Blogs, Guest Columns, Things I Think and Living Leadership
Beyond ‘Busy’: Meaning making and engagement in therapeutic activities
By
Mary Farkas
Apr 30, 2014
Finding a way to engage in the world, make connections, and feel that we are contributing meaningfully is a key function in life for all of us.
Sentenced to a nursing home
By
Gary Tetz
Apr 29, 2014
Here’s an innovative new way, and maybe the only one you haven’t already tried, to make sure more people visit your lonely nursing home residents. Sentence them to do it.
Reducing the threat of carbon monoxide poisoning
By
Betty Norman
Apr 28, 2014
More than 400 Americans die from unintentional CO poisoning every year, and fatalities are highest among older adults. Though CO is a threat to every residential facility, long-term care facilities should...
Transforming communities with the household model of care
By
Stephen Proctor
Apr 25, 2014
We can agree on one thing: the traditional model of nursing homes is becoming outdated. Namely, models that involve centralized care management, large commercial kitchens, common therapy spaces, and medicine...
The value of attending national Open Door Forum calls
By
Steven Littlehale
Apr 23, 2014
I often describe the monthly CMS Open Door Forum call as a monthly staff meeting; if you miss the meeting you better read the minutes to see what projects were assigned to you!
Palliative possibilities: Therein lies the rub
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Apr 22, 2014
When a patient is referred to therapy, and they are receiving hospice care, then therapy needs to seek permission from the hospice company to provide any treatment. Hospice is required to reimburse the...
Final rate notice signals continued pressure on Medicare Advantage payments
By
Jennifer Rak
Apr 21, 2014
CMS recently finalized Medicare Advantage plan payment rates for Calendar Year 2015 and announced other changes to payment and program policies for MA and Part D plans. Although the announcement included...
Top 10 ways to avoid litigation
By
Davis Frye and Bradley W. Smith
Apr 18, 2014
In nursing home lawsuits, plaintiffs are often unhappy family members of residents who have experienced falls, pressure wounds, unexplained injuries or death. In our practice defending long-term care facilities,...
Battling depression: Advice on how to make seniors feel valued by others
By
Eleanor Feldman Barbera, Ph.D.
Apr 17, 2014
Senior living providers can design programs that increase the opportunities for residents to be valued within their communities and in the outside world. They have nothing to lose but high depression rates....
Asking about end-of-life care when patients can still answer
By
Stephan Deutsch, M.D.
Apr 17, 2014
It’s a scene at plays out all too often in hospitals across the United States. A stroke leaves a frail senior incapacitated, lying in a hospital bed. Family members gather around, but no one can...