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 »
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 »
The Obama Administration seems determined to keep patients in their community settings and out of nursing homes for as long as possible. Obviously that will mean fewer admissions to long-term care facilities, so those facilities must be thinking of ways to adapt in order to remain viable. Read More »
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 »
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 »
Funds for improved access for consumer information on community services and supports for seniors and others with disabilities is on the horizon. Read More »
Ultraviolet light treatment works better than bleach to control outbreaks of Clostridium difficle infections (CDI) in resident spaces, and UV cleansing technology may be a smart addition to routine housekeeping and infection-prevention measures, researchers find. Read More »
Experts at this week’s International Society of Advance Care Planning & End of Life Care conference discuss medical ethics, caregiver responsibilities, and a culture of avoidance when it comes to end-of-life care decisions. Read More »
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 »
In every walk of life there are people who go beyond the parameters of their job description. Long-term care has no shortage of these dedicated employees who give the best of themselves to the residents they serve. Read More »
The Assisted Living Federation of America (ALFA) conference, held earlier this month in Dallas presented this observer a close-up look at the critical issues and opportunities facing a senior living sector in transition. Read More »
CMS announces a new partnership initiative to combat the improper use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing homes. Through better reporting and data sharing, the partnership vows to cut the use of antipsychotics in nursing homes by 15 percent before the end of this year. Read More »
