Mental healthcare often shifts from one dangerous institution to another
By
John O'Connor
Oct 25, 2013
President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act 50 years ago today. Half a century later, the landmark measure’s legacy is both troubled and troubling.
Spray on the PAM to reduce readmissions
By
Elizabeth Newman
Oct 24, 2013
In life, as Donald Rumsfeld once said, there are known knowns, known unknowns and unknown unknowns. This may sound like gobbledygook, but it’s actually relevant to business and long-term care.
Where Eagles dare
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 23, 2013
A traditional portrayal of a Boy Scout has him helping a little old lady cross the street. But what if the senior citizen turned around and helped the young man advance to Scouting’s highest rank?...
A story to promote empathy in dementia care
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 22, 2013
Earlier this month, I was excited to learn that one of my favorite writers, Alice Munro, had been awarded this year’s Nobel Prize in Literature. To mark the honor, The New Yorker republished one...
Will 29-hour workweeks be the new normal in long-term care?
By
John O'Connor
Oct 21, 2013
We’ve been hearing a lot lately about problems uninsured people are having with health exchanges. But not much is being reported about a different kind of exchange many long-term care managers might...
Make long-term care a public utility?
By
John O'Connor
Oct 18, 2013
I recently participated in a roundtable discussion that addressed the field’s challenges and opportunities. Several remedies for improving care and payments surfaced during the conversation. But...
The need to drill down into seniors housing data
By
Elizabeth Newman
Oct 17, 2013
About a year from now, the story coming out of the National Investment Center for the Seniors Housing & Care Industry conference will be around how operators are clutching their pearls about the decline...
No time to rest for long-term care operators
By
James M. Berklan
Oct 16, 2013
Even before the fall convention season started, providers could be pretty sure about what grand messages they were going to hear from the big guys: Work hard, produce good records, make better networking...
Bizarre decision shows that when it comes to 3-day stay rule, there ought to be a law
By
John O'Connor
Oct 11, 2013
There are many odd animals roaming our healthcare industrial complex. But few are more bizarre than Medicare’s three-day rule. Or more deserving of extinction.
Game theory in long-term care
By
Elizabeth Newman
Oct 10, 2013
As many of you know, this is long-term care conference season, which means having a quality smartphone is essentially a must. Since my old phone could best be described as “temperamental,”...