Administration

CMS won’t deny ICD-10 claims for a year

In response to requests from the provider community, CMS is releasing additional guidance that will aim to allow for flexibility in the claims auditing and quality reporting process Read More »

California LTC unions merge to create 280k-person powerhouse

Long-term care workers from three California locals have combined to create the nation's largest union. Read More »

Extendicare completes $870M sale of U.S. portfolio

Canada-based Extendicare has completed the sale of its United States portfolio to Formation Capital. Read More »

California judge rules law that allows nursing homes to make medical decisions unconstitutional

The former law allowed nursing homes to make medical decisions on behalf of mentally incompetent residents.  Read More »

PA attorney general files lawsuit against Golden Living for patient neglect allegations

Golden Gate National Senior Care LLC operates 36 facilities in Pennsylvania. Read More »

Brookdale, HCP complete $847M Chartwell portfolio acquisition

Brookdale Senior Living Inc. and HCP, Inc. completed the acquisition June 30. Read More »

New overtime rules impact long-term care

Now is the time for long-term care administrators to reassess the exempt/non-exempt status of your employees before 2016 arrives. Read More »

HHS launches online tool for disaster readiness

The tool helps plan ahead to meet the emergency needs of community residents who rely on electrically powered medical and assistive equipment to live independently at home. Read More »

EHRs and predictive analytics help prevent falls in nursing homes

A study shows that eletcronic health record data combined with predictive analytics can help prevent falls in the elderly. Read More »

Washington governor enacts law requiring adequate staffing at nursing homes

Gov. Jay Inslee signed the “safe staffing” law to ensure every resident receives 3.2 hours of direct care daily. Read More »

Senior housing industry experts create quality care organization

Two long-term care industry leaders join forces to create Innovative Health LLC.  Read More »

Turn your data into dollars. Why quality is the new currency.

Performance-based reimbursement requires an efficient approach to documentation and data collection. Between readmission penalties and the IMPACT Act of 2014, the data we use to demonstrate quality outcomes is quickly becoming the currency of our business. Success in the changing reimbursement models means we need to take a data-driven, proactive approach to improving care and quality of life in nursing homes.The Affordable Care Act of 2010 resulted in a provision to develop standards we now know as “QAPI” programs or Quality Assurance & Performance Improvement programs.QAPI is the foundation.Click here to read more. Read More »

OSHA inspections add focus on nursing risks

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration expanded its inspections to include musculoskeletal injuries related to patient or resident handling and four other risks to nurses. Read More »

Time to say goodbye

Residents often form warm relationships with their direct caregivers. Employee turnover is not a surprise in the long-term care field, but even for the aide that is going back to school, changing jobs or beginning a family, it’s hard to say goodbye to the older resident who relied on them. Read More »

And the 2015 OPTIMA Award winner is…

So many excellent programs entered the competition for this year’s OPTIMA Award, but one program rose above the others. See who won! Read More »

Fire at Mexico nursing home kills 16, injures 5

A fire ripped through a nursing home in Mexicali, Mexico City, this week, killing 16 residents and injuring five others Read More »

ACHCA’s Grachek stepping down

After nine years of leadership in the long-term care industry, ACHCA President and CEO Marianna Grachek announces that she will be retiring next month. Read More »

Texas governor signs ‘three strikes’ bill to improve nursing home oversight

A measure to strengthen nursing home regulations in Texas was signed by Governor Greg Abbott this week. Read More »

Report: Nursing homes inflate staff numbers for better Nursing Home Compare ranking

A Center for Public Integrity report shows as many as 80 percent of nursing homes are inflating their staffing levels on Medicare.gov for higher rankings. Read More »

MatrixCare add EHR interfaces for therapy data

Therapy services documentation and billing just got easier as a leading electronic health record vendor adds interfaces for therapy data. Read More »

New Senior, Health Care REIT announce major acquisitions

In the last week, Health Care REIT and New Senior Investment Group announced acquisitions totaling more than a billion dollars.  Read More »

Getting ready for assessment data and the IMPACT Act

Workgroups responsible for implementing the standardization of documentation codes across care settings under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act) have been busy during the past year, and SNFs may have to be ready to report under the new assessment data as early as fall 2016, noted panel presenters at this week's Long-Term and Post-Acute Care Health IT Summit in Baltimore. Read More »

What is your facility’s bullying policy?

What happens when one of your residents is the victim of bullying? Do you have a policy in place to address it? Read More »

Feds arrest several doctors, nurses in largest Medicare fraud bust ever

More than 240 people were arrested in 17 cities for allegedly billing Medicare for $712 million for care that was never given.  Read More »

LTC professionals take their message to Congress

UPDATED June 23, 2015: Congressional actions got a few steps closer to repealing two key Obamacare provisions--the medical device tax and the Independent Payment Advisory Board. Read More »

My inspirational item was a casualty

It’s just good “housekeeping” to go purge one’s living area of unwanted, unused, broken, dated or unimportant possessions. Sometimes during downsizing, however, things can go awry. Read More »

Practicing emergency color codes

Code Blue, Code Gray, Code Red, Code White... Do your clinical and administrative staff practice color-code emergencies? Read More »

Elder abuse shelter opens in Detroit

Elder abuse is an often underreported crime because seniors are reluctant to act or don’t know how to seek assistance. Read More »

Providing an open environment for honest feedback

From customer satisfaction surveys to resident councils and hallway suggestion boxes—how welcoming is your process for receiving feedback on the good, the bad and the ugly? Read More »

Miami SNF settles $17M fraudulent referrals case

Hebrew Homes Health Network was accused of improperly paying physicians for referrals of Medicare patients that need skilled nursing care. Read More »