LTC providers are poised to play a big part in turning around the trend of high hospital readmissions with the ever-increasing tools and support continuing to be generated by the innovative within their own industry. Three providers share their effective strategies. Read More »
In this blog, Pamela Tabar recounts her two-week visit with a group of septuagenarians, and how snowbirding seniors can teach us a lot about the high-tech, high-service expectations senior living organizations are going to have to meet--starting now. Read More »
As the long-term care industry takes on more business in short-term rehabilitation and new expectations from the baby boomer generation, many facilities are finding themselves forced to renovate their buildings and their operations to keep up with the market changes. Read More »
It's OPTIMA Award season! Share your long-term care community's award-worthy resident-centered care program for a chance to garner Long-Term Living's prestigious honor and recognition by industry peers. Read More »
Shelley Silverman King, RN, explains how a Massachusetts facility uses specially trained caregivers and a room full of sensory experiences—music, lighting, hand massage, aromatherapy and other stimuli—to reach its most isolated and lonely population: its residents with advanced dementia. Read More »
Modern detergents and new laundering technologies have prompted the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services to revise the laundry notes under F tag 411. Read More »
How much do you know about your GPO? CMS has instituted stricter disclosure rules pertaining to the financial relationships between providers and drug and device manufacturers. Read More »
The Obama Administration on Friday said it would seek public comment on a new "opt-out" provision that is designed to meet the concerns of faith-based opponents to the earlier contraceptive mandate proposed for the ACA. Read More »
A new program designed for young adults with intellectual disabilities can help seniors overcome their challenges in positive, supportive long-term care environments. Read More »
The Affordable Care Act requires states to have policies to combat fraud, but each state can choose how to do it. A new database shows what each state is doing to combat Medicaid fraud on their home turf. Read More »
Hundreds of provider sites are ready to test the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ four new models for restructuring the way episodes of care are paid for. Read More »
Although therapy billing has taken a lot of the heat lately in CMS’ hunt for fradulent billing practices, the next big target might be something more durable. Read More »
Counting sheep from loss of sleep? Poor sleep can have a direct effect on more than just physical energy in elders, according to a new neurology study. Read More »
Whether caring for seniors in the United States or in a village in the Pacific Rim, providing culture-specific environments and services is taking design in a new direction as seen in three international projects. Read More »
Most nursing home providers understand the importance of auditing the MDS against the medical record to ensure that the chart supports the coding decisions represented on the MDS. But analyzing MDS responses in the context of quality seems to be a missed opportunity for many providers. Read More »
While most Americans say that Washington should act quickly to bring down the deficit, there is little public support for major reductions in federal spending on Medicare, according to the results of a national poll. Read More »
The tragic events surrounding the deadly nightclub fire that happened over the weekend in Brazil should remind occupancies of all types to focus on fire safety every day of the year. Read More »
The first criteria for the appropriate use of positron emission tomography (PET) imaging technology to aid in the diagnosis of people with suspected Alzheimer's disease were released Monday by the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) and the Alzheimer's Association. Read More »
The long-term care industry has advanced dramatically in recent years when it comes to innovations in healthcare and living environments for our aging population. At St. John's on the Lake in Milwaukee, 20 LTC designers, architects and academics have gathered to judge 59 new senior housing projects. They are a tough and demanding group. Read More »
An increased focus by the Attorney General’s office on the conditions in SNFs throughout the state of California mirror the trend of enforcement and prosecution against those in the healthcare industry across the country. Read More »
Good design in environments for the aging improves not only the quality of life for residents, but it resonates, and hopefully improves, every aspect of the senior living business, from marketing to housekeeping. Nowhere will LTC professionals find a more comprehensive and qualified collection of minds from the architecture, interior design and building fields than at Long-Term Living’s 2013 Environments for Aging Conference. Read More »
This could be the year to address perennial problems plaguing your organization. Take advantage of the new year’s momentum by making minor adjustments in three areas for a big impact: appreciation, repair and organization. Read More »
President Obama touched on Medicare and Medicaid in his second inaugural address on Jan. 21, in a speech with a strong focus on unity among Americans and with a heavy emphasis on social progress. Read More »
At times, health conditions, such as quadriplegia, can have some unusual manifestations on other parts of the body. Are they the result of an existing condition or a symptom of another health issue? Don't ignore spots, rashes, discoloration and other changes as Kathy Mears can verify. Read More »
The fiscal cliff battle is behind us, but the nation is heading to another possible financial crisis caused largely by politics, and the nursing home sector—and their residents—could well be caught in the middle. Read More »