The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is paying apartment owners in nine states to convert their buildings to assisted living units. Read More »
We’ve got high-tech flooring sensors, in-room monitors for falls management and remote home monitoring.. . but wait—did we forget to redesign the stairs? Today's IOM meeting in Washington, D.C., provides a backdrop for good discussions on technology, health space design and mission. Read More »
MedPAC proposes more cuts for 2014, and the skilled nursing industry objects. But the GAO issues a report that can only make the industry’s case more difficult. Read More »
As the resident pay portion in long-term care has increased over the last several years, many facilities are finding it difficult to collect the resident’s entire portion when the resident doesn't have the resources to pay all at once. Here are five key tips for increasing the collection of the resident pay portion, thus reducing the account receivables that end up in collections. Read More »
Safety and security is a matter that every type of LTC facility should take very seriously. Assuming that seniors are immune from the type of violence that was witnessed at Sandy Hook Elementary School is a mistake. Read More »
Creating a detailed emergency response plan—and keeping it updated—is crucial to safeguarding your organization’s residents, staff and property. These disaster planning checklists can help you manage risk and keep your staff ready for anything. Read More »
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) is continuing its aggressive efforts to identify fraud among healthcare providers. In October, the OIG released its 2013 work plan, which outlines the audit and enforcement initiatives for Medicare and Medicaid providers in the coming year. Let's take a look at the Nursing Homes section of the work plan. Read More »
Flu season demands greater attention to cleaning. “High-touch” surfaces require particularly close attention. Daily housekeeping in LTC facilities should include not only obvious reservoirs of micro-organisms such bathrooms and linens, but all horizontal and high-touch surfaces outside resident rooms and other care areas. Read More »
The status quo never inspired innovation. Dr. Tellis-Nayak, a medical sociologist and Senior Research Advisor at the National Research Corporation, explains why improving long-term care means being willing to look beyond "the way things are" and considering the way things could be. Read More »
Being vitamin D deficient surprises me, since I have never been told I was deficient in the past. But I am a breast cancer survivor and know that chemotherapy can cause physical changes. Read More »
With the recent focus on reducing antipsychotics in long-term care and substituting behavioral interventions, facilities may be left wondering what interventions to use and how to implement them. Here are ideas on how to prevent, investigate and monitor agitation on your units and address staffing needs to ease the transition from antipsychotic medication. Read More »
Michigan has made a commitment to culture change. PHI serves as the convener for this multi-stakeholder group that includes resident advocates, provider associations, government agencies, culture change advocates and employee organizations. Read More »
The latest version of the Nursing Home Inspect tool includes more ways to search nursing home survey data and to assess the historial track record of a skilled nursing facility. Read More »
The Wall Street Journal reported that the OIG is using the term “Operation Vacuum Cleaner” to refer to its review of nursing home billing issues. This term is perhaps even more foreboding than the report itself. With the fiscal cliff looming and sharp negotiations set to begin over the future of Medicare reimbursement, the timing and substance of this report are less than ideal for an industry already under fire. Read More »
The long-term care industry, concerned about the impact of potentially devastating “fiscal cliff” federal funding cuts, has launched a broad offensive in hopes of convincing Congress and President Obama to reach a deal that will prevent those reductions from being imposed. Read More »
Brookdale Senior Living is considering several financial options to refit its operations in an era of Medicare reductions, announced Brookdale's CFO and co-president Mark Ohlendorf today at the Stephens Fall Investment Conference. Read More »
Nursing home and assisted living operators are seeing a marked increase in “piercing the corporate veil” theories and corporate negligence claims in malpractice litigation. The good news is facilities can and should employ strategies that can help insulate them from these claims. Read More »
While attending the LeadingAge Conference in Denver last month, I had the opportunity to converse with Conrad, a well-spoken 80-year-old who was representing his CCRC board at this conference. What impacted me most about my chat with Conrad was his desire to be connected and to be heard. Read More »
The clarion call to action grows ever louder: In addition to lobbying their local lawmakers, long-term care providers must best position their organizations to serve a rapidly changing healthcare system or face demise. Read More »
A good percentage of disaster management is “getting your ducks in a row.” Most of this involves establishing appropriate relationships that may be premised on contacts, formalized agreements and memorandums of understanding with vendors of essential services and other facilities that may be needed to provide evacuation and relocation assistance during the disaster recovery phase. Read More »
The votes are in: The Obama Administration now has four more years to further the healthcare initiatives begun under the 2010 Affordable Care Act. So, what happens next? Long-term care leaders, providers and industry experts weigh in on the implications of President Obama's reelection for the U.S. healthcare system and, specifically, the LTC industry. Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has granted blanket waivers for New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy, easing the regulations required of long-term care and other health providers. Read More »
The Savvy Resident’s Guide, a book written by psychologist and Long-Term Living contributing writer Eleanor Feldman Barbera, covers just about every concern a new nursing resident might have, explaining how nursing homes work and how people can make the most of their stays. I encourage LTC providers to consider providing this book to residents and their families upon admission. Read More »
Updated: 5/21/13: Both parties have decided to cancel merger talks for now. The continuum of care gets bigger and broader in Michigan as two health systems join to form one of the largest non-profits in the state. Read More »
It may be counterintuitive for CCRCs to expand to in-home services, but some in the industry say it is a brilliant move with little to no disadvantages. Learn how an established CCRC made the leap. Read More »
Several nursing homes in the Rockaways area of New York City, which were heavily impacted by Hurricane Sandy, struggled with flooding and damaged generators, according to a report in The New York Times. Read More »
The danger of complacency and not performing the necessary “due diligence” as it relates to the installation and maintenance of your facility’s generator(s) and emergency power systems can lead to catastrophic failures. Here are five tips to help ensure that your emergency power system performs to its maximum potential at all times. Read More »
I have lived in two nursing homes for over 16 years and at both facilities housekeepers still use dust mops, brooms and string mops to clean. I guess these tools can do an adequate job. But they can make messes and cannot easily clean up something quickly. Read More »
A national learning collaborative, launched at this week’s LeadingAge conference, is focused on creating new financial and service strategies for senior living. Read More »
A full moon, high tides and colliding storm systems are conspiring to create a “perfect storm” that will bear down on the East Coast next week. Long-term care facilities should initiate their disaster plans now. Read More »
