Hurricane Sandy delivered a wallop – and a troubling reminder about life’s uncertainties
By
John O'Connor
Nov 05, 2012
We humans tend to be creatures of habit. Most of us like to develop daily routines and stick with them. This approach has its benefits. It saves a lot of time that would otherwise be wasted sorting out...
Your residents might be safe, but what about your data?
By
John O'Connor
Mar 03, 2014
Long-term care providers go to great lengths to keep residents out of harm’s way. But it appears that the data many operators count on might be anything but safe.
More talk about putting nursing homes out of business
By
John O'Connor
Feb 14, 2014
Almost exactly two decades ago, we saw a huge push to move residents from nursing homes into home-based settings. But a funny thing happened once the number crunchers started doing the math. It soon became...
Finally, some coverage that puts ‘nursing home’ and ‘great’ in the same headline
By
John O'Connor
Sep 08, 2014
By any standard, much of what’s being reported about nursing homes these days could hardly be considered good news. I could point out many examples, but the point is clear: There’s a lot of...
What’s happening in the Senate is no thing of beauty
By
John O'Connor
Jul 17, 2017
When it comes to the Senate’s latest healthcare bill, providers have unloaded many valid criticisms of it. Sadly, they may be irrelevant. It’s easy to get so caught up in this legislation’s...
The future of LTC, a puzzle or a mystery?
By
John O'Connor
Aug 08, 2016
Kaiser Health News provided one of last week’s sleeper developments. The organization predicted hospitals will see payment cuts surpassing $500 million in the coming year thanks to escalating readmission...
Skilled care operators feeling the pinch. Or should we say, pinches?
By
John O'Connor
Jul 02, 2018
“This is going to be the wave of the future.” If you happen to be a long-term care operator looking for words to live by, the above sentence is a pretty good choice.
Things heating up in case of the runny eggs
By
John O'Connor
Jun 03, 2013
Looks like CMS and nursing home inspectors have more than a little egg on their face, thanks to a recent circuit court ruling in favor of a wrongly accused operator.
Putting quality to the test
By
John O'Connor
Mar 31, 2011
When it comes to embracing quality, long-term care operators are making great strides. Most seem to realize that many of the old ways of getting the job done don’t cut it anymore.
Implementing Olmstead, one decade at a time
By
John O'Connor
Aug 26, 2013
I first began attending American Health Care Association shows in the 1990s. They tended to be lively events, but not for reasons that had much to do with educational sessions, networking or the goodies...