Facility management

One-year look-back: Assessing 2012’s Final Rule and its impact on providers

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) skilled nursing facility 2012 Final Rule has had a huge impact on SNFs that were still adjusting to the transition to MDS 3.0 the previous year. Read More »

AHCA/NCAL: Future of LTC relies on leadership and resilience

A few raindrops didn't dampen the spirits of more than 2,000 attendees and 350+ vendors who celebrated the resilience and discussed the challenges of long-term care on today's opening day of the AHCA/NCAL Conference and Expo in Tampa, Fla. Read More »

The Q word dominates long-term care

October looms as a month of major change for the skilled nursing industry with the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program slated to launch next Monday. With hospitals facing stiff penalties for patient readmissions, SNFs are poised to play a key role in efforts to reduce readmissions with quality issues taking center stage. Read More »

Tackling the troubled LTC facility

Joining an organization with problems can “make or break” a new administrator or DON. This could be an opportunity to become a hero, not only to the organization but to the residents as well. Read More »

Disaster Recovery Requires Pre-Planning

Planning for the unexpected means forming a clear plan of action and knowing who to call when disaster strikes. Read More »

5 measurable quality initiatives form core of CMS Action Plan

As nursing homes compete in the post-reform environment for new direct patient admissions and more hospital discharges, several data driven tools—from Five Star rankings to hospital readmission benchmarks—that form the core of CMS’ focus on quality will be critical to nursing homes’ success. Read More »

Incident reports, surveys and privilege: Protecting QA material from enforcement action

Skilled nursing facilities should carefully consider what constitutes legitimate quality assurance or otherwise privileged documents and how best to protect those documents. Read More »

2012 OPTIMA Award winner: St. Leonard Franciscan Living Community, Centerville, Ohio

Since 1996, Long-Term Living has honored long-term care communities that are proactive with programs that go “above and beyond” routine care for their residents with our prestigious OPTIMA Award. It is conferred by a jury of LTC peers from submitted entries. This year’s winner is St. Leonard Franciscan Living Community of Centerville, Ohio. Congratulations! Read More »

Floor cleaning day Part 2

I was concerned about my floor being stripped and waxed because it upsets my routine. Since I wanted things to run smoothly, I had my driver, Debra, come at 8 a.m. on Thursday to help the maintenance guys move things. That way I knew I would have some idea where things were put. Read More »

IOM report: Healthcare must behave more like a business, reward quality and learn from data

In a milestone report released today, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) analyzes why the U.S. healthcare system needs a new business-based attitude, and why it struggles to learn from its own data. Read More »

5 tips to prepare for QAPI

Mandating that nursing home providers institute both a formal, facility-wide compliance and quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) program while enhancing nurse aide training across their facilities, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) aims to elevate the quality of care in America’s nursing homes over the next few years. Read More »

Evangelical Lutheran tops annual nonprofit operators list

Following the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society in the top five list of operators are the National Senior Campuses in Maryland, the ACTS Retirement Life Communities, Inc. in Pennsylvania, Presbyterian Homes and Services in Minnesota and Covenant Retirement Communities in Illinois. Read More »

Offering continuing education benefits LTC communities

Developing relationships with potential referral sources is one of the most important duties of a senior living executive. One provider found that offering CE courses helped acquaint referral sources with its community while providing these professionals with valuable content. Read More »

LTC facilities should prepare now for Social Security payment changeover, Feds say

In March 2013, the majority of nursing home residents will experience a radical change—no more government checks in the mail. Long-term care facilities should start now to educate their staffers and their residents on the new electronic direct deposit system. Read More »

National nursing home quality measures: 34 and counting

Knowing that the quality measures (QMs) are used by surveyors and the public to evaluate your facility’s care outcomes should convince you to give high priority to understanding the details of the QMs. Read More »

LTC providers speak out on Five-Star Quality Rating System

Last month I blogged about the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ controversial Five-Star Quality Rating System in light of news of its revamped Nursing Home Compare website. I invited readers to share their thoughts on the rating system and the website, knowing that this was one issue certain to generate some commentary. And it sure did. Read More »

The cultural diversity challenge

To address cultural differences, many organizations make an effort to learn about the cultural practices of the different groups represented in the community. But sharing our cultural norms isn’t enough. What is most important to addressing the challenges of difference is to create a culture of respect, where each person feels valued and accepted. Read More »

Nursing homes, hospitals brace for Isaac

Here comes Isaac: Gulf Coast facilities prepare for the storm with lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina Read More »

Environmental Services’ role in infection control

A facility’s infection control program should start from the bottom, the top and sides. Housekeeping and maintenance departments are key players in infection control. Read More »

CMS announces final rule delaying ICD-10 to October 2014

The Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services on Friday published a final rule pushing back the compliance deadline for converting to the ICD-10 system of diagnostic and procedural coding to October 1, 2014 from October 1, 2013. Read More »

One-on-one with … Lynne Katzmann

Long-Term Living talks with Lynne Katzmann, president and CEO of Juniper Communities, on how benchmarking combined with a “double bottom line” philosophy have resulted in increased census and recognition as one of the top 25 women-owned businesses by Crain’s New York Business. Read More »

How to motivate staff to optimize the LTC dining experience

I believe it is the role of senior care administrators to generate motivation in their employees. This goal can be accomplished with a clear mission that is supported and reinforced on an ongoing basis, particularly through hands-on actions. Read More »

5 reasons to educate residents about their illnesses

Residents often enter long-term care with surprisingly little knowledge about their conditions, whether they have a recent diagnosis or have been living with an illness for many years. Here are five reasons why we should teach our residents about the illnesses they live with. Read More »

Kindred buys IntegraCare; doubles its hospice and home care foothold in Texas

Kindred Healthcare invests deeply in the heart of Texas, announcing its agreement to purchase IntergraCare's Texas-based home care and hospice operations. Read More »

5 powerful tools to reach prospects online

Online marketing has skyrocketed in recent years and if you, long-term care provider, have yet to dip your toes into the Web waters, now’s the time if you hope to get a leg up on your local competition. Read More »

5 ways to improve your hiring process

Better interviewing leads to better short-lists, and ultimately to better new employees. Rebecca McNeil, educational content manager at HealthcareSource, a provider of healthcare HR software, shares some strategies for finding new employees that truly match the culture and quality of your facility. Read More »

Seniors housing: Strategies for a successful transition amid a changing consumerism

Ryan Frederick, founder and principal of Point Forward Solutions, shares with Long-Term Living magazine his strategies for transitioning senior living facilities into the spaces consumers will want tomorrow. Read More »

Review and update LTC emergency plans with operational changes

When operational changes occur, it is critical to review and update your community’s emergency plans to help ensure that the changes have been incorporated into these essential documents. Read More »

Nursing home cutbacks could tally $65 billion over next decade

The unfortunate overlap of multiple payment-reduction laws and regulations could add up to $65 billion less for skilled nursing home budgets over the next 10 years, according to nationwide data released today. Read More »

Protecting LTC providers from unearned deficiencies

What is a LTC provider to do when contracted service providers fail to follow through with certain responsibilities, resulting in denial of Medicare/Medicaid payments and civil penalties? LTC provider Daniel Farley shares the approach used by his organization to be proactive in resolving potential problems in advance. Read More »