Blogs, Guest Columns, Things I Think and Living Leadership
Analytically Speaking: MDS data accuracy
By
Steven Littlehale
Jan 13, 2012
Since the late 1990’s, the Minimum Data Set has been a primary driver in the long-term care industry, influencing all areas of skilled nursing facility operations. With so much depending on it, ensuring...
SGR fix?! Don’t get me started!
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Jan 09, 2012
So here’s a Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) 101 primer so you will understand why I am so upset.
Rise of COPD: Not hopeless
By
John W. Walsh
Jan 09, 2012
With the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reporting that chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has become the third leading cause of death in the U.S. — 12 years earlier than predicted...
How to profit from the new regulation changes
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Jan 04, 2012
Has the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services underestimated us again? I hope so. On Oct. 1, 2011, CMS implemented new regulation changes that added a Change of Therapy, COT OMRA, MDS. I believe it...
When good excuses go bad
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Dec 22, 2011
Do you ever sometimes just want to say, “I’m not buying that one” when you get some absolutely bizarre excuse from a staff member as to why she called out?
Pharmacists and doctors and nurses — oh my!
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
Dec 13, 2011
As I was thinking about packing for a recent convention — and those who know me know a lot went into wondering about how many pairs of shoes I could get into my suitcase — I started thinking about...
Happy holidays: ’tis the season for more rehab work
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 08, 2011
It’s that time of year again, the when our hospitals and nursing facilities start to fill up with patients suffering from new fractures, falls, pneumonia and other cardio-pulmonary diseases. However,...
Provide employee respite care, watch staff turnover rates drop
By
Michelle Seitzer
Dec 06, 2011
Just a year and a half later and I was done. Even for two weeks after the fact, I was numb – completely drained of emotion, lethargic, and avoiding interaction with others. Burnout.
Medical necessity — slippery for some
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Dec 02, 2011
Medical necessity has become a common phrase in healthcare terminology, but what exactly does it mean? Unfortunately, this term has become very subjective and is the primary reason we have been denied...
Let’s change ‘Activity Director’ to ‘Chief Experience Officer’
By
Anthony Cirillo
Nov 29, 2011
Back in Philadelphia, I was a hospital executive who moonlighted as a musician and singer in bands, casinos and nightclubs. When I tired of the band scene, I was looking for an outlet for my musical talents...