Facility management

6 steps to C. difficile prevention

Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) infections remain at historically high levels whereas most other types of healthcare-associated infections are declining. The CDC recommends that healthcare clinicians and facility administrators implement the following six prevention steps into their facilities’ infection control plan. Read More »

CMS announces 89 new ACOs

As of July 1, 89 new accountable care organizations (ACOs) began serving 1.2 million people with Medicare in 40 states and Washington, D.C., the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today. Read More »

Family members: 5 ways to turn fault finders into fans

For most families, entry into a nursing home is like being teleported onto a strange new planet. The arrival is often swift and unanticipated, and the customs are foreign and frequently unnerving. Consider what services you can offer to improve the experience of anxious family members. Read More »

Ask the Medical Director: The appropriate use of antipsychotic medications in LTC

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 »

MDS 3.0 updates require critical action steps

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 »

Adequate air conditioning

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 »

The waiting game

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 »

Perseverance pays off when targeting physicians for referrals

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 »

The first 24 hours: Best practices for response to serious incidents

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 bitter battle on Capitol Hill

Another bitter battle is brewing on Capitol Hill over how to prevent student loan interest rates from increasing from the current 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent on July 1, and believe it or not, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities may be asked to help pay the tab. Read More »

Teamwork, communication tied to quality of nursing home care

Nursing homes that foster an environment in which workers feel they are valued contributors to a team of caregivers provide better care to their residents, according to a new study. Read More »

Key considerations when transitioning to an eMAR system

With the growing use of electronic data in healthcare to improve quality of care and lower provider costs, more long-term care organizations are making the transition from paper medication administration records (MARs) to electronic medication administration records (eMARs). Read More »

When a facility needs to be fixed up

With the Medicare/Medicaid cutbacks to facilities today, I wonder how facilities built from the ’70s through the ’90s will be maintained. I wonder too how the grand looking nursing homes built in the last 10 years will hold up. Read More »

U.S.News & World Report releases list of top nursing homes in California

Among best nursing homes in California, both for-profit and non-profit facilities earn five-star ratings. Read More »

5 team building practices that will make your staff want to stay

When it comes to building a team, forget corporate retreats and singing “Kumbaya” around the campfire. Here are five practical, easy-to-incorporate strategies you can use at your nursing stations starting today. Read More »

The case for hospice in the skilled nursing setting

In my years as a med nurse, unit manager and DON I always enjoyed working with hospice. My experience was that they were also there for the resident and staff. That is why hospice belongs in long-term care. Let us help you help the resident. Let’s collaborate and share the load. How can we help you today? Read More »

Nursing home profits soar in Q1 2012, yet many facilities provide “lousy” care

Strong revenues may please corporate shareholders, but CMS data shows that many nursing homes are providing substandard care for residents. Read More »

Person-centered care: The bottom line

In many LTC communities, the basic need for excellent service has been overshadowed by a single-minded adherence to numerous state and federal regulations, medical regimens and cost pressures, even though service and an environment conducive to healthy living were stated objectives of the organizations. Somehow, companies have not been paying attention to their own core values. Read More »

Son billed $93K for mom’s nursing home care

In Pennsylvania, a nursing home, unwilling to wait for a woman's Medicaid approval and reimbursement, sues her son to recover the $93K debt. It's called the "filial responsibility law" and it's on the books in 30 states. Read More »

Senior living execs talk policy, markets and choice at ALFA conference

A rapidly evolving regulatory, demographic and clinical landscape are top of mind for many of the 1,000-plus senior living executives in attendance at this year’s ALFA (Assisted Living Federation of America) Conference & Expo, being held in Dallas Wednesday through Friday. Read More »

Senior housing boot camp: Repositioning a tired community

Owners and operators are finding that, due to aging housing stock and market changes, opportunities for renewal abound in senior housing. But transforming the old into something with current and future market appeal can be a daunting task. Read More »

Nursing home staffing levels tied to increased death rates in good economies

There is an unemployment-mortality link, but the relationship is counter-intuitive. Read More »

The value of a caring aide

What makes a great aide? Kathleen is pleased to know one who has a knack for identifying with resident situations and who intuitively wants to please the residents and give them good care. Read More »

10 HIT strategies to become a preferred provider

Interconnectivity and transitions of care are as important to LTPAC providers as they are good for patient coordination of care. Remember, the end objective is an integrated, dynamic, longitudinal, person-centric electronic healthcare record. Read More »

Vendome Group acquires HealthCare Design Exchange

The acquisition of the HealthCare Design Exchange marks Vendome's entry into the "hosted" event model. It will focus on designing environments through products that fit the needs of the healthcare community. Read More »

Long-Term Living wins Gold Award for best online news coverage

The top award from the American Society of Healthcare Publication Edi, one of four awards Long-Term Living received for 2011 content, recognized its journalistic achievement for the story “Hurricane Irene Tests Healthcare Disaster Response Plans.” Read More »

Disaster readiness is still an issue, OIG reports

Despite the estimated 92 percent of the nation’s 16,000 nursing homes that have emergency disaster plans, there are still shortcomings, according to a recent OIG report. Read More »

4 new marketing strategies for 2012

An ever changing marketplace requires us to respond with new strategies and tactics to meet the needs of our residents and referral sources. Here are some of the most successful. Read More »

Get social—or else!

LTC providers have a dizzying number of items on their ‘to do’ list every day. And participation in social media is not high on that list. However, know this—for your residents, their families and friends, social media is increasingly more important. Read More »

5 secrets your line staff wishes you knew

Do you ever wonder what your staff isn’t telling you? Are you puzzled why, despite all your efforts, the organization isn’t functioning as efficiently as you’d hoped? Here are the secrets the staff won’t say, but wants to—secrets that will transform your facility. Read More »