Strengthening compliance: Three steps LTC leadership can take to elevate their program
By
Karla Dreisbach
May 15, 2023
Not surprisingly, compliance isn’t always ranked as important as liability and property insurance. But that doesn’t make it any less valuable.
Taking a stand against ineffective stand-up meetings
By
Jeff Stewart
May 12, 2023
Department managers slowly shuffle into the conference room, exchanging pleasantries as they open up their laptops and begin typing away. Eventually, the meeting begins, and one by one, the oral...
When you wish upon a star
By
Jacqueline Vance, RNC, CDONA/LTC
May 09, 2023
When I was a child, I remember watching the movie Pinocchio. For those not familiar with the story or movie, there was a character in it, a talking cricket named “Jiminy Cricket.” In the movie,...
End of the ‘youdate’
By
Gary Tetz
May 04, 2023
The departments of Health and Human Services and Homeland Security have announced their intention to “start the process to end” the COVID-19 vaccination mandate. Now, before we get too excited,...
The punitive fist versus the hand of support
By
Buffy Lloyd-Krejci, DrPH, CIC
May 03, 2023
In the late 2010s, the long-term care industry began to take action that would reflect the growing importance of incorporating robust infection prevention practices. Facilities were required to develop...
Nursing shortages, and why ‘nobody wants to work anymore’
By
Jean Wendland Porter
May 02, 2023
Everyone has been feeling the nursing shortage, and now the Biden administration has tightened staffing rules, and that order will become a harbinger of more skilled nursing facility crises and closings....
Supreme Court levels the playing field for SNFs
By
Alan C. Horowitz, Esq., RN
May 01, 2023
As part of its survey process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is authorized to take several enforcement actions, including but not limited to imposing civil money penalties (CMP), denials...
New SNF Value-Based Purchasing program: Act now!
By
Steven Littlehale
Apr 28, 2023
When I read my first SNF PPS final rule about 25 years ago, I thought that the start dates for some of its initiatives were so far in the future that they were of no concern. As a young person, my long-range...
Achoo! Springtime is PEPPER season
By
Renee Kinder
Apr 27, 2023
The sound of spring is in the air and irritants abound. The sniffling, sneezing and coughing is always a telltale sign of a change in seasons. April also brings to us the release of the Program for...
Compassion in leadership
By
Julie Thorson
Apr 26, 2023
Everyone has something. Do you know what that “something” is for your team members? Recently, I was reminded that our teams, many times, are fighting a battle we may know nothing about. They...