Sadly, many hospital nurses are depressed according to a study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Interdisciplinary Nursing Quality Research Initiative. Read More »
Cutting-edge organizations that are effectively meeting the challenges of caring for an aging population with acquired brain injuries are implementing strategies that promote good health and quality of life by actively engaging both mind and body. Read More »
Solving the problem of hospital readmissions will take much more than follow-up calls at home. Each link in the care chain has quality improvements to make, say health IT experts at the 2012 LTPAC Health IT Summit. Read More »
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 »
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 »
Genesis HealthCare, one of the nation’s largest long-term care providers, buys Sun Healthcare Group to expand its services, geographic presence and grow business during these uncertain times in the healthcare industry. Read More »
HHS and the Office of Health Reform announced today that customers will get money back from insurers who didn’t meet 80/20 rule. Payors will also have to explain why they didn't meet the mandate. Read More »
The stability in nursing care market fundamentals continues, as occupancy remains essentially flat, according to NIC MAP. In 1Q12, nursing care occupancy was 88.2 percent, which is unchanged from the prior quarter and a 30 basis point decrease in the past year. Read More »
NASL’s Cynthia Morton shares insights on Congressional legislation and CMS innovation projects with attendees at this week’s eHDS User Group meeting. Read More »
However the Supreme Court rules on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act, the need for additional healthcare workers at all levels will continue to grow. Read More »
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 »
This past week I was entertained and enlightened at the eHDS User Group meeting. The general session focused on becoming a better, happier and more successful person professionally and personally. Here’s a little of what I took away from that enjoyable hour. Read More »
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 »
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 study shows how ApoE4 can unleash an excess of the protein cyclophilin A into the cardiovascular system, causing inflammation in atherosclerosis and other conditions. The study also found that ApoE4 makes it more likely for cyclophilin A to accumulate in cells that help maintain the blood-brain barrier, reducing blood to the brain and allowing toxic substances to infiltrate. Read More »
Making the claims processing more efficient, leads to savings and allows physicians to spend more time on patient care and less on payment reconciliations. Read More »
The Senate Appropriations Committee today struck down several amendments aimed at putting a chokehold on funds allotted by the Affordable Care Act, including a prevention fund containing millions for eldercare initiatives. Read More »
A detailed economic forecast, released this week by Health Affairs, predicts national healthcare spending will experience “modest growth” during the next nine years, but will spike in 2014 when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) coverage expansions activate. Read More »
I admit it. On Sunday nights I watch The Apprentice. Watching the team dynamics and project development is compelling entertainment for me. I recently heard about a CCRC in Spring, Texas, that has adopted the show’s format as a team-building project. Read More »
AANAC’s Judi Kulus provides a roadmap through the maze of recent MDS 3.0 updates and errata releases, while pointing out some potential pitfalls in handling resident interviews, assessments, file error correction and queries to CMS. Read More »
Owner/operator, management contractor or lessee, how you approach business risks depends upon what side of the coin you fall. Business risks (and strategies) differ depending on a facility’s business model. Read More »
A new report found that half of violent victimizations of persons age 65 or older involved serious violence, based on data from crimes known to Michigan law enforcement from 2005 to 2009. Perpetrators of elder abuse were often related to the victims. Read More »
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 »
In Texas, an innovative approach by academia and the long-term care industry to improve the culture of long-term care offers CNAs education to improve their skill levels and professionalism. With this background in critical thinking, they can begin to take their first steps on the career ladder. Read More »
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 »
AARP and Microsoft Corp. have teamed up to offer a free online health record to AARP’s 40+ million members. The tool gives residents and their family members a single online repository for vital health information, and it will assist those who are designated caregivers of loved ones. Read More »
Can religion add quality to life in advanced age? Can it do so when dementia sets in? Ethnographic evidence, abundantly found in long-term care, speaks of the salutary contribution religion makes in advanced age. Read More »
When a book that addresses architecture and design for an aging population landed on my desk last week, I was eager to review it. However, the ideals it promotes are tempered by current harsh economic realities in the LTC industry. Read More »
The American Health Care Association and the National Center for Assisted Living (AHCA/NCAL) tell Congress to stop eyeing Medicaid tax rates as rescue funds for student loans. Read More »
