In early August, Massachusetts became the 17th state to protect registered nurses from mandatory overtime. Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick signed a healthcare law that identifies restrictions. In California and Missouri, regulations contain provisions for mandatory overtime. Read More »
Tropical Storm Isaac is predicted to change its name to Hurricane Isaac later today as it continues on its path to New Orleans and other coastal points. Read More »
A low-premium, high-deductible health plan used to be viewed as "the single consumer's plan." Now, high-deductible plans are a favorite of employers, especially for large-group coverage. Read More »
LeadingAge has started a financial and legal advice service for its not-for-profit members. Struggling facilities can request an assessment and receive advice from experts for free. Read More »
State reform to limit medical liability claims and facility-based arbitration agreements can have huge impacts on long-term care’s finances, notes a study by ACHA/NCAL and Aon Global Risk Consulting. Read More »
With the crackdown on “pill mills” in Ohio, nursing homes have become targets for employee theft of narcotic prescription drugs. Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine intensifies anti-drug abuse efforts. Read More »
The Health Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and technology company Jvion have developed an online tool to help facilities calculate the financial impacts of migrating to ICD-10. Read More »
Fire, flood, tornado, earthquake and tidal waves are just a few of the ways nature asserts itself to remind us of its power. Are you prepared to care and protect your residents if you get in Mother Nature’s way? The OIG doesn’t think so according to a recent study. Read More »
Sexual appetites don’t disappear after age 50, an Australian study concludes. However, seniors in nursing homes often have to sneak around because administrators are concerned about safety risks. 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 »
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 »
The challenging nature of long-term care can make caregivers easy victims of job stress and depression, putting both the residents and the organization at risk. Learn how to assist employees in maintaining the balance between taking care of others and taking care of themselves. Read More »
HHS declares May 19 as the first-ever National Hepatitis Testing Day. Millions of Americans carry the virus, presenting a danger to themselves and others. Read More »
Effective, data-driven risk management is proactive, rather than just reactive, and begins with the development of facility-wide policies and procedures that include standards of practice and care protocols. Read More »
Nurses, CNAs and orderlies miss more days of work due to work-related musculoskeletal disorders than any other group. Nowhere is this truer than in the LTC setting. Read More »
Failure to notify residents or family members in skilled nursing facilities before administering antipsychotic medications may constitute charges of elder abuse for nursing homes. Read More »
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 »
Picture a bedsore. Stare at it. Now, focusing on that same image, re-label it “skin failure.” Suddenly, the identical wound no longer looks or ‘feels’ the same. Here are suggestions for modifying commonly used words and phrases to clarify what is communicated to residents, families and others. Read More »
While it is clear that gaps exist in emergency preparedness on all levels of healthcare, a great deal of progress has been made in long-term care that may not be adequately reflected in this recent OIG report. Read More »
When it is time for the walk-around tour, take the compliance officer where he or she needs to go and nowhere else. You may be proud of your facility and want to show it off, but that doesn’t mean they will see it in the same light as you. Read More »
Traditionally, nursing homes and other levels of long-term care have not been involved with disaster planning as part of the community on a broad-based scale. As this bi-annual conference shows, that's no longer the case. Read More »
New payment models require payors to look closer at risk management. While traditional risk management analyzes the risk of taking a risk, we now also have to analyze the risk of not taking a risk, particularly from an information technology perspective. Read More »
The government protects employees’ rights to engage in "concerted activity" for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. You might be surprised how far-reaching these protections can be, even in long-term care settings. Read More »
All of the policy in the world likely would not stop someone from going as heinously rogue as this nursing assistant. That type of behavior considers neither rules nor decorum and should be met with zero tolerance on the part of employers. Read More »
National safety and security experts say the lab’s presence in a nursing home is part of a larger trend involving the bizarre lengths meth addicts and dealers are willing to go for their drug. Read More »
Keeping pathways to survival clear is a disaster preparation that should be addressed every day. If everything is in its place and not blocking exits, evacuation is easier and more successful. Read More »
Willis North America’s Senior Living Practice Group will work with ALFA members to reduce costs, improve their operating risk profiles and better meet their employee benefit and insurance objectives. Read More »
A recent series of unfortunate headlines, throughout both the United States and abroad, has shown the painful, and even deadly, results of resident aggression manifested into physical form. Read More »
