Federal government notes slowdown in nursing home spending
By
Tim Mullaney
May 06, 2014
Decreased payouts for nursing home care was one reason that healthcare spending grew more slowly for seniors than for any other age group between 2002 and 2010, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...
5 tips for abuse and incident response in long-term care
By
Tim Mullaney
May 06, 2014
Allow me to share a little long-term care humor to brighten your day. Did you hear the one about the long-term care resident who kept unplugging her roommate’s ventilator?
Cash-strapped feds to cut back Medicare oversight this year, OIG official says
By
Tim Mullaney
May 05, 2014
One of nursing homes’ most vigilant government watchdogs plans to dramatically curb its activities this year, a federal official has told the House Ways & Means Subcommittee on Health. The Department...
House bill would expand program to keep younger people out of nursing homes
By
Tim Mullaney
May 05, 2014
People younger than 55 would become eligible for a program to prevent unnecessary nursing home admissions if lawmakers pass a bill introduced Thursday in the U.S. House of Representatives.
App tracks dementia day to day
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
Getting insight into the daily life of someone with dementia often is a difficult goal for family members who are not nearby. There’s now help in the form of a smartphone application conceived by...
Penalty process explained
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
A long-term care facility that has been slapped with a civil monetary penalty has 10 days to file for an independent informal dispute resolution process, according to a recent manual update from the Centers...
Hospice, curative care paid together in new program
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
Seniors will not have to stop curative care to receive hospice benefits under a new demonstration program, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced.
Lighter work is little help for retention
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
Engaging late-career nurses in special projects while reducing their load of physically or psychologically demanding tasks can improve their perception of managers, but it doesn’t improve retention....
Survey says ‘faking’ feelings may bring on nurse burnout
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
Nurses who don’t have a natural ability to control their emotions and who feel like they’re regularly “faking” feelings at work are more likely to experience burnout, depression...
Pressure sore stats predict readmissions
By
Tim Mullaney
May 01, 2014
Compared with other quality measures, pressure ulcer prevalence is particularly good at predicting whether a nursing home will readmit residents to the hospital, according to findings published recently...