Some diagnosis-related rehospitalizations have decreased among home healthcare recipients, according to new data, which also reveal improved quality in several areas. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to learn more about how long-term care organizations are using information technology, electronic health records and health information exchanges. Read More »
As promised Feb. 12, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services publicly announced changes to the five-star rating system used on its Nursing Home Compare website Feb. 20. Some organizations representing aging services providers are expressing concerns. Read More »
Newly released data from the National Study of Long-Term Care Providers show where older Americans are living in nursing homes and residential care facilities or receiving home healthcare, hospice care or adult day services. Read More »
One community finds its firefighters performing assistance tasks that should be addressed by caregivers or staff at skilled nursing facilities. Read More »
A skilled nursing facility in a New York hospital has removed bed/chair fall alarm systems to becoming an alarm-free care setting in an innovative program to improve residents' quality of care and quality of life. Read More »
The federal government has produced a free guide to help senior living operators and staff members combat the financial exploitation of residents, which has implications beyond those you might expect. Read More »
The Administration for Community Living of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has published the first federal regulations for the long-term care ombudsman programs in the Federal Register in an effort to improve consistency among state programs. Read More »
You’ll nod in recognition during many scenes in “Still Alice.” The film helps elucidate Alzheimer’s disease for those unfamiliar with it, and it has the potential for longer-term benefits, too. Read More »
This month’s annual meeting of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology featured a keynote by HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell announcing the agency’s plan to increase the adoption of health IT. Read More »
When we think back to what the long-term care industry was like 10 years ago, technological innovation tends not to be top of mind. And yet, suddenly we’re surrounded by it. Adopting new technology, like any new idea, can be hard. The challenge for providers will not just be rolling it out, but also harnessing the power to do what you need to do. In this first article of a three-part series, we’ll look at factors in long-term care that have prompted our use of technology, specifically Electronic Health Records (EHRs), and begin to consider where we are headed as the technology we use continues to evolve.Click here to read more. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will make three main changes to the calculations used for the Nursing Home Compare website beginning with the information publicly reported for February, the agency announced in a Feb. 12 call to providers. Read More »
Two congressmen have reintroduced an act that would require hospitals to notify a patient within a certain period of time after classifying him or her as an inpatient or as an outpatient under observation. Read More »
Credentialing, standards and public policy in the senior living industry were on the agenda when the Assisted Living Federation of America hosted 35 of its state partners this week. Read More »
The Senior Care Pharmacy Coalition says the MAC Transparency Act, if passed, would improve payment transparency within the Medicare prescription drug program. Read More »
