loneliness is not just a case of being alone. Findings from a University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) study show how loneliness can negatively impact the health of seniors. Read More »
While not every prospective adverse event can be mapped out with anticipated responses and scenarios, there are steps owners and providers can take, especially in the first 24 hours after a serious event, to better protect residents, their families and employees. Read More »
A study shows how ApoE4 can unleash an excess of the protein cyclophilin A into the cardiovascular system, causing inflammation in atherosclerosis and other conditions. The study also found that ApoE4 makes it more likely for cyclophilin A to accumulate in cells that help maintain the blood-brain barrier, reducing blood to the brain and allowing toxic substances to infiltrate. Read More »
While hospitalization affects any patient with Alzheimer’s disease, those who suffer delirium are at a greater risk for adverse events, which may lead to nursing home admission, cognitive decline or death. Read More »
Consumer empowerment is on the rise, and HIT leaders explain why the LTPAC industry is looking with new eyes at another potential data source for electronic health records: the residents themselves. Read More »
In community life, physical spaces help or hinder communication. Room configurations have a definite impact on how people communicate and interact within that space. Read More »
Making the claims processing more efficient, leads to savings and allows physicians to spend more time on patient care and less on payment reconciliations. Read More »
Today’s morning sessions at the LTPAC HIT Summit included the “Roadmap for 2012-2014” and the meaningful use keynote by Deputy National Coordinator for Programs and Policy Judy Murphy, RN. Both share how far we’ve come in the last two years, and how much further we need to go. Read More »
Another leading federal health insurance regulator takes industry knowledge and expertise to private health insurer. Does he know something about SCOTUS we don't? Read More »
Throughout the country, select organizations have received CMS Innovation awards for projects that aim to improve healthcare and access to people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs. Read More »
