Mr. Fogel quietly passed away last week at a Chicago-area nursing home. Most of the staff didn’t know he was in the building. Among the few who did, he was a resident with heart problems. What a...
Healthcare reform, Medicare just pawns on campaign trail
By
John O'Connor
Oct 01, 2012
When it comes to healthcare reform and Medicare, long-term care operators tend to focus on the so-called small pieces. These include things such as therapy caps, Minimum Data Set payments and forced reimbursement...
Meager resource allocation can sink tech efforts: CAST
By
John O'Connor
Feb 01, 2012
High expenses and poor internal collaboration often undermine provider efforts to implement new technology initiatives, according to a report from LeadingAge’s Center for Aging Services Technologies.
LTC insurance adjustment: Smart business move or blatant sexism?
By
John O'Connor
Mar 01, 2013
There’s an adage about insurance coverage: While the big print giveth, the small print taketh away. Genworth Financial — one of the nation’s largest long-term care insurance carriers –...
This guy needs to change his tune
By
John O'Connor
Dec 19, 2021
The thought of fiscal sweeteners in the Build Back Better Act has had many operators humming “Happy Days are Here Again.” But after what played out this past weekend, “Slip Slidin’ Away” might...
For one glorious moment, a warped perspective makes sense — sort of
By
John O'Connor
Nov 07, 2016
If you look at America’s sports-addicted dynamic from a purely logical standpoint, it defies logic. Cities and states pull funds away from needed services in order to comfort the comfortable? In...
New policy triggers rehab mode change
By
John O'Connor
Mar 01, 2012
Individual therapy services are seeing a huge spike across skilled care settings, according to a new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services report. The shift seems to reveal how a change in payment rules...
CMS sends a message
By
John O'Connor
Jun 06, 2019
It’s no secret that finding and keeping nurses is one of the skilled care sector’s biggest headaches. But it would appear that the folks who regulate this field don’t want to hear it any more. As...
The big picture: Gut-check time for LTC
By
John O'Connor
Apr 01, 2011
Many an operator is now contemplating whether to remain in the long-term care field. Having just returned from an NIC conference on the future of skilled nursing, I can offer a definitive answer: It depends.
Latest funding deal sidesteps fiscal cliff
By
John O'Connor
Feb 01, 2013
Providers generally lauded a deal that kept the nation from going over the so-called fiscal cliff in January. Spared were automatic Medicare cuts to physicians and facilities.